One of the most impactful books I have read over the past few years is Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*&%.” If you can get over the language, you will find that it’s a surprisingly zen look at life’s trials and how to overcome challenges. (On a side note, if you are offended by language like this, you should OBVIOUSLY not read this book).
Like many books in the personal development space, there are plenty of great takeaways in The Subtle Art. But there was one that really resonated with me. It started with a simple question. “What are you willing to suffer through?”
The idea that holds many of us back is that people who are successful just don’t struggle the way most of us do. Life just comes easy to them. They are “natural” runners, or chefs, or writers, or entrepreneurs, etc. Nothing is hard to them. That is, of course, a load of crap.
Manson points out that, in any journey, there are going to be tough times, low points and times you want to scream. Things will absolutely NOT go as planned. The difference between people that succeed in life is often simple. They are willing to keep going anyway. They are not loving every minute of it. It’s not joyful (at least not in that moment). But (and this is huge) they are willing to deal with that short term pain and frustration to reach the goal at hand.
They are willing to suffer through it.
It reminds me of when I was training for a marathon. Though I “enjoy” running, it’s not joyful at every moment. There were plenty of times I did not enjoy every moment. And let’s face it, almost no one enjoys going out for an 18 mile training run. But I was willing to suffer through it so that I could run a marathon.
The same is true for most of the big goals in your life. They will not be easy. You just have to decide what you are willing to “suffer through” to get there.
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