Do you think it's important to challenge yourself each day?
I certainly do, it's one of the biggest driving factors in my life; I want to be the absolute best I can be and to leave a legacy after I'm gone.
By "challenge", I mean to push yourself further either physically or mentally beyond your perceived limits. To study longer than you want to, to work out harder even when you're ready to give up; to face adversary and hold your ground.
Life will always give you challenges, and life isn't always fair - but it's fair enough. Having a strong mental foundation allows you to take what life is going to throw at you and not crumble when times get tough.
It's okay to have reactions and to feel your emotions, but when you let them throw your life off track, or when you let other people own space in your mind, that's when you get into trouble.
As a personal example, my father died at a fairly young age just a couple of months ago. It was the most painful thing I've ever experienced, and I've had an unusual amount of friends that have died in my young 28 years of life.
The night my dad died I was an absolute mess, but I couldn't let it stop me from living my life. So the next day I dusted myself off and decided it was my duty at this point to live my life to the absolute fullest in his honor.
Before this incident, I already had the mindset of being the best I could be and to challenge myself to be better today than I was yesterday, however, his death cemented in my mind the fact that you don't know when your last day on this earth will be, so you don't have the time to slack off.
Work hard, rest, recover and get back after it again. Don't let anyone keep you from being yourself, and never let anyone tell you what you can't do!
