Rise to the Challenge and Grow!

“You were created to overcome every obstacle, to rise above every challenge. Not just to survive – to thrive!”

– Joel Osteen

A blend of courage, patience and self reflection

Training to become a New Insights certified life coach is meant to be fun … but, to be honest, it also requires a lot of hard work and commitment!

There is a great deal to be learnt and then that knowledge has to be put into practice.

All in all, you follow a process of change that requires a blend of courage (to get started with the practice coaching) patience (in dealing with different practice clients and learning how to adapt to them) and constant self reflection and correction (required for ongoing improvement).

Occasionally, when I check in on the progress of a trainee, I’ll get string of reasons why the training is not going as planned and a comment like “Oh, but I thought this was going to be a lot easier.”

Anything worthwhile involves challenge

My counsel is always the same: If you want to achieve something really worthwhile in life, no matter what that might be, be prepared for a challenge and commit yourself to rise to it. The reward will be a step change in your self awareness, self belief and personal growth.

Think back, for a moment, to one or two of the more seminal achievements you have made happen in your own life. My guess is that they involved rising to a far greater degree of challenge than you may, at first, have anticipated!

Are you sure?

When you declare your readiness to make an important change in life, the universe has a habit of testing your commitment. “Are you sure? Is this really the direction you want to take?” it will ask, throwing a few distractions and obstacles into the mix to check whether you have what it takes to ‘walk your talk’!

In truth, that’s why we look back on major accomplishments with such pride. The level of personal growth we experience is directly proportional to the level of challenge that we take on and are able to rise to!

Now, back to my son …

Looking East

After completing school, Casey did what many of his peers did and took a gap year. But, instead of goofing off while contemplating his future, he chose to learn to speak Mandarin. Seeing no better way to do this than by living in China, he resolved to find a job teaching English in Beijing.

He came up with a workable plan and before we knew it, there he was, all alone, jetting off to a very foreign land!

Two-and-a-half years later, after achieving a surprising level of fluency in Mandarin, he returned home to take up tertiary studies – and, in his spare time, write an excellent language guide in eBook format, called ‘Talking Mandarin’.

Re-setting his sights

Despite passing his first year of university with very good grades he had the honesty – and courage – to pronounce that he wasn’t entirely a happy chappie.

He had a growing feeling that following a traditional degree course was not the most effective way to land a career in the rapidly emerging field of data science that was fuelling his interest and passion.

So he set his sights on landing a job that would help him to get vital experience (and money), allow him to study online part-time and satisfy his desire to continue experiencing life in other countries.

White knuckle ride!

It took many months of applying for jobs and numerous exhausting remote interviews (some with real people and some – believe it or not – with artificial intelligence) but his commitment to the end objective finally paid off and he accepted an exciting job offer as a digital campaign manager.

Then came the white knuckle ride as he worked remotely to try – within just a few short weeks – to find liveable accommodation on a very limited budget in one of the world’s most popular (and expensive) cities.

As the D-Day approached for him to fly out, anxiety levels rocketed as his accommodation plans fell through, not once but three times!

Holding the line

Lesser youngsters may have taken this as a sign to call the entire project off and resign themselves to an easier life at home … but Casey knew this was a test of his resolve. He did his best not to panic, held the line and kept trying.

Joyfully, at the eleventh hour, it all came together for him. We were able to bid him farewell and offset the inevitable feeling of sadness with a great swelling of parental pride.

Face the fear and do it anyway!

For those of you out there who feel the desire for change, I truly hope this reflection will help embolden you to take the actions you need to achieve the reality you want and deserve.

Accept that it is human nature to feel a little fearful when confronting change.

Stay focused on the brightness of the future reality that you want to create. then ask yourself how you will feel one, three or five years from now if you fail to rise to the challenge.

Then face the fear and do what you need to do anyway! In time to come you’ll love yourself for it.

Good luck. 🙂