Challenge yourself every single day!

This weekend I cycled 138 miles from Great Ormond Street to Grantham with a fantastic bunch of people, in memory of Naomi Fardell. Those of you who know me will probably be thinking that cycling 138 miles isn’t a challenge for me. You may be right but this wasn’t about challenging myself. It was about being part of a team, raising money for a fantastic cause and more importantly supporting those who had only been riding for a few months. For them, cycling 138 miles was an incredible challenge, particularly given the torrential rain we suffered throughout the weekend! Included in the team were 12 year old Izzy and 13 year old Jack. Seeing two very young people challenge their physical and mental boundaries was literally awe inspiring.

It got me thinking about the benefits of challenging yourself, so I thought I would share some of the reasons why I think it’s so important to challenge yourself regularly.

5 benefits of challenging yourself:

1. Gets rid of fear. Challenging yourself puts you outside of your comfort zone, which means facing your fear and more importantly overcoming it. If you don’t, you won’t achieve your goal. What better way to get rid of a fear than face it head on?

2. Develops mental toughness. Success begins in the mind and all challenges are initially won or lost before you even start. Nothing worth having in life is easy. If you tell yourself you can’t do something then the negative monkey has won immediately. Improving your mental toughness will help you deal with and get through challenges you face in day to day life.

3. Improves self-confidence. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will help improve your self-confidence. You have 100% control over how you think. Don’t let the little voice in the back of your head come up with a million reasons not to do something – get rid of it.

4. Concentrates your energy. A challenge focuses your energy and attention. It demands dedication and passion to succeed. This energy can be transferred to different aspects of your life, helping you cope with the more difficult ones.

5. Tests your limits. This can be either your physical or mental limits (or even both). You will never know what you are capable of until you push yourself and test your limits. Take a risk!

Every time you challenge yourself you expand the size of your comfort zone. Leaving your comfort zone helps you deal with changes in your life in a much better way. Yes of course it can be daunting and maybe a little overwhelming, but do you really want to go through life accepting mediocre because you don’t want to challenge yourself?

Remember your goals and dreams are out there just waiting for you to grab them. You are capable of doing whatever you want and so much more than you believe! Think about it!

Make the Change!

Chris