How to Run Toward the Battle
I’ve talked with many leaders who were confused, angry, and ready to quit. Sometimes I say, “Well, isn’t this exciting.” My smile confuses them. Some disagree. Others think I don’t get it.
Leaders run toward the battle, not away.
Compassion is evil when it short-circuits growth. It’s necessary to acknowledge painful situations. “It sounds like you’re struggling.” But don’t stop there. Add, “This is your opportunity to grow.”
Perceived capacity governs response. Confidence wavers when you doubt yourself. You struggle with confidence when you carried the weight in the past.
Increase your capacity by pushing your limits.
Seneca on facing challenges:
“I want something to overcome, something on which I may test my endurance.”
Ease is boring.
Marcus Aurelius on facing adversity:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
“If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.”
Run toward the battle:
Embrace the pain before the hurt devours you.
My body resisted the cold water at first. I learned to relax despite the discomfort. Lean in, not away. An old Buddhist proverb says, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Resisting reality multiplies suffering.
The battle is hard enough on its own. Don’t waste energy resisting it. Seneca said, “It does not matter what you bear but how you bear it.”
Bruce Lee said, “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” God never answers a prayer for an easy life. Epictetus put it this way, “… they want the things which lead to happiness, but they look for them in the wrong place.”
The pains of battle diminish when you face them and multiply when you avoid them.
What battles have increased your capacity?
Read, Grit by Angela Duckworth.
Author’s note: Let’s discuss strategic retreat another day.
