The boss calls and tells you that the report you need next week is due tomorrow. His son has so far “forgotten” that he has an important homework project due tomorrow. You are forced to help them. These are just a couple of simple but fairly common challenges that most people face on a regular basis. They are external so they are easy to recognize.

We have to understand that challenges are good for us. They help us grow (if you’re up for the challenge) as people and give us a higher threshold for staying calm under pressure. If we know that being challenged regularly is good for us, how do we make sure it’s happening?

The challenges do not have to be great. It could be something as simple as not eating that little snack bar while you’re dieting, no matter how much it calls your name. It’s doing your training regardless of how tired you are (unless you’re overtraining) and not making the excuse that you’ll make it up the next day, because you won’t. It’s waking up an hour earlier every day and studying and practicing to rank in the top one percent of people in your industry.

There are a couple of keywords that correlate with being up to the challenge. One of those words is self discipline. the other is perseverance. Self-discipline is doing what is necessary, even when we don’t really want too much. Perseverance is not giving up doing what is necessary when everything seems to be going against us.

At what level do you possess these two qualities? They also happen to be great character traits. If you’re known as the person who does what he says he’s going to do and doesn’t stop until he does it, people will notice. Having these two qualities is very quickly noticed by those above you, because they most likely have these qualities (part of the reason they are above you).

If you have a tendency to quickly “throw in the towel” when challenged, fear not. These two character traits can develop quite quickly. As I said at the beginning, the small steps are just as important as the big ones. Baby steps can be putting your things where they belong (the same way you do with your kids) the moment you get home from work, a night out, a family event, or wherever you’re coming from. Because things that don’t take time to do don’t take time to stop doing.

Be responsible for your actions and have the self-discipline and perseverance to face all challenges, big and small.