Why? Well if something was easy, it would be common, anyone would be able to do it. Consequently things that are both common and easily done are neither valued nor held as significant achievements.

Think about it... can you name anyone who is generally held by society to be a high achiever who has earned that distinction by being common and average, or by doing things that anyone else could do on a whim?

The very nature of achievement is that for it to be significant it must involve doing something uncommon, something that is difficult, and beyond that which the majority of people are able (or willing) to do.

If we wish to achieve extraordinary results in our lives, we must accept that it will involve some difficulty that needs to be overcome, some struggle!

The realisation we need to come to, the key that will unlock our ability to be extraordinary, is that this struggle is a GOOD thing.

Pain Vs. Pleasure

Despite our (apparently) unrivaled cognitive capacity, We as human beings are subject to the same behavioral patterns and laws as any other animal. We have a basic instinctive need to avoid pain and seek pleasure.

This need has always been there, however it seems that in todays world of quick fixes, fast food, instant download, just charge it to my credit card and I want it all yesterday, many of the opportunities that once existed in our lives to learn delayed gratification, self discipline and to learn how to endure pain now for a greater pleasure later have been largely removed.

When you consider that the endurance of struggle is central to any significant achievement, we need to take every opportunity presented to us to increase our capacity to struggle, or in other words we need to actively seek opportunities to become stronger people.

What You Do Vs. Who You Become

This focus on becoming stronger, brings us to the important realisation that in achieving something significant we actually do two things.

First is the actual achievement, or in other words what we have done.

Second is who we have become in the process of going through the struggle of achieving it.

The key difference to note between the value of the two parts of the achievement is the TERM of the effect.

In the actual achievement itself , you have the achievement, and that is it, if you want to make the same achievement again, you need to do it all again. It is a fairly SHORT TERM result

In terms of your personal growth, you have become a stronger more capable person. What may have been a big struggle for you in making the achievement the first time, will become a progressively smaller struggle every time you do it.

It is not that the task becomes easier, but rather that you become better. Thus the value of this improvement will follow you your whole life. This represents a LONG TERM result.

To illustrate this idea imagine someone who has not been exercising for sometime and is out of shape. When they first start exercising again, they can only run a mile or two before they are exhausted, but every time they run they get a little bit stronger and a little bit fitter until after a few weeks, they can run that same mile or two and then go on and run several more miles, and not be even close to exhausted when they finish.

The running hasn't gotten any easier, the runner has become stronger.

By taking this view of achievement, we come to see that the achievement itself is secondary to what we learn, and how much stronger we get during the struggle. By becoming stronger, the struggles in our lives SEEM to become easier, and we can go on to bigger and better struggles, eventually achieving things we never though we would be capable of.

Seeking Out Struggle

When we realise the nature of the relationship between struggle and personal growth, the value of struggle becomes apparent, and we can start to look for challenges to take on, even if for the sole purpose of learning and growing stronger.

After a while, we develop a stronger association of (long term) pleasure to struggle than of (short term) pain. When this association is made we can truly soar, starting to seek out opportunities to grow as much because we enjoy the process as because we want to improve.

Where to start?

It all start right here right now. Change the way you look at challenges in your life. Start to view them as opportunities, and seek ways to overcome or solve them rather than ways to avoid them.

Will it Hurt? Sure it will.. Will it be worth it? Absolutely, more than you can ever imagine!