Episode 20: The Challenge Is The Story

We catch ourselves scrolling through other people’s highlight reels when life feels heavy, then we wonder why we feel stuck. We break down why the challenge is the story and how small, uncomfortable actions turn entertainment into real inspiration.
• Noticing the “numbing scroll” and the mirror it holds up 
• Watching other people’s journeys versus doing our own work 
• Why inspiration without action becomes entertainment 
• How every story worth telling starts with a hard beginning 
• A personal fitness journey shaped by loss and long-term effort 
• Proof that small challenges count, including everyday strength wins 
• Learning by doing, like kids who watch then build 
• A simple prompt to find the next challenge worth leaning into 
So go out there, be 1% better, and start creating and crafting a new story that you are going to be proud to tell in the next three, six months to a year.

Transcript

Welcome And The Core Idea

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to another episode of the 1% Better Podcast with your host, Josh Williams. It is good to be back here on the mic talking to you all. Today I wanted to talk about something that's been sitting in my head lately, you know, a phrase that I keep coming back to, and it's the idea that the challenge is the story. So stick with me on this one.

The Instagram Scroll Wake-Up Call

SPEAKER_00 0:20

So I started one night not too long ago. I had a lot going on, some hard decisions to make, just a lot of stuff on my plate. You know, just how life goes sometimes. And when this happens, sometimes you might do this. I caught myself on the couch at the end of the night, just kind of scrolling on Instagram. You know, that's my go-to social media. If if I'm gonna be on social media, it's gonna be the gram. It's less noisy than Facebook. I get way less ads on it. So it's just images, videos, you know, people showing the best moments of their lives, hiking, you know, family moments, and then of course the the silliness, the silliness villa videos that make you go, oh yeah, I can relate to that. That's funny. That's how my life is too. Um, so and you watch it and you're thinking, you know, with a lot of these good moments are good for them. Like this looks amazing, they're having a great time, all those kind of things. And then I realized when I've been sitting there for like 45 minutes, you know, I was just doing absolutely nothing. You know, in some ways, maybe it's just like numbing to some of the decisions I have to make. And something about that really bothered me, and not a judgmental way towards anyone, more like a mirroring, like a mirror moment.

Inspiration Without Action Is Entertainment

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Because I started thinking, we're really good at watching other people do hard things and live moments. And real and really good at consuming other people's phases of their journeys or the highlights of their journeys, or consuming the destination of somebody's journey. But consuming maybe something that is inspiring is not the same thing as being inspired. And so we can look at these people in their feeds and be like, wow, that's really cool. I want to do that. But that's not the same thing as consuming versus actually taking the action. And so that kind of hit me, that realization of it, because behind every image, behind every video, regardless if it's silly, fun, or whatever, there's there's an amount of work, there's a challenge uh to getting to that moment. So, see, inspiration without action is just really just entertainment. And there's nothing wrong with entertainment. But let's call it like it is. When we're watching someone like hike a mountain and you feel that pull, that little stir in your chest, that feeling, that feeling is really real. But if you put down the phone and do nothing with it, you didn't get inspired, you were just entertained. And real inspiration leads somewhere. It makes you do something. And here's the thing I keep coming back to the story doesn't come from watching, the story comes from doing. Think about every great story you've ever told. Every moment that you look back on with pride, every time someone you know says to you, wow, that's a really great story. Every single one of those, you know, started most likely with something that was a challenge that you overcame, with something hard, with something you weren't sure of and uneasy. Very rarely did the story start with, you know, I was scrolling on my cell phone and uh that's where it ended.

A Personal Story Of Transformation

SPEAKER_00 3:25

So now here's what I want to slow down because I think this is where people get it wrong. The challenge doesn't have to be something dramatic. So we get inspired, don't have to do something epic each time. So, you know, I started my own fitness journey as a young kid. I I lost my father a couple weeks before my uh sixth birthday, and I turned to food and entertainment, video games, TV as my escape, as my as my way to numb myself. And then I found the the weight room. And I actually really became inspired by an older gentleman that my my mom had me do yard work for. And he kicked my butt. And, you know, having that feeling of like exhaustion and this guy is just running circles around me uh motivated me in that and inspired me in that time. And so the story really is if I never did anything with that, you know, I I look back now, uh 20 years later, and that is my story. It's my story of overcoming and changing my life, and that it wasn't easy and it wasn't quick. And the pinnacle might be where I'm at, where I was 10 years ago, but without that challenge, the story never would have came. So and I became a completely different person because of that journey and because of that challenge. But I'm not telling you that that that the story to impress you. I'm telling it because that's what challenges do. They shape you into something different on the other side of it. And here's the beautiful part your challenge doesn't have to look like mine.

Small Challenges Create Big Wins

SPEAKER_00 5:03

I'm, you know, I think back to, you know, one of our clients that we had, and she was working out with us for about three months, and she came up to me all excited, and that, you know, those big water jugs or water packets that you can get like Costco or something like that. And she used to have to ask for help to be able to put that into her cart. And one day, she did it herself. And that's a beautiful story. It's it's not like this epic big thing, but that's that's a huge moment. She saw something she needed to change. She did the change, she did the work, and then she got to that moment. And maybe it's not an Instagram-worthy moment, but to me that's a that's an amazing story. And nobody can take that story away from you. So it starts usually with doing something uncomfortable. So for our clients, all the time, uncomfortable is making the phone call, responding to a text, or stepping in that first day to meet with a coach. Your story could be, you know, finally traveling somewhere that you've always wanted to go. Or, you know, again, a lot of our clients starting to work out recognize that. It doesn't have to be this big epic moment. So, just another kind of story

Learning By Doing Like Kids Do

SPEAKER_00 6:11

on stories. Uh, my daughter does this thing where she'll watch videos of kids, she's really into magnetiles right now. And then what she'll do is she'll watch this video and then she'll go and build her own thing. She'll create her own design and be inspired by that magnet tile project. Sometimes she she mimics the exact same thing to get the skills down, but then she goes off and does her own thing. And that's it. That's exactly it. See something, let it move you, then go do yourself. Then go do it yourself. People only ever watch or spectators of their life. The people who lean into the challenge, even the small ones, those are the ones that the stories are worth telling. So here's my challenge

Your Next Step And Closing Challenge

SPEAKER_00 6:55

to you. You know, what is the thing you've been watching on the sidelines or something hard that you you wanted to do that you haven't done? That's probably your neck the start of your next story. Lean into that, you know, again, a small step. But the big thing is three months, six months, a year from now, you'll look back and think, remember when I thought that was hard? All good stories start with a you a hard beginning. The challenge really is the story. Overcoming the challenge, it's what makes it a beautiful story and inspires others. So go out there, be 1% better, and start creating and crafting a new story that you are going to be proud to tell in the next three, six months to a year. Uh, thank you all so much. Hopefully, this helps you, inspires you to do something. Again, I appreciate y'all. Have a fantastic day. Talk soon.