Why Challenging Yourself is the Key to Unleashing Your Potential
I remember the first time I leg pressed a weight that terrified me. My heart was racing, my breath shallow, and my brain whispered there’s no way you can do this. But I did. I pressed. And when I took a picture to send to my trainer, Tiffany, because I couldn’t believe it. Afterwards, I stood tall, legs trembling from effort but smiling with pride, I understood something powerful: growth lives in doing things you don’t think you’re capable of.
Dan Martell puts it best: “Your capacity is expanded at your extremities.”
That phrase stuck with me. Because it’s not just about muscles or metrics. It’s about life.
The truth is, we all have invisible limits we’ve drawn around ourselves. And while comfort is cozy, it’s also a trap. Growth doesn’t come from ease. It comes from challenges, from choosing to go one more rep, ask one harder question, or feel one more uncomfortable emotion.
Whether you’re leading a team or leading yourself, your next breakthrough is waiting just past the edge of what feels doable. And in that stretch, you don’t just change what you can do, you change who you are.
Let’s explore how to challenge yourself across your physical, mental, and emotional health—and why doing so might be the most important leadership move you ever make.
- Stretching Your Body: The Discipline of Physical Challenge
Your body is your home—and often your clearest mirror. When you push yourself physically, you don’t just build strength or endurance, you build integrity. You learn to show up even when it’s hard. To do the thing you promised yourself even when motivation fades.
This doesn’t mean you need to train for a triathlon (unless that’s your thing). It might mean committing to a daily walk, lifting weights three times a week, or taking that yoga class that intimidates you. It might mean choosing to sleep on time so your body can recover or saying no to numbing habits that drain your vitality (you know the ones).
Each time you challenge your body in a healthy way, you train your nervous system to handle pressure. You increase your resilience. You expand your threshold. And as you do, you begin to lead yourself—and others—through difficulty with calm, clarity, and conviction.
💡 Stretch prompt: Choose one small physical commitment for the next 7 days. Something slightly uncomfortable, but sustainable. Let the discipline grow your confidence.
- Stretching Your Mind: The Courage to Think Differently
The mental challenge is often the quietest—and the most brutal. It’s the willingness to rethink, to unlearn, to expose your own blind spots. It’s asking, “What if I’m wrong?” or “What else could be true?”
Leaders who grow don’t just consume content—they challenge their cognition. They read things they don’t agree with. They invite feedback. They learn from failure. And they resist the temptation to outsource hard thinking.
Mental stretching also means protecting your focus. In a world full of noise, leaders must train themselves to think deeply, not just react quickly.
This takes intention. It might mean scheduling time each day to journal, solve problems creatively, or learn a new concept. It’s in these spaces that innovation is born—and where confidence is forged through clarity.
💡 Stretch prompt: For the next week, replace 10 minutes of scrolling with 10 minutes of reflection, journaling, or reading something that stretches your thinking.
- Stretching Your Emotions: The Vulnerability of Leadership
If physical and mental challenges are about strength and strategy, emotional challenge is about depth and presence.
It’s allowing yourself to feel discomfort instead of avoiding it. It’s choosing empathy when frustration would be easier. It’s learning to sit with someone’s pain, including your own, without rushing to fix it.
Emotional growth might look like having that difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding. It might look like asking for help. It might look like forgiving someone—or yourself.
The greatest leaders I know are not those who don’t show their emotions—they are the ones who work with them. They create safety. They model authenticity. And they know that emotional literacy is not a soft skill, it’s a power skill.
💡 Stretch prompt: Think of one emotionally uncomfortable action or conversation you’ve been avoiding. Can you take one small step toward it this week?
Inviting You to Grow: The 30-Day Leadership Challenge
If any of this speaks to you, if you feel the nudge that it’s time to level up, I invite you to join me in the 30-Day Leadership Challenge.
This challenge isn’t just about becoming a better boss or decision-maker (though you will). It’s about becoming someone you deeply respect.
Over the next 30 days, we’ll explore short, actionable prompts that stretch your capacity—mentally, physically, emotionally, and in your leadership. Each day I’ll share a wisdom from some of the world’s top leaders to help you build habits, reflect on your patterns, and take brave new steps in how you lead and live.
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about expansion.
Because your next level isn’t hiding in comfort. It’s waiting just past your edge.
So, if you’re ready to:
- Get out of autopilot
- Lead with more energy and intention
- Build unshakable confidence and clarity
Then join me.
💪 Your capacity is waiting. Are you ready to meet it?
Sign up here: https://bit.ly/4jG1lZF
You won’t always feel ready. You won’t always feel brave. But if you show up—even with shaky hands and uncertain steps—you’ll discover that you’re capable of far more than you imagined.
And that, my friend, is where leadership begins and the life you’ve always wanted is built.
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And if you are too burned out and overwhelmed to even begin to use any of these strategies it might be time to get some help. Find a coach, therapist, or doctor who can help you reverse out of the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of burnout so you can get back to living in life you love.
Remember, Self-care isn’t selfish…it’s required!
Yvonne Lee-Hawkins, IPHM, is a holistic Leadership and Wellness coach, stress strategist, and writer, who spent 20 years in corporate and leadership functions. When she is not working, she loves to go on nature adventures with her family, in the Pacific Northwest where they call home. You can find out more on her website, or follow her Instagram.
If you want some help making it through your current challenge, or with general wellness, schedule a call here.
