Although it is not always fun, it can be good to challenge yourself.  It provides us all with many benefits. Some of them may be immediately observable. Others, however, may not be distinguishable until further reflection and introspection have been made.  Regardless of whether you are making a conscious decision to challenge yourself or not, it is still happening, and you can still benefit from it.

Difficulties take you out of your comfort zone.

Challenging times in life can be difficult to navigate sometimes.  Because you are not in familiar territory you will likely be less at ease. Fortunately, these situations can teach us a lot if we allow them.

When you are out of your comfort zone, you are in new terrain. It is scary at first. Thankfully, it will not remain that way forever.

Example:

Bob needs to give a presentation at work.

Bob is out of his comfort zone.  He is anxious to give the presentation.  This experience can teach him valuable information.

Such as:

• How to improve his communication skills
• How to give a presentation
• Learning proper stress reduction techniques

Perhaps most importantly, how to go about similar situations in the future.

When a person is out of their comfort zone they will feel like they have no control. If a person feels like they have no control over the situation they will feel powerless. In order to fix this, it is essential to go through the experience.

As uncomfortable as it may be, it is a learning experience. If we are more familiar with something then we will be less anxious about it.

After Bob has his first presentation, he will be more equipped for future presentations.

Challenging yourself on purpose

Top 10 Reasons to Challenge Yourself – Student Competitions

Sometimes it can be good to purposely challenge yourself. Doing this will do all of the things listed above and more. When you do this, you should know that things may not be ideal. You need to understand that the situation may become challenging. This SHOULDN’T matter because all of the discomforts are temporary. The lessons you learn are permanent.

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself. Although being out of your comfort zone may not be fun, what may have been scary before, will be of no issue in the future. Our experiences teach us a lot of valuable information. Sometimes we will be forced into these circumstances. Other times, we can place ourselves there purposely as a means of personal growth.

Regardless of which category you fall into it is important to remember two things. First, things will be okay soon enough. Secondly, the reaction that you have to situations now can be indicative of how you will behave in the future. Don’t be afraid of the challenge, embrace it