Hard times don’t have to stop you - they can be the very catalyst for finding your true purpose. Let’s uncover how challenges can drive personal growth.

Let’s get real for a sec, life isn’t always full of sunshine and rainbows. As much as I like to take a positive perspective, it’s important to recognise that being a human being living on this plant comes with its challenges. Sometimes we can be thrown major curveballs, feel completely lost and stuck with which way to turn, but these moments are often filled with so much potential, even if you can’t see it yet. Embracing the hard times can lead to a lot of growth but before we dive into that, I want to preface this with, this is NOT about toxic positivity, ignoring or pushing down our feelings.

Important: Life gets tough sometimes and it’s so important to honour the moment you’re in (and I know this often feel really difficult to do). Before you start to look at how you can grow from this challenge, take some time to check in with yourself. You might need some time to process what’s happened, perhaps you need to talk it through with a friend, coach or therapist or you need to just allow yourself time to feel all the feelings first. If you need some more time to do any of these things, bookmark this page and come back when you’re ready. Do not force yourself into learning and growing from a situation if it feels too soon or the feelings are too painful and raw. Be kind and gentle with yourself.

And if you’re ready to start learning how personal setbacks can lead to growth keep on reading.

How Challenges Can Lead to Personal Growth

I’m a big believer that when things are going well, we’re often not learning. There’s something powerful about facing and overcoming challenges – we often have to dig deep. Adversity really shows and strengthens our resilience. It can also lead us to learn and grow in ways we didn’t anticipate. Whether it’s a setback at work, challenges as an entrepreneur, relationship struggles, or self-doubt, these moments create space for self-discovery, if you’re open and willing.

Growth often begins with the questions we ask. Instead of asking “why do bad things always happen to me?”, we want to ask more open and insightful questions, for example, “how can I learn from this?”

Tip: When we ask a question, our mind always wants to answer it. If you don’t feel like you’re getting very helpful responses right now, think about how you can change the question.

By examining these moments, we often find insight into our patterns, fears, growth areas and strengths. Rather than seeking to avoid challenges, consider them as opportunities for you to learn and grow from.

Not every challenge will feel like this, at the time or ever – that is ok! Learn from the ones you can and support yourself through the ones you can’t, don’t want to or aren’t ready to learn from yet.

The Power of Purpose-Driven Motivation

Motivation grounded in purpose is different from motivation driven solely by external rewards or recognition - it feels different. It’s what makes you feel alive, fulfilled, gives you a zest for life and the energy to get up in the morning and face challenges.

This is about shifting your focus from what you think you should be doing to what you want to be doing. Allowing your purpose to guide you, is like following an inner compass. When life gets challenging, reconnecting to your “why” can help you feel grounded, with a clear path forward and the inspiration needed to stay committed.

Tools for Reigniting Your Passion

If life feels directionless or you're struggling to find motivation, there are tools that can help you rediscover your passion. Forget about pushing through to the point of burnout and instead focus on connecting with what genuinely excites you.

Here are some techniques to consider:

Purpose Mapping

Purpose mapping is a powerful way to clarify what drives you. It’s about recognising the different elements of your life that matter most. Start by reflecting on the following:

• What excites you? Think of moments when you’ve felt most alive or energised. What were you doing? Who were you with? What value did it bring you or others?

• What are your strengths? Reflect on what people often ask for your help with or what you’re naturally good at. What could you spend hours doing and lose track of time? What do people often compliment you about?

• What impact do you want to have? Purpose often relates to contributing something meaningful to the world – this can be on a big scale (eg. Helping to end homelessness) or on a smaller scale (eg. Creating a loving, safe home for your family). There is no right or wrong, the most important thing is that it resonates with you. Having a great impact and helping others doesn’t just have to be the obvious things like being a doctor or a therapist, you could do this through writing incredible books that inspire people, cooking delicious food that helps people have memorable experiences or bringing joy to others in day-to-day ways in your life.

Once you’ve mapped out these elements, start to see if there are any patterns that point toward a purpose that feels authentic for you. Then consider how you can have fun exploring some of these options.

Setting Intentions for Growth

Intentions help you channel your energy in a focused way. Reflect on the following process:

1. Identify an area of growth: What area of your life or self, do you want to improve or explore more deeply?

2. Set clear intentions: Unlike goals, intentions are less about measurable outcomes and more about the energy and commitment you bring. For example, instead of setting a goal to “get promoted,” set an intention to “approach my work with curiosity, enthusiasm and open-mindedness.”

3. Take small steps daily: Growth happens gradually – consider what small action steps align with your intention. Start taking these steps! Track your progress, celebrate small wins and reflect on what each step teaches you, to help you stay consistent.

4. Reflect and adjust: Intentions are flexible, they grow as you grow. Regularly check in with your intentions, assessing whether they still resonate or need adjustment based on new insights or life changes.

5. Challenge specific intentions: You can also set specific intentions when you’re going through a challenging period. Think about this from the perspective of what you want to learn from this moment, how you want to grow, how you want to feel or support yourself through it. For example, “even though this is difficult, I show up for myself and trust I will come through the other side more resilience”.

When you approach your growth from a place of intention, you create a clear path forward to where you want to get to.

Embracing Setbacks as Part of the Journey

Shift your perspective on setbacks from obstacles blocking you, to stepping stones helping you get to where you want to be. It might not feel like that in the moment, but how can you see them as part of the journey and opportunities for growth and clarity.

Challenges often feel uncomfortable because they push you beyond your comfort zone, but that’s where transformation happens. If you allow yourself to trust the process, even when things feel hard, you’re giving yourself permission to grow into a more resilient version of yourself.

Tip: 3 beliefs I use to repeat to myself over and over again which I recommend you try are –

1. I am comfortable being uncomfortable

2. This is a stepping stone helping me get to where I want to be

3. I step out of my comfort zone as I know that is where I will grow the most

A Perspective On Your True Purpose

A perspective I like to share with my clients, is that your true purpose is living your best life whatever that might look like for you. This includes overcoming your fears, stepping outside your comfort zone, letting go of limiting beliefs holding you back, aligning with your true desires and taking action to make that happen. This is what life is about!

So, if you’re struggling to identify what your purpose is, come back to you. How can you live a life more true to who you really are and what you really want?

How I Grew Through My Biggest Career Challenge

My biggest career challenge came in 2019. After feeling completely burnt out and so far away from living my purpose, I decided to change my whole career. I landed a dream opportunity and felt so proud of myself for making a complete shift in my career (going from Human Resources to Marketing).

Day 1 I came home and cried as I just knew it wasn’t right. I had made the worst decision, and I felt even more lost, confused and frustrated then I did before.

BUT I didn’t let the story end there. After allowing myself a human moment of tears and a mini meltdown, I was able to use this as an opportunity for my growth. I reflected on why it felt so wrong for me and what would feel right.

This career rock bottom moment gave me so much clarity about what my purpose is and even more importantly, gave me the push I needed to actually follow my purpose and start living it. That led me to starting my coaching diploma, launching my business and now helping hundreds of women change their careers.

I won’t lie, it was a really difficult time, but I am so grateful for it now, as it was a pivotal moment that helped me create the life I always dreamed of.

If you want to hear more about my journey, then listen to my solo podcast episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Finding Meaning Through Resilience

Finding purpose during difficult times is not always easy! Allow yourself the space and time to feel what you need to feel and process whatever it is you’re going through.  Once you’re ready to recognise how you can learn from this, the possibilities for yourself really can expand. Hard times don’t have to hold you back, in fact, they might just be guiding you towards a deeper, more aligned version of you. How exciting is that!

Remember this journey isn’t about becoming someone new - it’s about discovering the parts of yourself that may have been waiting for the chance to grow. Celebrate this growth and the resilience you have shown to get through difficult times!

Book a free discovery call to find out how I can support you to grow through any challenges you’re facing.

I have so much faith in you - you’ve got this!