Why Challenges Make Us Stronger
A Lesson for Ourselves and Our Children
Many people want to win in life. They want success for themselves, and they especially want their children to succeed. Yet, at the same time, they resist challenges and try to remove every obstacle from their children's paths. They give them everything they never had, thinking this will help them succeed. But the truth is, we cannot perform better if we are not challenged. Growth comes from struggle, perseverance, and learning to push through difficulties—not from avoiding them.
Why We Need to Be Challenged
Challenges force us to rise above our current level of performance. When we consistently push ourselves beyond our comfort zones, we build resilience, mental toughness, and self-discipline. If we never test our limits, we remain stagnant. True success comes when we commit to continuous improvement—becoming better today than we were yesterday.
Too often, people measure success by comparing themselves to others. We want what others have, or we want more for ourselves and our children, yet we don’t want the discomfort of hard work, sacrifice, or struggle. But real victory is not found in comparison—it is found in self-improvement. The goal should not be to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves.
The Benefits of Embracing Challenges
When we accept and seek challenges, we develop qualities that benefit every area of life:
Stronger Work Ethic – Struggle teaches perseverance, dedication, and discipline, which are essential to long-term success.
Mental Toughness – Facing difficulties head-on helps us handle stress and setbacks with confidence rather than fear.
Greater Resilience – The more we overcome, the stronger we become. Learning to push through challenges makes us better equipped to handle life’s unexpected difficulties.
Higher Self-Esteem – Achievements that come from hard work and perseverance build genuine confidence. When we overcome challenges, we recognize our strength.
Physical & Mental Health Benefits – Physically, challenging ourselves (whether through exercise, new skills, or problem-solving) improves brain function, reduces stress, and boosts overall well-being. Mentally, it fosters a sense of accomplishment, motivation, and purpose.
Why Our Children Need to Be Challenged
Many parents want their children to succeed, but in an effort to make life easy for them, they remove every obstacle in their path. While it comes from a place of love, this can have damaging effects. Children who are never challenged:
Struggle to handle failure because they’ve never had to overcome real difficulty.
Develop entitlement, expecting life to be easy and rewards to come without effort.
Lack problem-solving skills because they’ve never had to push through obstacles on their own.
Instead of shielding our children from challenges, we should teach them to face and overcome them. Encourage them to work hard, allow them to struggle, and support them in developing perseverance. Struggle is not harmful—it is necessary for growth.
Winning Means Continual Growth
If we want true success, we must stop comparing ourselves to the world and start focusing on personal growth. The goal should not be to have more than others, but to become better than we were yesterday. True winning is found in self-improvement—pushing ourselves to be stronger, wiser, and more disciplined with each passing day.
Instead of avoiding challenges, let’s embrace them. Instead of making life easy for our children, let’s prepare them for the reality of life by allowing them to struggle and overcome. Because real success is not found in avoiding difficulty—it’s found in rising above it.