Embracing Personal Challenges

Life is full of challenges. Learning to walk and talk takes about a year before the pieces start falling into place. Graduating from grade school takes 12 years. Raising children takes 18 or more. These are big, everyday challenges that we quite take for granted. Expected on some level. We accept them as given.

But what about the kinds of challenges that are easily avoided by quitting? Finishing a semester of college. Running a marathon. Writing a novel. These take something else: a conscious decision on our part to keep at it. Charles Kettering, the longtime head of General Motors back in their early days, once said…

“No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in a storm.”

The truth is, there are lots of things that are tough.

If everything was easy, we’d all be doing it. There are rewards for those who do the hard things, for those who stay on the ship.

A few weeks ago, Seth Godin posted a blog called The First Nine Minutes. In it, he talks about making a batch of homemade marshmallow, which takes about ten minutes, calling it “an exercise in patience.” Interesting that a ten-minute anything would be an exercise in patience, but he goes on to say,

“For the first nine minutes…not much happens. And then, it [the liquid] transforms into something fluffy and delightful. Without the recipe, it’s unlikely that most folks would make it to minute five, never mind ten. Knowing it can be done makes it far more likely we’re going to stick it out and do it again.”

Everyone has something they’re struggling to finish. Heck, I have many. A sidewalk project without landscaping. A living room awaiting built-in bookcases. A chair in need of some refinishing. These are small in the scheme of things and may be why I put them off. I know I’ll finish them one day. But what about harder things, like running a marathon or writing a novel? What’s holds us back?

Which brings me to today’s topic. Embracing personal challenges.

I’m writing a novel. One that I’ve been writing for ten years. Yes, you heard that right. There are several things I can tell you about writing a novel for ten years.

• I am a better writer than I was ten years ago.
• I now have a process that’s working for me, rather than against me.
• I know the beginning, middle, and end of my book.
• I know the point I want to make. And why my main character is the right person to make that point.
• I know what the story is and what it isn’t.
• I refuse to get off the ship.

It’s an undeniable truth that the first attempt to do anything is the hardest. Ride a bike. Make a speech. Drive a car. And the challenge is not just about the end result. It’s also about the transformation that occurs during the journey. I remember my dad racing next to me the first time the training wheels came off. Eventually, my confidence connected with my feet, and he could no longer keep up. When he finally let go, there was a moment of jubilation. I was flying.

This is how I feel about writing. I am flying.

The initial plunge into the unknown is scary. It tests your resolve and forces you to confront the limits of your comfort zone. But once you’ve emerged on the other side, once you’ve ridden out the storm, you carry that resilience wherever you go. You can do it again.

It’s not that subsequent challenges are cake walks. They still demand your sweat, tears, and a commitment to see the thing through. But now, you’ve done it before. You’ve embraced the challenge and emerged a champion. The blank page, the academic work, the marathon miles-they are no longer the storm; they are your strength.

So, here’s to your first nine minutes, your storm, the struggles that make you question your sanity, and the triumphs that will soon follow. Don’t fear the challenge; embrace it. Once you’ve crossed the finish line, you become proof that it can be done. And from that point onward, every challenge is a reminder of the fighter within you, ready to face the next mountain and then the next.

Nancy Clements is a certified book coach.

You can reach me at Nancy@SecondActBookCoaching.com and tell me about your writing journey.

Continue the conversation:

What challenges have you crushed in the past and what did you learn?