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Summary

• Understandably, there is a lot of talk right now about "these challenging times."
• But, maybe, people are saying that phrase wrong.
• This could be a time to challenge yourself more than ever.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic has raged across our nation and the world, so many have spoken about our current state of affairs as, “these challenging times” or “these difficult times” or “these uncertain times” and other phrases like that. In almost every case, these phrases are offered with equal emphasis placed on all three words in a way that conveys kind of a defensive posture. So many recent advertisements talk about “these challenging times” in the context of the advertiser being able to help the customer because things must be especially difficult for the customer right now.

But, I wonder…what would happen if more people considered the phrase, “these challenging times” in a more empowering way? What if one were to place emphasis on the word “challenging” so as to say, “these CHALLENGING times.” What if the phrase conveyed not so much that this is a time to be on defense, but rather, that this is a time to challenge oneself even MORE? What if one were to interpret, “challenging times” as a time to challenge oneself, to take advantage of these once-in-a-century disruptions?

Consider this: when everybody is out there striving – maybe like most people were before COVID struck – it’s relatively difficult to stand out from the crowd and move ahead of the pack. However, when so many are paused in a defensive stance where they are mostly sheltering from the storm – there may be an opportunity to move way ahead of the pack.

Now, I’m not talking physically – there is good reason to stay home right now!

But, metaphorically, this may be a time to think about ways you can push forward while most people are just trying to protect what they have. Let these challenging times be a time to embrace some challenges! Because, if you do, there is a good chance it will help you win at work.  

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