Lead is a normally soft metal, yet when it is squeezed under enormous pressure, it becomes stronger. Henry Kissinger said, “A diamond is a chunk of coal that did well under pressure.” He also reminded us that diamonds aren’t made in a day. Sometimes pressure is exerted externally, without our consent and that can feel difficult. Like when a pandemic was forced on us and all the sudden we had pressures we hadn’t seen coming and didn’t ask for. We are largely out of the pandemic and many people learned a lot of hard lessons through the pandemic. I have observed that when people challenge themselves and don’t wait for something externally to challenge them, they often get lots of benefits from their challenge. Challenging yourself can increase self-esteem because you can learn to do something that you previously could not do. Challenging yourself can increase your brain power. You…