4112: Personal Growth Timelines: The Harsh Truth of Rapid Personal Growth by Benjamin Hardy on Emotional Resilience

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[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00] Personal Growth Timelines. The Harsh Truth of Rapid Personal Growth by Benjamin Hardy of BenjaminHardy.com and I'm your narrator Justin Malik. Now let's get right to our next article as we optimize your life. Personal Growth Timelines. The Harsh Truth of Rapid Personal Growth by Benjamin Hardy of BenjaminHardy.com. Good timber does not grow quickly.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00] Here's what to understand about personal growth and what you can expect. A young man had recently purchased a pickup truck. Needing some firewood, he thought it a great opportunity to test his new truck. After driving up the snowy mountains and out of cell phone service, he found a spot to park near some trees. He pulled off the road to park and got stuck in deep snow. Desperate, he tried everything he could to get out. Switching from reverse to drive and spinning out his tires,

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00] his truck got stuck deeper and deeper in the snow. He put twigs under the stuck tire in hopes they would provide traction but to no avail. He used a shovel and tried digging around the tire, but he was stuck too deep. Eventually, he became incredibly discouraged. The sun was hastily descending and weather bitterly chilling. He wasn't sure what to do. He offered a simple prayer and got the feeling he should start cutting wood.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00] He worked for a few hours chopping down trees and putting large pieces into the back of his truck. Once the truck was full, he hopped in and turned it on. After a moment of humble silence, he tried reversing out. The heavy load of wood provided the needed traction to get out of the snow, to get back onto the road, and to move forward. Without the load of wood in his truck, he'd still be there, stuck in the snow. The need for a personal load.

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00] Most people mistakenly believe that happiness is the absence of a load. We want life to be easy without challenge or difficulty. However, it is by having a load that we can have the traction needed to move forward in our lives. When we don't carry a substantial weight of personal responsibility, we can quickly become stuck. I found this in my own life. It wasn't until after I became a foster parent of three children, a substantial load indeed,

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00] that I was able to get the traction needed to develop my career as a writer. Before having that personal load to carry, I was somewhat complacent. I lacked the urgency. I didn't have the traction to move forward. A life of ease is not the pathway to growth and happiness. On the contrary, a life of ease is how you get stuck and confused in life. To quote my favorite poem by Douglas Malick, quote, Good timber does not grow with ease.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00] The stronger wind, the stronger trees. The further sky, the greater length. The more the storm, the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow, in trees and men, good timbers grow. End quote. The law of opposites. According to Newton's third law, all forces come in pairs. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Said Charles Dickens, quote,

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00] It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. End quote. The very challenges inherent in life make it possible to thrive. Without said challenges, there'd be nothing to overcome. You can't possibly have the best of times without simultaneously having the worst of times. To know sweetness, you must also know bitterness. To know and appreciate health, you must also be acquainted with sickness. To know happiness, you must also know sadness.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00] Without darkness, there could be no light. Without opposites and without contrast, you couldn't possibly have a choice. But you do have a choice. Thus, you are empowered. You can choose to love deeply at the price of suffering. You can choose growth at the price of difficulty and challenge. You can choose refinement at the price of discipline and humility. The more extreme the difficulty, the more extreme the growth.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00] The law of opposites equal in opposite reactions. There's never been a more competitive and challenging time to live. Thus, there's never been greater opportunity for success, abundance, and happiness in the history of the world. If you want to create something powerful, you must be willing to fail in all of your nakedness. Don't be afraid of being bold. As Seth Godin explains in the Icarus Deception,

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00] You've been taught all your life to live between the lines, to stay in the middle. You've been taught that if you fly too high like Icarus, your wings will burn by the sun and great will be the fall. So you play life safe and convenient. But that's not where growth is. That's not where love is. That's not where art is. That's not where life is. The more potent the difficulty, the more powerful the growth.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00] Good timber does not grow with ease. You must choose for yourself. When Margaret Thatcher was a young girl, she read a poem by Ella Wilcox that changed her life. The poem read, End quote. The sun shines and the rain beats on all of us.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00] You may not get to choose your external circumstances initially. The wind blows regardless of your preference. However, you get to decide what you do with that wind. You get to decide how you'll respond to the difficulties in your life. You get to set your own sail. Ships don't sail with ease. There are crushing waves and storms to be through. Where will you end up? Who will you be? Which way is your sail facing? Are you avoiding the hard waves?

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00] Are you seeking an easy path? How heavy is the load you're carrying? Is your load sufficient enough to provide the traction you need to move forward? Good timber does not grow with ease. Neither do you. Pressure is required to make diamonds. Scorching fire is required to purify gold. All beautiful things come at a price. If you aren't willing to pay the price but would rather the easy road, you'll never know what you missed out on.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00] You'll never know love and thus, you will never know peace. The satisfaction of overcoming challenges and obstacles is sublimely greater than any momentary pleasure. You're more powerful than you know. Don't fear big mountains to climb. You are a climber. You were born to overcome. Your most authentic self is not who you presently are, but who you have the potential to become. You have no clue how incredible you can become.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00] You won't know until you get there. Keep pushing. Keep going. Keep going. Your life is beautiful. The very challenges you face, the risks you take, the art you create, the love you graciously give, this is what transforms you into who you are. You just listened to the post titled, Personal Growth Timelines, The Harsh Truth of Rapid Personal Growth,

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00] by Benjamin Hardy of BenjaminHardy.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the business platform that helps sellers become neighborhood favorites. Payments, point of sale, online orders, inventory, staff, all in one place, so you can focus on your customers instead of your to-do list. One thing about my favorite gelato place, besides the flavors, is that I'm always done paying in seconds.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00] Tap to pay, receipt in my inbox, and the person behind the counter is actually talking to me instead of messing with a machine. That's Square. Square. When the tools aren't the focus, the human part of the business gets to come forward. Square helps you run your business more smoothly, bringing payments, operations, and insights together in one place, so you're ready for whatever's next.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00] Right now, listeners can get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com slash go slash old. That's S-Q-U-A-R-E dot com slash go slash O-L-D. Get started with Square and build a setup that works the way you do. Back to school starts now. Get long-lasting battery life on the Dell XPS laptop powered by Series 3 Intel Core, so you can work from anywhere.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_00] Now starting at $699 with exclusive student pricing starting at $599. Complete your setup with savings on select monitors and must-have electronics and accessories. Limited time deals and free shipping on PCs and more await you at dell.com slash deals. That's dell.com slash deals. Thank you to Benjamin.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00] It's funny how many of us work really, really hard early on with this vision of retirement, whether it's early retirement or not. And the vision is basically not having a full-time job, relaxing on the beach with a nice cold drink next to us. But we often leave it at that and don't put much more thought into retirement or what that would look like. But really, how many hours are we going to spend on that particular beach? What does day-to-day retirement actually look like?

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_00] And is that what we truly want? If you've been listening to this show for a while, you might remember the conversations we've had about working towards this goal of more comfort. It's counterintuitive, but the more we desire that comfort, the less comfortable we seem to become. And the opposite is true. When we actively try to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, we tend to make more progress, as Benjamin was saying in this article.

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_00] The always comfortable life or always happy life, that's an illusion. The sort of story that's been painted of what retirement looks like, but it's far from the truth. Being human means having challenges in uncomfortable situations. And while I'm not saying that you necessarily shouldn't buy a comfortable chair, let's say, I'd say instead, that could be a nice investment. But you will still get tired of sitting and need to get up.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00] So let's not try to avoid all discomfort today and this weekend. Have a great weekend if you're listening in real time, and I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.