Some challenges you consciously chose. Others were brought on by circumstances out of your conscious control.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

Sometimes you change for the better. You become wiser so you make better choices going forward. You become stronger and more resilient, able to face life’s challenges with more confidence and certainty. You become bolder, because you realize if you could meet the last challenge you are now ready for an even bigger one.

Sometimes you change for the worse. You allow fear to take hold, and in taking steps to protect yourself you close yourself off to relationships or opportunities. You allow anger or bitterness to grow roots that sap your happiness and limit your sense of possibility.

Whether you chose the challenge or not, however, you do get to choose how it changes you, for better or for worse.

You know when you are changing – the way you think, the things you are doing, the things you are becoming capable of doing, and the progress you are experiencing that you weren’t experiencing before you started. Positive changes are both the fuel for your motivation and the key indicator that you are challenging yourself enough to get to the next level.

What is the next challenge for you – the one that will be the source of positive change and empower you to take your performance to the next level?

Summing-up: Change doesn’t just happen – it is a response to being challenged. If you want to make a change in yourself, all you need to do is take on a challenge big enough to change you.