Why are challenges good for us?

[dubbyalex3]

What should be my motivation/drive to want to actively pursue hard goals and try to achieve something big? Why do people do it, what do they get?

[Sahil Pandit]

@dubbyalex3 When something is over your head, you are FORCED to grow.

It's like doing a pull up. It's hard and challenging/intimidating at first, but you gain strength by facing that adversity. 

[Roman25]

It can help you with having more of an understanding of going through difficulties in life. It can also lead to massive rewards such as becoming rich or having long-term happiness.

[K VIL]

as cliche, it prepares you to love the easy stuff you normally take for granted

[Charlotte]

6 hours ago, dubbyalex3 said:

What should be my motivation/drive to want to actively pursue hard goals and try to achieve something big?

The realisation and the observation that the only thing that was holding you back is you/your mind. 

[ajasatya]

@dubbyalex3 try spending an entire month without challenges. you'll see that we actually depend on challenges to enjoy life. it's the nature of all animals.

people who choose to live a complacent and lazy life deteriorate VERY QUICKLY.

[kieranperez]

This is both a silly and also good question. 

I remember reading somewhere that the reason we seek challenge in the modern world now is because we are faced with so little of it now. I found this to be very true. We’re so soft and comfortable that it takes a certain mind to create illusory challenges. The question with that though is - are you doing that consciously or unconsciously? Are you creating these challenges? What are these challenges motivatated by? Did you create these challenges or are you following challenges that culture has programmed you to follow? 

It really all depends. If we look at this from a scientific rationalist paradigm we would say that: Stress + Rest = Growth

However, I don’t suggest that if you’re unmotivated, depressed, suicidal, and mentally unstable to go corner yourself in life for the sake of challenging yourself and demanding growth. That’s like a kid whose never lifted a day in his life at the gym to go bench press 300 pounds without a spotter. That kid is just going to hurt himself. I don’t care how much determination he has. He can’t do it. So it’s a balance and you need to find what that is for you. 

In the end though it’s because all fulfillment and growth comes from challenge. You don’t get something from nothing. 

As far as what your motivation should be, I suggest you intuit what that needs to be and start living it. This is a lot of what @Leo Gura‘s episode on the humans being the bullshitting animal is about. This is really how the mind works. In the end, there’s no ethereal motivation as to why you should challenge yourself. Which is actually a blind spot a lot of very successful people have. They want to believe in what they’re doing and that reinforces their actions. If they saw that blind spot though, they might actually apply that same hard work ethic into a motivation that’s authentic to them. That’s a process though that takes real introspection but also really soul searching which often involves life experiences and action. Be deliberate. Find a challenge that you really want to take on. It doesn’t need to be some Mt. Everest thing. Most people who are successful in whatever it is they do (and that includes spirituality) don’t ALWAYS have a massive vision. Sometimes visualizing winning an NBA championship works for some people. More often than not though, they start out just wanting to get the ball into the basket and they love doing that and then want to get better at doing that and then their vision blossoms. 

Hope this helps ❤️

[aurum]

18 hours ago, dubbyalex3 said:

What should be my motivation/drive to want to actively pursue hard goals and try to achieve something big? Why do people do it, what do they get?

Because if you don't, you'll just stagnate and get comfortable. That will lead to a lot of pain. You're not even alive, you're just a body that continues to survive.