Choose Your Pain
Table of Contents
"Many people delay taking action because they hope to avoid suffering. They keep searching for a path that won’t involve tradeoffs.
But some form of suffering is always inevitable. The process of taking action is the process of choosing your pain."
-James Clear
The need for reassurance is what short circuits so much of what we want in life.
We want to to know that we can do this thing, everything will be alright, and it’ll all go to how we plan it out in our heads. We face the inevitability of suffering and never fully acknowledge it.
A marathoner cannot run without feeling shin splints. A chef cannot cook without getting burned. A creator cannot create without feeling like a fraud.
Which pain will you choose? What can you live with, dance with, make peace with, and move forward?
The insane, utter privilege and luxury I have is that I get to choose my pain. Others didn’t have the choice or they took what was given to them and went with it.
Sitting with multiple paths wanting reassurance that one will be painless is a level of entitlement not worthy of creators and founders.
Choose your pain. Take action. Find people who have chosen the same path, and help each other along.
Follow Along Upstream
And feel a little less alone on your quest to your most courageous work.