Career Tip Tuesday: Time to Challenge Yourself

(Flickr)

You feel overwhelmed at work. There are too many monotonous tasks to complete and not enough time for all of them. Your energy levels feel exhausted. The problem here is you aren't challenging yourself. If the thought of taking on a challenge gives you anxiety, then you are looking at challenges in the wrong light. The right challenge shouldn't make you feel overwhelmed, it should energize you whenever you think about it. It can, also, help you advance and succeed in life and your career.

Here's how you know if you found the right challenge:

1. Does it hold a significant level of importance to you?

A challenge that you find worthwhile will increase your confidence after it is complete. Not only will you finish with a higher sense of self-assurance, you will feel fulfilled and be able to take on the next challenge without hesitation.

2. Is it measurable?

Being able to measure your efforts and performance will help you determine your success rate. If you don’t set up measures of success you will look back on your hard work and not be aware of the long way you have advanced, leaving you discouraged.

3. Does it have a deadline?

This goes hand-in-hand with knowing how to measure your accomplishment. You can’t take on a challenge without knowing the end date. If you have taken on a big challenge such as starting your own business or learning a new language you can set up checkpoints to see the progress you’ve made.  It’s good to remind yourself that you are staying on track to mastering that challenge.

Challenges force you to get out of your comfort zone, broaden your skill set, and push your capabilities. Taking on the responsibility of tackling a challenge will have a positive effect on you. Look for a small one to achieve first then move on to a larger one. As you continue to take on more challenges you will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride because you are learning to take risks in your everyday life instead of being a bystander. Don’t forget to share your experiences, goals, progress, and achievements with those who care about you.