Has modern life made us too soft?

We tend to be fixated on the destination, and often forget to think about the journey.

We talk about how great it is to lose weight, but we don't talk about "how hard" the journey is to get there is.

We talk about how great it is to have lots of money in the account, but we don't talk about "how hard we must work on saving money".

We talk about how great it is to be an entrepreneur, but we don't talk about the stress, the sleepless nights, the panic attacks, the humiliation along the way.

Everything that's "worth obtaining" in life requires a certain level of sacrifice, hardship, and yes, sometimes enduring pain.

However most people run away from pain and suffering.

That's normal: we are genetically built to avoid and minimize pain.

The only way to distinguish yourself from those around you,

The only way to rise above mediocre people,

The only way to build a "never give up" mindset,

is to "become comfortable with being uncomfortable".

By putting yourself in situations you "don't enjoy",

By testing your ability to tolerate pain for long periods of time,

By training your mind to keep moving forward no matter what,you develop the "strong mindset needed to thrive and rise above the fray".

So how do you do that?

1. Change your mindset towards your challenges in life

2. Put yourself in challenging situations on purpose.

Change your mindset towards your challenges in life

The next time an obstacle drops into your life (problems at work, problems at home, health issues, etc)...

...instead of thinking "this is so hard", tell yourself "this is training for my mind"...

"I'm training myself to become mentally strong"...

"I welcome these difficulties as they are training me to become better, stronger, more resilient".

Put yourself in challenging situations on purpose

Go run a marathon... or better yet, an ultra-marathon.

Believe me: there is nothing which will train and test your mental strength like an ultra-endurance event.

You see people from all walks out of life suffering together to get to the finish: old, young, women, men, fat, thin, healthy, sick, fit, disabled...

They have one thing in common: mental strength.

You hate running? run.

You hate lifting weights? lift weights.

You hate salads? eat salads.

You hate reading? read.

You hate crowds? Go to the mall.

You hate going to work? Spend more time at work.

TRAIN YOUR MIND to do EXACTLY what it DOES NOT want to do, and you will build it to become strong and able to handle anything.

I will leave you with one of my favorite extracts from Seneca's Letters from a Stoic:

"Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: “Is this the condition that I feared?” It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence."