Change Sparks Growth

What are some of your goals? Maybe they have to do with changing yourself or changing your situation. In order to achieve your goals, you will likely need to grow and develop yourself in some manner. This growth and development is change.

Camden picks out his goal for the climb

Sometimes changes to our situation are outside of our control. While this can be frustrating and at times intimidating, we still need to work through the challenges we are faced with. In doing so we are also working on our personal growth and development.

In both cases, change presents a number of challenges you will need to address if you have the determination to continue in pursuit of your goals.

Change, challenge, and growth go hand in hand.

Sooner or Later

When you come up against a challenging situation, how often do you find yourself giving up in hope of there being an easier path rather than working through the difficulty?
 
There have been plenty of challenges I have faced over the years. Some I tackled, others I turned away from. As you’d expect, some of the ones I took on resulted in failure. It seems most of the challenges I chose to avoid ended up coming back across my path at a later point.

In either case there were plenty more challenges ahead.

With this understanding, I find myself more inclined to approach challenges head-on. Even if I fail today, I can walk away with two things in mind: knowing I did not give up and gaining insight on where I need to improve.

Some Challenges Are Too Difficult...At This Point
 
Giving up when encountering adversity may be seen as self-preservation in some instances, but in many cases it has a detrimental effect. Giving up too soon means you are giving up on yourself, which can lead to lower self-esteem. 
 
If you take on a challenge and fail, you have a better chance at walking away with insight on why the challenge was too much to overcome at this point in time. With that knowledge, you are better equipped to formulate a plan to strengthen yourself. By working on improving yourself, you will have a better chance at overcoming that challenge in the future. If your goal is worth it, you will face the challenge again.
 
When a problem is too much for me to handle, I look for ways to break the larger problem into stages. Smaller challenges can be easier to tackle. As I progress through the smaller challenges and stages, I am not only building my skills, but also experiencing an increase in my sense of self-worth. 
 
This positive reinforcement of my abilities compounds as I progress through each of the stages, ultimately achieving success in overcoming what had previously been a challenge I couldn't handle. Successes like this provide me with a tremendous boost in self-confidence.

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Sullivan is focussed on his goal of reaching the first branch

Our climbers experience this firsthand. When they show up without ever having climbed with rope and saddle, we start them off with a basic understanding of the technique necessary to climb. It is their determination and physical ability that will be required to reach their ultimate goal. 

​Your goal may be to reach the top of your rope. Seeing the goal and wanting to be there is not enough to get you there. You will have to work for it and it will be challenging. However, if you remain focussed on taking small steps upward, you will eventually reach that goal.

​For those people who lose focus on or try to skip the steps required to take them higher, it is highly unlikely they will reach the top before they are exhausted and frustrated. While the encouragement we provide is powerful, our most effective form of assistance is to bring their focus back to tackling the small challenges.

When smaller, more manageable challenges are accomplished back to back, you are able to achieve your ultimate goal for the day.

Change Is Inevitable...Thankfully
 
When I do not have others around to help encourage and motivate me as I work through a challenging time, I have to rely on myself. This is best done when I face the challenge rather than avoiding it.

If it is too great for me today, then I will take it one day and one step at a time. In doing so, not only will I be more likely to succeed, but also better capable of achieving more difficult challenges that lay ahead.

Whatever changes and challenges await me tomorrow, I welcome them because I take comfort in knowing that they will keep me growing.

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Liz sits back to enjoy the view (and her accomplishment!)