You only grow when you challenge yourself according to ideals. Then challenge = growth.

Summary

Growth, or an increase of virtue, occurs when an individual desires the growth and willingly embraces a challenge. The psychological disposition of embracing a challenge has been described as having intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic motivation (2). Intrinsic motivation is conducive to learning, competence, and growth, while extrinsic is not, and actually hinders the process (2,5).

Intrinsic motivation (or a learning goal)(5) occurs when a person experiences joy and fulfillment in approaching the task or challenge, and their actions have an "internally perceived locus of causality" (2). This means the person has found meaning in the action itself, not merely the results of doing or not doing the task. When extrinsically motivated (or having a performance goal)(5), a person acts out of anxiety, due to social, economic, or other pressures. This hinders growth, since challenges are seen as obstacles to desired outcomes, and are then avoided and dreaded. This ultimately leads to frustration and vicious cycles.

In learning to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, a person develops intrinsic motivation to learn from an experience, and growth can occur. They learn to see the process,rather than the outcome, as the reward (2).

Contributors

Alex Ortiz