The Personal Year is helpful in evaluating the trend of the coming calendar year. For a clue as to what lies ahead in the coming year, calculate your personal year using this formula: Reduce the year in question to a single digit. The year 1998 would be 9(1 + 9 + 9 + 8= 27; 2 + 7= 9). Now, add your month and day of birth, add your birthday number to the year in question.   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9    Challenges Lets face it.  Life is not a bed of roses.  There are hurdles to get over and mountains to climb.  In numerology, the roadblocks faced in life are called challenges.  Challenges are weak points in our Life Path. They are weak links in the chain of life which must be overcome for us to grow and develop properly. We learn by meeting the challenges and mastering them. The nature of challenges are shown in the Life Path. The rule for calculating challenges is just the opposite of pinnacles. Each challenge is represent by a number and the number reflects the tone of the confrontation of the period. The challenge number is written in the birth date. We will again use the month, the day and the year of birth in this calculation. The first step will be to reduce each of these components to a single digit base number. Thus, December 14, 1968, would become month 3 (1+2), day 5 (1+4), and year 6 (1+9+6+8=24; 2+4=6). The first challenge is derived by finding the difference between the month and day of birth. In our example, this would be 5-3=2 first challenge. The second challenge is identified by finding the difference between the day of birth with the year of birth. The example would be 6-5=1; the number 1 for a second challenge. The third challenge is identified by finding the difference between the first and second challenge. Our example would have an 2-1=1 third challenge. The fourth challenge is identified by finding the difference between the month and the year. Our example would produce a 6-3=3 fourth challenge. The timing of challenges varies for each of the first nine Life Path numbers, and is the same as the pinnacles. The timing for the master number 11 is the same a Life Path 2, and the master number 22 is same as the Life Path 4. The first challenge begins at birth. This challenge ending is calculated by subtracting the Life Path number from 36. In our December 14, 1968 example (a 5 Life Path), the end of first challenge is at age 31. The second challenge will be in effect for 9 year or until age 40. The third challenge will also be in effect for 9 years ending at age 49. The 4th challenge beginning at age 50 will be in effect for the remaining years of life. You may get more help on calculating the challenges on worksheet form. If you correctly reduced the month, day and year to a single digit (no master number), the difference between the two numbers must be from 0 to 8. Here are reading of each of the challenges: The Challenge of the Number:  0  1  2  3  4  5  6 7  8    Challenge 0 The obstacles life during this period may not be many, or they may be coming from all directions. The challenge of the number 0 is called the challenge of choice. You are likely to have difficulty acting on your preferences. You are perfectly capable of analyzing a situation and realistically comparing possible solutions. The challenge of 0 may make bring this decision to requisite action very difficult for you. To overcome the challenge, it should be understood that you must have the faith in your own abilities to the extent that you can analyze, make a choice, then act with ease and comfort. This challenge is one that is normally found on in a highly evolved individual and an individual who can be expected to make your own decisions about life and know where the pitfalls lie. To meet the challenge of 0 you must have control of all of the numbers; the independence of 1, the diplomacy of 2, the optimism of 3, the application of 4, the understanding of 5, the adjustment of 6, the wisdom of the 7, the constructive power of 8, the universal service of 9. In other words, to meet the challenge of 0 in your life, you must be a very gifted person. Challenge 1 The challenge of the number 1 suggests that in these years, you are likely to feel dominated by others with strong influence, probably parents or others with whom you compete. The challenge of the number 1 is avoidance of being dominated, but doing so in a fashion that does not impose upon or dominate others. With the challenge of the number 1 it's extremely important to control the ego, and avoid the negative aspect of individuality. False pride, pomposity, egotism are issues to be guarded against now. You are now in a period of learning about self-reliance and how to solve your own problems independently. Learn to rely on your wit and your intelligence, avoiding argumentation and resentfulness. Challenge 2 The challenge of the number 2 suggests you are likely to be extremely sensitive and more or less brimming with feeling. You find it hard to work with people because your are afraid of being criticized or, worse yet, ignored. You have a good deal of self-doubt and a definite lack of self confidence. There is a tendency to constantly worry about the opinion that others have of you. There is likewise a tendency to use this sensitivity in a negative way. Used more positively, your keen sensitivities can be a significant strength, allowing you to be acutely aware of so much of with others rarely perceive. But during this period it will be hard for you to assert yourself and make decisions. You will shy away from positions of authority and responsibility. This can be a time for accumulation of wisdom, as you show patience and pay close attention to detail. Try not to take things too personally. Friendships are a source of deep satisfaction to you during this time. Respect your ability to compromise and grow in a quiet way. Do not let details overwhelm you and keep you from seeing the big picture. Plan for slow growth rather than immediate gain. Challenge 3 The challenge of the number 3 suggests a tendency to scatter talents and try to do too many things at once during this period of your life. You may have a fine imagination and a gift for words, but you find it hard to express yourself effectively. Though you know you should cultivate friends and be sociable, you tend to be somewhat reclusive and defensive. You may have a talent for writing, acting, or speaking, but you are reluctant to involve yourself with these sorts of activities because you do not like to face the prospects of criticism. You are expressing yourself with a negative emphasis, hiding your creative talents behind a wall of shyness. You must strive to develop yourself in a social and in a creative sense. Challenge 4 The challenge of the number 4 suggests a difficulty with work. Either you simply don't like to work, don't like the work your are forced to do, or you have difficulty completing tasks and working efficiently. You may be careless and lack a sense of practicality. Often this challenge makes it hard to see the forest for the trees when it comes to work and obligations. It is important for you to learn patience, understanding and the practical, common sense way of dealing with mundane responsibilities. You may also need to learn the importance of working within the parameters of a time schedule. Challenge 5 The challenge of the number 5 suggests that your challenge is to overcome the desire and the demand for freedom at any price. This challenge number is very difficult to handle because, with it, you are apt to be extremely impulsive; you want to try everything at least once, and you are rather unstable in many ways. Change may be necessary for you, but it must be handled in an intelligent and controlled manner. Make certain that the desire for change is not associated with a desire to escape responsibility. In any event, this challenge requires that you learn as early as possible in life to control your impulses. Challenge 6 The challenge of the number 6 suggests that you may have difficulties because of your insistence on extremely high standards. You are apt to appear authoritarian, intolerant, and a little self-righteous. It is hard for others to live up to your standards of expectation. Many of your considerable talents for balancing situations are used with a negative emphasis. Avoid creating friction in relationships and strive for harmony. You must learn that your diplomatic approach will only be appreciated if others feel that their needs are met, their desires understood, their point of view respected. You must learn to allow others to set their own pace, make their own rules. This challenge requires learning unconditional love and acceptance. Challenge 7 The challenge of the number 7 suggests difficulties brought on by your discomfort with your own inner feelings; feelings of a reserved attitude and unexpressed emotions. You may feel unable to better your situation, or to change and improve circumstances. There is a tendency with this challenge to be a chronic critic and complainer, while offering little or nothing as a suggest to correct the faults that are found. The sense of discrimination is strong, but it is expressed in a very negative way. A sense of false pride tends to keep your real feelings buried beneath the surface. Avoid a tendency to approach people in a very reserved and aloof way, and develop faith in your own abilities rather than dwelling on your limitations. Marriage is apt to be delayed until this challenge is overcome, or if married, this can be a difficult time. Challenge 8 The challenge of the number 8 suggests an early life assumption that satisfaction can only be gained and safeguarded by adequate material accumulation. There's likely to be considerable effort exerted to attain money, status, and power, sometimes to the exclusion of almost all else. The number 8 challenge indicates that you are/were using your concern with material matters with negative emphasis. You must learn to use your ability to gain money, status and power with a sense of proportion and an awareness of the relation of material affairs to other matters, and deal with the material world in a comfortable manner. numerology.com