the gauntlet

There’s nothing like a good challenge.
To challenge someone, or to become challenged… it can  provide the best excuse to get things done.  Of course I’m not talking about challenging others to a mortal combat, or daring someone into running through the office in their underwear. Although, while reading this,  you might imagine a few co-workers who’d be perfect for that challenge.
Let’s keep it simple. See it more into this context:
you are talking with someone, when suddenly they say:
“Oh I have always wanted to…”

This can happen when you were talking about your hobbies or travels, or just something you’ve seen on the news. But whatever triggers that line: keep one ear open for it.
It’s up to you now to give a good response will be: “so why don’t you?”
Usually there will be a half hearted excuse “Oh well…"
So you give them a direction, a practical approach. This is easier than it seems, trust me. Don’t start too big, but be sure that the challenge will provide some thrill when accomplished. If you have knowledge about the subject, even better, you can give some extra advice and perhaps tell your conversation partner how you experienced it. 

And when that person is scratching his or her chin . You go in for the catch:

“Come on, I challenge you. You have /insert date here/ to finish it.”

“err”

“shake on it?”

“sure, why not…”

Again, set a realistic challenge, an acceptable difficulty level, and a reasonable deadline. Not to forget: underline the fun factor.  Who knows, you just might have given that person the push in the back he/she needed.

To keep it fair: allow yourself also to become challenged. Just don’t do get pushed into doing things you really don’t want to. And don’t forget to give your support. What comes easy for you might prove challenging for others.

This year alone I have challenged 6 people of various nationalities to start writing their very first short story. The  answer usually was “Cool , I’ve always wanted to do that.”
As for me: I got recently challenged to write a short horror story about an undertaker. I rang a friend who knew one, asked if I’d get a tour. And started writing. If it goes well, I might have to read the story for radio. Fingers crossed.
Of course I won’t take on every challenge they give me. And to be fair I do have chickened out one an occasional dare. But hey, on other opportunities, much to everybody’s surprise I agreed. Bungee jumping, biking though the mountains of Spain, naked sauna, talk to a certain person in particular, a trip to the unknown…
Can’t say I regret any of those. So don’t give up, keep me and the others on the edge. More importantly: allow yourself to be given a push in the back.    

And so the gauntlet is thrown. Give it a try, you never know where you might end up.