The Importance of Challenges

1. Mt. Everest a. Does anyone recognize where this is? b. This is Mt. Everest. c. It is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet. d. As many of you know it is the worlds largest mountain.

2. Mt. Everest cont. a. Mt. Everest, at its peak, reaches an elevation of 29,029 ft. b. Despite its size, many people have chosen to scale the mountain. c. In fact, 5,652 people have scaled the mountain since its first ascent in 1953.

3. Danger a. Those that have chosen to scale the mountain have had to overcome many challenges. b. These challenges include lack of oxygen, shifting ice, surprise snow storms, avalanches, and an average summit temperature of -32 F.

4. Death. a. Due to the harsh environment on the mountain. 223 people have died. b. So, why do nearly 150 people per year attempt to climb the mountain? c. Despite the aggravation and discomfort that it brings them.

5. Why? a. If you were to ask anyone who has climbed the mountain, they would tell you that the discomfort of the climb was worth the reward of reaching the summit. b. They would tell you that it was the challenge of climbing the mountain that made the reward so sweat.

Lifes challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, theyre supposed to help you discover who you are.
- Berniee Reagon

6. Challenges a. My goal today is not to convince you to climb Mt. Everest. b. Instead, my goal is to talk to you about the importance of challenges and the role that they play in our lives. c. There are two main categories that all challenges fall under.

7. Positive a. The first category is positive challenges. b. Positive challenges are those that uplift you from your normal condition, improving your life. c. An example of a positive challenge is asking for a raise.

8. Positive cont. a. Even though you might be satisfied with your current job, taking the challenge to ask for a raise, will improve your life. b. You often have to seek out positive challenges.

9. Negative a. The second category is negative challenges. b. Negative challenges involve coming out of a negative or degrading situation. c. Debt is an example of a negative challenge. d. We do not usually seek out negative challenges.

10. Positive vs. Negative a. When we think of challenges, we often think of negative challenges. b. We must learn however, to change our mindset. c. We must not fail to see the benefit of positive challenges. d. We can also learn to change our perspective about negative challenges.

11. Changing perspectives a. In order to climb Mt. Everest, many negative challenges must be overcome. b. However, those who choose to climb the mountain look at it as a positive challenge. c. They focus on the reward. d. The reward of this challenge may be a story or an improved sense of worth.

12. Importance of challenges a. Both negative and positive challenges influence different aspects of our lives. b. Despite are unwillingness to engage challenges, we must learn to accept them. C. I will now explain why challenges are important.

13. Challenges give meaning to life a. First, challenges are important because they give meaning to life. b. Now I am sure if people were given the chance, some might wish to avoid challenges altogether. C. Those people would soon find however, that their lives would become boring.

14. Challenges give meaning to life cont. a. There is a reason, why the wealthy continue to work and that some people choose to retire as late as possible. b. It is the sense of challenge that drives these people forward and often times leads to their initial success.

15. Challenges are learning opportunities a. Another important aspect of challenges is that they provide a learning experience. b. You learn the most when you are challenged. c. If you are not challenge, in math for example. Then you will not be able to progress in your understanding of the subject.

16. Challenges make your stronger. a. Another benefit of challenges is that they make you stronger. b. It is the same concept as the common saying, whatever doesnt kill you only makes you stronger . c. Challenges of any type will make you stronger.

Emotionally

Physically

17. Challenges make you stronger cont. a. Working out at the gym will make you physically stronger. b. Doing challenging chemistry problems will make you mentally stronger c. Overcoming emotional problems will make you emotionally stronger. d. Without challenges we would appear to be physically and mentally weak.

Mentally

18. Challenges and innovation a. The final benefit of challenges is innovation. b. When people strive to overcome their negative situations or to improve their life, innovation is traditionally the result. c. Just in the last century, innovation has produce the automobile, the refrigerator, and the computer.

19. How to get the best out of challenges a. In order to get the most out of challenges we have to change our attitude towards them. b. If you have a negative attitude towards challenges, then they will appear to be stressful. c. This will lead to a decrease in performance and will lead you to become demotivated.

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who dont want it badly enough. Theyre there to stop the other people. Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

20. How to get the best out of challenges a. If we keep in mind that all challenges, both negative and positive, have their benefits, then we will decrease the amount of stress in our lives. b. We need to view challenges as the steps needed to reach a higher level of success.