Category Archives: Challenges

Our Greatest Glory

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“Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Image from www.imdb.com

Image from www.imdb.com

One of my favorite movies of all time is Rudy,  in which the main character is a small and very feisty football player with a passion for the University of Notre Dame. Through dogged determination, persistence, and a tenacity rarely seen, he takes quite a beating by being a veritable practice dummy for the first team – and eventually rises to glory in the final hours.

Exercise:

What are your passions and commitments to which you give your all, no matter how often you fall?

What inspiring “Rudy” stories have you participated in or observed?

What stories are yet to be written, in which you will experience future glorious moments?

“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.”

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“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.”

– Horace, Roman poet

I remember, in my mid-30s, talking with some colleagues about our 401k program at work. The company had just developed an easy-to-use software program that helped people calculate their net worth based on their savings level, years of work, and a hypothetical interest rate estimate.

My colleagues’ goal was to retire, to stop working, to take it easy, to relax. By increasing their prosperity, though, they seemed to diminish their drive.

On the other hand, I’ve seen people who’ve experienced great adversity and very limited resources tap into their inner abilities and courage to accomplish great things no-one would ever expect.

Exercise:

Assuming you achieve your desired level of prosperity, how will you keep your passion and drive each and every day to fully realize your genius?

“A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

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“A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

– Walter Bagehot, businessman and essayist

In your day to day life, how often do you see people being critical or diminishing others with phrases such as “That will never work,” “You can’t do that,” “Why bother trying?” “It’s too difficult,” “There’s no use in trying.”

How often do statements such as these stop you in your tracks? Perhaps instead, as is the case with this quote, they generate the thoughts of “Oh yeah?” “Yes, I can, I’ll show you.” “Your thinking just makes me want it more.”

Exercise:

Where are your colleagues at work, family members, and even people who you call friends placing their limiting beliefs on you?

What will it take to exceed these limits, achieve your objectives, and tell yourself “I knew I had it in me all along!”

“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

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“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

– John Wooden, basketball coach

John Wooden is considered by many one of the most successful college-level coaches of all time. His record of championships and the number of superstar players coached by him are legendary.

Two of the primary gifts he imparted on his players were his great attitude and his work ethic. He always focused himself and his players on making the most of each situation – resulting in exemplary individual and team performances.

Exercise:

To what degree do you make the best of the way things turn out?

What adjustments can you make to your behavior and attitude, in order to win your own championships?

#108: “Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.”

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– Herman Melville, author

The word “mishap” seems a bit more open to interpretation than other words such as mistakes, errors, and failure. Whichever word you currently use to identify life’s bumps in the road, it is our human ability to interpret these events that makes all the difference.

When we grab the blade of these events, we are stopped, defeated, or overcome. We tend to stay down and never do or try that again.

When we grab the handle, though, we see these events as opportunities to learn from, and improve our life and the world.

Exercise:

What mishaps have occurred recently in your life?

How can you grab the handle, so the lessons you’ve learned will serve you in the future?

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It isn’t the Mountain

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“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out. It’s the pebble in your shoe.”

– Muhammad Ali, boxer and philanthropist

image of Muhammad Ali

Image from New York Post

We all sometimes sweat the small stuff. We often make mountains of molehills, magnifying issues of little or no importance into giant obstacles and barriers.

How can you keep the small things small, or even find a shrink ray to turn mountains into molehills?

How can you bring a greater perspective to the world around you, so you don’t major in the minors of life?

Exercise:

What issues are you blowing out of proportion right now?

What do you need to think and do in order to shrink these down to size?

grow with ease

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“Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.”

– J. Willard Marriott, entrepreneur and businessman

Image fro Flickr by Breezy Luik

Image fro Flickr by Breezy Luik

I go to the gym in the morning to help stay fit. It cleans out my mental and physical cobwebs and gets my day off to an energized start.

A key component of my fitness journey is to push myself in areas of strength, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. When we push the limits a bit beyond our comfort, we come back the next day stronger and more capable.

The personal growth and development efforts that make the biggest difference are the ones which test and challenge our “timber.”

Exercise

Where in your personal and professional life can you lean into the wind and find yourself better off through the process?

 

The tests of life are not meant to break you, but to make you

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“The tests of life are not meant to break you, but to make you.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Image of a woman on a dock facing the ocean

Photo from Unsplash by Vlad Chernolyasov

When we engage in sports, we often test our strength, cardiovascular capabilities, and even our flexibility. When we do so, we grow and become fitter.

The way that the coaching process works is related to this: the idea of learning through experience. When we take on a challenge or pass a test, we become stronger and more capable.

Exercise:

What are the personal and professional obstacles and challenges that are facing you and asking you to be better, faster, stronger, smarter, and wiser?

What tests are you facing that will help “make” you?

Kites rise highest against the wind not with it

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“Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.”

– Winston Churchill

Image of two kites in the air

Image from Unsplash by Bill Fairs

Life is stress. Life is adversity. Life has its challenges. Life has its potholes, its storms, even just its cloudy days.

As you take on these obstacles and challenges, how can you rise and find peace, smooth travels, and sunny days?

To find the grace and blessing life has to offer, we need to meet each day with our very best.

Exercise

What challenges, obstacles and barriers are you dealing with today? How will you rise to these challenges and let your life soar?