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A challenge isn’t easy, it isn’t meant to be. That is why terms like ‘get outside your comfort zone’ and ‘break out of the box we put ourselves in’ are bandied about a lot. We know how good we feel when we reach a goal and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it. Often the more difficult the challenge or even the more attempts we have made at it, the greater the sense of achievement during, and afterwards, especially when we have tried our best.

Challenging yourself can be extremely motivational. Below are some tips to help you challenge yourself.

1. Don’t Give Up

Keep going. If you have too, adjust your expectations. Reset your goals and focus on short term achievables. Compete with yourself. Show a ‘never give up attitude.’ Together with some patience and perseverance it is often more than enough to take you a long way.

2. Have Both Short and Long Term Goals

After you are satisfied with your accomplishments, move the goal posts. Improve your performance or aim for something higher. That way you will always be trying to go beyond your current achievements and progress. It keeps you fresh, eager and enthusiastic about life and the journey we are all on.

3. Stay Positive

Whilst difficult, challenging ourselves isn’t about suffering! We can always control our mental outlook in different situations. Being cheerful, focused, positive and happy overcomes many problems. The tiredness of the body, mental doubt or others resistance to change. Make sure your preparation has given you self-confidence and self- belief. Use your inner strength, determination, resilience and fortitude to overcome hurdles you come across. Remember enjoyment is necessary to stay positive,so enjoy the struggle!

4. Surround Yourself With a Good Team

You learn, improve your performance and have more fun. Good teams bring out the best in you and add to the social or professional aspect of your chosen job or sport. Use team building techniques to bring you and your friends or colleagues closer together.

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Australian motivational speaker Grahak Cunningham is an ordinary Australian who dared to dream. Challenging himself to go beyond what he thought was possible, he knows we can accomplish anything and stay happy and positive even in the most trying of times.

He is a four-time finisher of the world's longest certified foot race and ultra marathon: the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race.

Founded in 1997 the 3100 Mile Race is held every year on a concrete footpath around an 883 metre block in Queens, New York.

Runners are given 18 hours a day, from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, for 51 days, to run a minimum of 60 miles a day (96km) to complete the distance. This involves circumnavigating the block 5649 times.

Over the duration of the race, runners wear out fifteen pairs of shoes, and their feet swell an extra two sizes. In a typical New York summer, temperatures can reach 40 degrees centigrade with 85% humidity. Competitors must contend with boredom, fatigue, torrential deluges, extreme pain, injuries and sleep deprivation—but most of all, they have to deal with themselves. Outwardly for their efforts they will receive a plastic trophy and a t-shirt but they make a lifetime of progress.

He works as a conference keynote speaker from his base of Perth and enjoys traveling (by plane not foot.)

For more information, please visit grahakcunningham.com