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Who likes problems or challenges in life? If we are to be honest, we don’t like them very much. It’s very natural to view them as our adversaries. However, much like resistance training with weights that can build muscle so challenges in life can make us stronger and more resilient too.

What if we could have a shift in our thinking? What if the challenges and problems of life are not our adversaries but rather opportunities for greater growth and development? Or as Tony Robbins expresses it, “life is not happening to us but for us.” Here are five things to consider about challenges and difficulties in life.

1. Opportunities For Growth

With every challenge and obstacle, you face you can learn something new or expand your own knowledge base, skills, and capabilities. Knowledge is powerful. When you learn a new skill, it is not only empowering for you, but it is something no one can take from you. It is another tool to add to your tool belt.

2. Enhance Problem-Solving Skills

When you stop running from problems and engage with them you are also increasing your problem-solving abilities. It may seem that others are better at problem solving than yourself. However, problem solving is something we all can grow into and the more you do it the easier it becomes to tackle the more complex issues in life.

3. Tap into Innovation and Creativity

When faced with a problem or challenge, you may now be forced to explore unconventional approaches, or experiment with new ideas, and push the boundaries of your own thinking. Thomas Edison didn’t know he needed a light bulb until his gas was turned off.

4. Developing Emotional Intelligence

What if embracing challenges helps you to develop greater emotional intelligence? Having emotional intelligence is the equivalence of having emotional maturity. My Dad always said, “hardships build character.” He wasn’t so far off base. People that have experienced some difficult things in life and overcome them tend to be stronger, more resilient, and more compassionate people. Across the board they now say that emotional intelligence or emotional maturity is a key to success in life both personally and professionally.

5. Cultivating A Positive Mindset

When we tackle problems and difficulties, believe it or not, we are developing a more positive mindset. A person with a positive mindset sees difficulties and challenges not as the end of the road but as steppingstones for improvement and greater success. A positive mindset also enhances our overall wellbeing and opens the door for personal and professional achievements and opportunities. After all, who doesn’t like to be around a more positive person?

In conclusion, how we view the challenges and difficulties in our life matters. Your problems and difficulties aren’t necessarily your enemy. Rather than seeing life as happening to you, why not consider that maybe life is happening for you. What might need to change? Could there be opportunities for you to learn something new, expand your horizon, your knowledge, skill set, creativity, or personal development? At the end of the day, it really comes down to how you view it!