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When You Face A Challenge, Do You Give Up Or Tackle It?

We all have the choice to give up or tackle our challenge. There are many different challenges we will all face in our lives. I hope that my story of the biggest challenge I've faced so far, and my decision to push forward everyday will inspire you to also make the choice to tackle any challenge you face.
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Portrait of a woman starting the jogging.
Xavier Arnau via Getty Images
Portrait of a woman starting the jogging.

On May 14, 2016 I did my second TEDx talk. This particular talk was extremely important to me because it allowed me to share an idea that is relevant to everyone.

It is the idea of making a choice when facing an obstacle or roadblock. We all have the choice to GIVE UP or TACKLE our challenge.

There are many different challenges we will all face in our lives. It can be a small obstacle that can be conquered in an hour or a monumental challenge that takes months to beat.

I invite you to think of some challenges. To jog the memory (I always need a visual image to get the ol' noggin thinking), here are some potential obstacles that you may have faced or are currently facing:

•If you don't make the soccer team at school this year, do you decide you're done with soccer or do you choose to practice, learn more and work at it until you DO make the team?

•Have you applied for a job and do not get an offer? Do you give up trying to get into that company or do you ask and understand the reasons why, what would make a more compelling application and re-apply?

•Have you had to cut back on expenses and need to cook at home instead of eating out every day? Do you look up some simple recipes and try again and again until you become confident in your cooking abilities or do you throw in the towel after your first burnt chicken?

•Do you want to learn how to salsa dance but let fear hold you back from signing up and participating?

•Is there a colleague that constantly takes credit for your work leading your boss to believe that he/she deserves the next promotion (and not you)? Do you choose to speak with your colleague, get them to understand how this is affecting you, understand their reasoning and ensure this does not happen again? Or do you allow your colleagues behavior to continue and avoid any confrontation out of fear?

Tackling challenges takes time and we can't go from zero to 100 in one shot.

The list of challenges that we may face are endless. But let's think deeper. What is the last challenge you faced? What did you do? How did you react? What was the outcome?

If you did give up or turn away from your challenge, why did you make that choice? Was it fear? Were you setting yourself up for failure before you could even begin? Do you not believe in your heart that you can do it? Was it a lack of confidence in your abilities?

I believe that the more we examine our challenges, our choices and why we have made that choice, the more we learn about ourselves. Tackling challenges takes time and we can't go from zero to 100 in one shot. It's all about taking those small steps forward in any challenge we face so that we can increase confidence and see what we are capable of for next time.

I hope that my story of the biggest challenge I've faced so far, and my decision to push forward everyday will inspire you to also make the choice to tackle ANY challenge you face.

TEDx Talk:

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