How to Choose the Right Challenges

Good morning.

I’ve had a little bit of a crazy week, with a very intense back and forth trip from San Francisco to Phoenix on Sunday. I haven’t quite recalibrated, caught up on sleep, or found my writing self again.

How are you doing this week? I feel out of touch!

This morning I have a guest post up over at The Change Blog. I feel so passionate about the topic of this piece I just want to get up on a soapbox and talk to everyone about it!

The piece is about challenge, what kinds of challenges serve us, and what kinds don’t. It’s about a mistake that I see people making again and again: thinking that challenges will help them grow, get stronger, get better — but picking the kinds of challenges that really only batter their souls.

The point of view I’ve arrived at here is hard-won from many long chats on the couch with friends, as we debated questions like these in their lives and mine:

Should I take the prestigious job with the unfriendly corporate culture and boss whose work style is the opposite of mine, because I’d get a thick skin and learn to work in these kinds of “real-world” environments?

Should I “balance out” my resume and my strengths in creative thinking by taking a job that is really about linear, left-brain execution? Or should I do more creative thinking-focused work?

Should I choose the grad school program that sounds demanding and scary or the one that feels comfy and that makes me exhale a sigh of relief?

Please join me over there today, and share your thoughts and experience on this topic. I’m really curious to hear what you think about this.

Love,

Tara