Self-Improvement: Overcoming the Challenges

People have different backgrounds and different types of upbringings. During the journey of life, we develop and pick up habits, tendencies and inclinations, which become deeply embedded into our being as the years go by. Then comes a time when we realize that success demands that we lay down some of the habits and tendencies we have comfortably lived with all our lives. This is when we lazily drag our feet to the starting point of a journey we are not sure we will complete; self-improvement. Self-improvement is not an easy journey, and it really works against the grain of what you believe in or want to believe in. it often transcends the norm in our lives and brings in a new us altogether. 

 

Life is a challenging journey studded with problems and challenges here and there. At times, we tend to cringe and defend ourselves from the difficulties we face; at other times, we get on the offensive and start doing weird things to counter the effect of these challenges. However, facing these challenges and using the right tools is what is usually required if we are ever going to be successful. This is not to say that discouragement will not come or that when it comes it shows weakness on your part. It is common for you to reach a point where you are sure that your journey of self-improvement has been or needs to be called off. The big question is how you handle it. 

 

In his book, “Born to Win”, Lewis Timberlake says, “It is not what happens but how you react to what happens that separates winners from losers and the successful from the unsuccessful.” This can’t be better said, because it is the absolute truth. Every person has his own share of challenges to deal with every single day, but those who choose to face it positively usually emerge that day’s winners. 

 

As a matter of fact, there lies an opportunity in every challenge; no challenge comes empty handed, without its reward at hand. For instance, who would have thought that the rude interruption of Isaac Newton’s sleep by an apple from a tree hitting his head would lead to the all-time discovery of the gravity principle, which today is used in almost every technological concept? Environmental pollution by garbage is a problem, and many people are making thousands of dollars a day by just solving the problem through garbage collection, safe disposal, recycling, et cetera. Every need presents an opportunity.