There are challenges ahead.

It’s easy to look at the road ahead and see nothing but obstacles. Trying days at work. Overwhelming workouts. Emotional roadblocks. And I’m not going to lie to you. There are challenges ahead. You’ve just got to make sure the challenges you face are the ones worth overcoming.

The way I see it, there are two types of challenges. There are the challenges you feel obligated to endure, and there are the challenges that bring you closer to what matters.

Maybe you want to prove a point to someone. Maybe it’s easier to stay on your current path than to risk a different trajectory. To stay at a job you hate, or do something you hate to make your parents proud, or sacrifice to make your significant other happy. If this sounds like you and you’re fighting battles that don’t get you anywhere, or worse, bring you down, then that’s not where you’re meant to be. Let those battles go.

But then there are challenges that matter. These are the ones that make you into the person you want to be. The sacrifices you make to do what you love, the difficult decisions that define you. Staying up late, working long hours, cutting back on expenses. If these help challenges create something you value, then you’re winning even when you feel like you’re losing.

I know I have a long week ahead. I have a lot of presentations and deadlines gaining on me, and that’s just at work. In my spare time I’ve got to stay on my healthy lifestyle journey and keep up my writing. I want to read, and write, and work out, eat healthy and succeed at work, and it’s okay to want those things because they all have value for me that value isn’t defined by anyone but me.

When you’re fighting the right battles, that’s when the fun begins. Get excited because you’re getting closer to what matters. And if it doesn’t matter, why are you doing it?