Am I challenging myself enough?

Sometimes I see all the folks talking about "doing hard things", and I wonder if I challenge myself enough. 🤔

I had an opportunity to rethink that perspective, however, during my recent podcast interview with Rich Wright.

Our wide ranging conversation covered a number of interesting topics, and a fun moment came when I looked back on some of my childhood experiences and realized something interesting:

I think I understood at a relatively young age the joy in being good at something that actually isn't that hard for you. 💡

And being able to actually enjoy that instead of feeling like I should work harder or I should go find something that is harder for me, or that I should challenge myself more.

Because it wasn't like I wasn't challenging myself - I found plenty of ways to challenge myself within my strengths.

And that allowed me to challenge myself in ways that felt joyful.

For example, I was naturally quite good at playing the clarinet, and I had lots of experience in the "concert band" setting, where I was one of many clarinets.

And I challenged myself by playing in the pit orchestra for the musical, where I was one of only a few clarinets. Where I might be the only person playing a specific part, and any mistakes could be much more audible.

That said, this was an opportunity for me to do something I was naturally good at and I felt comfortable doing, just in a much more uncomfortable environment.

And that allowed me to stretch myself in ways that worked for me, that felt joyful.

So how do you challenge yourself? Do you find joy in it, or is it a slog?

About the podcast

It was so fun to chat with Rich Wright about my journey from professional stage management to tech startups to coaching (and founding my own business!)

We talked about all sorts of topics, including:

--> aligning personal values with the work you do
--> salary negotiation (and how I failed miserably my first time around 😂)
--> how creativity shows up in every person (and job!)

And much more.

You can watch the full episode below - let me know if you watch or listen.

And check out Rich's other episodes of the Artist Recovery Podcast for some fascinating stories from other creative and curious humans.