Challenge: “to enter into a competition with or opposition against”
Opportunity: “a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something”

At any moment, you can choose how you frame what’s in front of you.

What do your challenges make possible?
Within the tension, what’s quietly waiting to be revealed or built?

I went through a breakup in my 20s. It was the kind that takes over your not fully formed brain. It leaks into everything you do. That heartbreak consumed more time and attention than I wanted it to. At the time, it felt overwhelming. I hadn’t yet learned how to process that kind of emotional weight.

Within that learning was the opportunity to grow, emotionally and independently. That season taught me a little bit more about emotional resilience. It taught me how to move through instead of around.

Around that same time, I moved states. I started a new job where I learned process improvement. I also wrote training materials for software used by both customers and internal trainers.

The challenge? Around 90 days post software installation, we noticed a spike in customer support calls on a specific topic.
The opportunity? We dug into the data. We collaborated with clients, trainers, and agents and uncovered a clear knowledge gap.

So we built training to bridge that gap for both customers and support teams. Then we measured calls on that topic.

The result? Calls on that topic dropped to almost zero. The challenge had handed us the roadmap. We just had to follow it and now we had a repeatable way to solve similar problems moving forward.

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Whether it’s heartbreak or a support call spike, the invitation is the same:
Shift your viewpoint. Instead of seeing a problem as an enemy, view it as a teacher.

What are the challenges in your life right now inviting you to learn, grow, or lead?

What’s the opportunity hiding in plain sight?

“Real courage doesn’t always roar; it whispers ‘go on.’” — Lauren Bennett

Amanda has over 25 years of experience in learning and development, employee engagement, and recruiting. She is the author of personal development workbooks which you can check out here: https://hg-people.com/bookshelf/