Challenging yourself can help you to bring positive changes to your life. You can attain more goals, have better relationships, and enhance your happiness. As we get older, challenging ourselves can feel more like something we want to do in our lives. It may be an outcome of age & experience, but we will find ourselves less doubtful about taking on new & different tasks. The challenges can still bring stress & feelings of doubt, but it is not as daunting as they used to seem. Taking on one task after another & learning to organize life better. There are many Ways To Challenge Yourself.
Ways to Challenge Yourself Every Day
1. Start Writing
Writing is fundamental, but putting pen to paper can be challenging as it may seem. It takes time, which frequently comes at a cost. When you have some spare moments, try to write & share your ideas & expertise. Enthusiastically thinking about your experiences & opinions can serve as a self-teaching session. But don’t write on a vast array of topics; write less but to the point. This forces you to think deeper into a particular topic & challenge your current beliefs.
To get the ideas flowing, ask yourself what’s significant to write about. What must your audience know? What are new opportunities you can offer yourself? What are your long-term & short-term goals? Don’t stop after writing. Read them often to keep you motivated & rekindle the zeal to challenge yourself.
2. Be More Open About Your Feelings
We often believe that people are mind-readers like Professor X & understand how we feel based on our actions & nonverbal cues. But most people aren’t telepathists. Practice being more open with those in your life about your feelings.
Studies have shown that constraining our emotions can harm our overall well-being. Helping people to understand what you are going through can make your relationships sail more smoothly. We often struggle with it, but sharing what’s in our minds usually relieves our stress. It also helps bring us closer to people we care about.
3. Have A Digital Detox
Among various methods, one great way to challenge yourself is going for a digital detox. Electronic devices & social media occupy so much space in our lives that we do not know what to do without them. But a digital detox is helpful: it frees up time for other vital things & prevents dependence on technology.
Set when you intend to take a break from the PC or phone. For instance, an hour before bed is good for your health & will help you to sleep better. Or short breaks throughout the day. You can challenge yourself & scroll social media feeds for no more than thirty minutes daily. Focus on connecting with people on a personal level & doing things you don’t usually have time for, like reading a book, spending time with a friend, or spending time in nature.
4. Never Stop Learning
Adopting a student mentality pushes you to Challenge Yourself Every Day. You will realize how much is out there yet to know & learn. When you discover new information & knowledge or skill, don’t just keep them to yourself. Share this knowledge with your team & peers so they can learn & adapt.
As you raise the standard for yourself, your team members will undoubtedly follow suit. as it is contagious. Ultimately, your team will employ a collective mindset that will bring your organization to new levels of success.
5. Have Some Alone Time
We are social creatures by default, but each of us needs to learn to feel comfortable being alone. This allows you to get to know yourself better, & not get overwhelmed by emotions, internal conflicts, & requirements by communicating with others. By teaching yourself to spend some alone time, you will provide yourself with the chance to free yourself from external worries and influences.
You can practice mindfulness, meditate, keep a diary, or do some activity you enjoy in your free time. Such practices help deal with anxiety, learn to listen to your heart, enhance concentration & improve self-control skills.
6. Participate More
Some people are unsurprisingly comfortable raising their hands to ask or answer questions in class or meetings. Being more introverted, some of us are not one of them.
To challenge yourself, it is vital to come out of your shell & participate more. That will help us to get rid of the shyness or phobia within. Typically the more you do something, the easier it will get. In life, you need to speak up at times, so you can get some practice in doing so. Instead of sitting on the couch in front of the TV, go & participate in the community program.
7. Try To Take The Less-Travelled Road
It is very easy to follow a familiar & well-instructed road. It takes guts to discover new ways & follow the road. Everyone is comfortable doing things in ways they know or in textbook ways. If you look carefully, there are several ways of doing that in newer ways.
As it is a less-travelled road, you might stumble & fail occasionally but don’t let that dampen your spirit. Sit & think about what went wrong. In this way, you will get some valuable lessons & increase in capacity for out-of-the-box thinking.
A sad fact about our society is we appreciate & look for out-of-the-box thinking but seldom encourage or support such people. We tend to instruct them on how to do something instead of encouraging their creativity & ideas. You are not being asked to swim against the stream but to look for different avenues.
8. Set Higher Goals
Some people will tell you to only set attainable goals. But these are seldom challenging. Instead, aim above attainable. There is an old saying, “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you will land among stars.” Set your goals higher; even if you fail to get 100% of them, you will find even 90% of it is satisfying.
For example, you can aim to get 10 & end up with 7. If you aim at getting 20, you can reach up to 16, which is relatively better than a humble 7.
But set realistic goals; if you aim to surpass Elon Musk or Bill Gates in wealth (which is not utterly impossible) & have no idea about running a business with your monthly salary, it will sound absurd. Set goals that are in line with your capabilities & experience.
What Does Challenging Yourself Mean?
Challenging ourselves means we decide to engage in new tasks. We take a different approach than we’ve taken before. We also try to do more work to improve our abilities. A study found that challenging yourself can help us to feel less anxious & futile. When you attach to doing things the same way you have always done, it’s unlikely that anything will change for you.
Few things will improve & you may find yourself in a place promising you. By taking that step out of your comfort zone & taking the Ways To Challenge Yourself, you can discover a new side of life that’s more rewarding & satisfying.
