Only by contending with challenges that seem to be beyond your

Brian Tracy, a teacher of discipline and success, spoke with the voice of timeless truth when he declared: “Only by contending with challenges that seem to be beyond your strength to handle at the moment you can grow more surely toward the stars.” In this saying he reveals the ancient law of growth: strength is not forged in ease but in trial, not in comfort but in conflict. The soul does not rise by walking level ground, but by climbing mountains that seem too steep, by facing burdens that appear too heavy. It is precisely in the struggle that feels impossible that the spirit is enlarged.

The ancients knew this well. Hercules did not become a legend by choosing the easy road; he became immortal through his twelve impossible labors. Each task seemed beyond his strength at the moment it was given, yet through the labor itself, his strength multiplied. This is the essence of Tracy’s words: the impossible trial is not meant to destroy, but to reveal what lies dormant within. Challenges that seem beyond us are the very gates through which greatness enters.

Consider also the story of Nelson Mandela. Imprisoned for twenty-seven years, cut off from the world, burdened with injustice, he faced a challenge no man should have to endure. At first glance, such captivity seemed greater than any mortal strength. Yet Mandela endured. In those long years of trial, he was forged into a leader of unshakable resolve, able to guide a nation from division to unity. His prison, which seemed beyond strength to bear, became the furnace in which his greatness was refined. By contending with the unbearable, he grew “toward the stars.”

Fear often whispers in the heart: “This is too much for you. Turn back.” But the truth is that man’s strength is elastic, stretching far beyond what he imagines when tested. A soldier on the battlefield, a mother raising her children in poverty, a student striving against failure—all discover, in their darkest hour, that they carry within them a wellspring they had not known. The impossible challenge awakens hidden powers. Thus, what feels unbearable becomes the path to transcendence.

Yet let us not mistake this wisdom: not all suffering ennobles. It is not mere pain that lifts the soul, but the refusal to yield, the decision to face the challenge with courage and determination. Those who despair and abandon the trial do not find growth, but those who persist, even stumbling, even broken, rise stronger than before. The stars are reached not by avoiding the night, but by enduring it.

History speaks too of the astronauts of Apollo 13. When their craft was crippled in space, their survival seemed beyond human capacity. Yet by courage, ingenuity, and endurance, they returned safely to Earth. Their trial, though terrifying, expanded the limits of what humanity believed possible. They proved that in contending with the impossible, we enlarge not only our personal strength but the strength of all mankind.

The lesson is eternal: Do not flee from the challenge that appears too great. It is the very means by which you are meant to grow. Each trial that tests you beyond your present strength is not your enemy but your teacher. By enduring, by persisting, by contending with courage, you stretch your spirit upward, step by step, toward the stars.

Practical action follows: When faced with a challenge, resist the impulse to surrender. Break the task into small steps, but do not abandon it. Remind yourself that your strength will grow in the very act of contending. Seek examples of those who have endured before you, and let their victories fuel your own. Above all, see the impossible not as a wall but as a ladder, one that, if climbed with patience and courage, will raise you higher than you ever dreamed. For as Brian Tracy teaches, it is only by facing what seems beyond you that you will rise to touch the stars.