This is a hard one, you guys. No one said that #LoveRules were easy, and today's rule is most definitely not. All month long we're discussing ways to build community and intentionally love others, and this rule might not seem like a Love Rule, but it is.

Whether you're in a leadership position, an online influencer, a fitness instructor, a mom or an employee...you must willing to be challenged. Why? Because in that place of challenge you grow.

Look, it's hard to admit you're wrong. It's hard to receive negative feedback. It's difficult to watch your competition soar. It's uncomfortable to disagree with a co-worker. But in each of these situations, a deeper understanding and wisdom takes root and allows you to grow in the right direction.

Starting our own business has been filled with many challenges along the way. We've had to work hard to maintain our friendship with each other while also being business partners...and it hasn't been easy. We've learned that iron sharpens iron, and we've become stronger because of the desire to see the best unearthed in each other. It's been the most loving (albeit difficult) process to get face to face and knee to knee with each other and say "Hey, this isn't working..how can we be better?" or "This isn't who you are...what's going on?"  Through these conversations we've learned that challenging each other was less about changing the individual and more about strengthening the team.

The probing process is scary and frustrating.  But it's also very worth it because the fruit of being "known" and "seen" can usher in the kind of growth that bypasses the all-too-common "self-made" philosophy.  Community changes people, and change is often a result of challenging conversations and processes.

So be willing to submit yourself, your ideas, your thoughts and your behavior to challenge and do so within a community of people you trust. That place of challenge will become the catalyst for the change that unearths the very best YOU.

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QUESTION: Have you gone through a challenging process that ushered in growth and change?  What did you learn?  And more importantly, WHO did you discover?