Penny Power Ponders - ‘Why we all need to be challenged’

This week, I have been thinking about the benefits of adversity and challenges. It came from a moment last week when I appreciated my desire to keep pushing my brain and learn new things. I was on an AI Training day, provided by James Pick, one of our wonderful BIP100 Members, myself and 19 other BIPPers pushing our brains hard to ensure we were never obsolete!

I imagine anyone reading this Ponderings will be able to think about the moments in their life when they hit a wall. Exhausted with work, perhaps feeling a sense of scarcity, and feeling overwhelmed and the last thing they wanted was to add more to their life, however what we want and what we need are often distinctly different.

We can all remember the metaphoric glass by our bed, already full to the top before we open our eyes, and then the moment we open our phone or laptop, we start to try to pour more water into it, and it overflows immediately. I can never forget that feeling.

The trouble with these moments is that we can’t work effectively, and we can’t innovate, which is exactly what we need to do. Ideas, helpful comments, they do not work, we are full.

So, why did I choose such a positive title? ‘Why we all need to be challenged’.

I have witnessed in myself, that when I stop and listen, deeply listen to the messages I am getting from deep within myself, these are the moments that I grow. These are the moments that I find healing, the moment when I see some light and a path I can follow.

I think our minds and bodies work so beautifully together, sending us messages, and we have to choose whether to take on the challenge that is being offered.

I have had many moments like this, on a personal note, when our children were young, I tried desperately to blend my life, I found myself taking work calls in my car when I collected the kids from school, I would work on my laptop while they had their dinner at the same table. I thought that at least I was with them. This lasted for about 6 months, until one night, I had what can only be described as an out of body experience’.

I woke up, went downstairs, the dogs started barking at me, and the kids came down and ignored me. Hannah kept saying ‘mum, you're not here, mum you're not here”.

I went back upstairs and as I walked into the bedroom, I saw my body still in bed. It totally freaked me out. Hannah was still fast asleep in her bed, it was all in my imagination, was it a dream??

Later that day, I was fortunate to have a conversation with a wise person, who told me that I had experienced an ‘out of body experience’, and asked me to share what words I could remember. I recounted the words Hannah said.

It all became clear, I was not focused on the moment I was in. What a gift, I listened and I took action. I stopped? trying to blend my life, creating boundaries of time and pressuring all the individual experiences I was being given.

This is a dramatic story, however, I am sharing this to illustrate the way our mind and body will tell us what we need to know. When we listen closely.

There are moments in our life and business when we love growth, growth of our brains and skills, other times when we are so overwhelmed, we cannot consider it. When I look back, I know there are moments that my performance would have been greater if I had found a way to manage my overwhelm, taken better care of myself, and taken on challenges that I needed to do.

So my Ponderings this week are suggesting to you that you take a quiet moment and ask yourself:

1. What is challenging me most at the moment?

2. What part of me needs to grow? Is it personal growth or a new skill?

3. What needs attention in my life or business??

4. What do I need to do to ensure that I am not stopping something beautiful emerging in my life or business?

5. How do I find that time to learn and develop?

Life definitely throws us a curve ball, and sometimes, that turns out to be a joy, enjoy the sport of challenges, they are sent for a reason. If you value these reflections, my Ponderings, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter.

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Let's make 2025 a year where our digital advancements celebrate and amplify our human essence. Thank you for being part of this journey, and for allowing me the privilege to share in your lives.