Episode #165 - Life is hard... as it should be! - REBOOT #118

Episode Notes: 

This week, we’re resharing an episode from last year, as I reflect on my own experiences and revisit a pivotal episode from March 2023, I invite you to consider a new perspective on the obstacles that shape us.

Diving deep on why life should be hard instead of looking for the “easy” button. In our everyday lives, experiencing challenges and hardships can lead to greater personal growth and satisfaction… a few examples are: 

    ✅ Hardship builds resilience.
    ✅ Difficulty leads to growth.
    ✅ Struggle gives us a sense of purpose.
    ✅ Overcoming obstacles builds confidence.

Whether it's starting or running a business, getting in shape, or retaining control of your emotions, life can be hard. But it's those challenges that often lead to the greatest rewards. Join us as we discuss the benefits of facing difficulty head-on. So, buckle up for a mental tune-up that promises to enhance your quality of life and propel you toward next-level growth. 

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Transcript

Rick: 0:00

Life is hard, isn't it? But when you really think about it, isn't everything at one point or another? I mean, relationships are hard, aren't they? Running a business can be hard, wouldn't you agree? So can working for someone else, or not working at all can be really hard, unless you're a millionaire or retired right. Staying healthy and working out is hard, so sticking to a diet, that can be really freaking hard, you know.

Rick: 0:29

Welcome to the MindWrench podcast with your host, Rick Selover, where minor adjustments produce major improvements in mindset, personal growth and success. This is the place to be every Monday, where we make small improvements and take positive actions in our business and personal lives that will make a major impact in our success. Next level growth and quality of life.

Rick: 0:58

Hey, what's up everybody. Welcome to the MindWrench podcast. I'm your host, rick Selover. Thanks so much for stopping in. If you're a returning listener and haven't done so already, please take a minute and click the follow or subscribe button and then rate and review the show. When you rate and review the show, the algorithms for Apple, spotify, google podcasts, iheartradio, amazon Music and all the other platforms will see that it's valuable and show it to more people that have never seen it before, and hopefully it can help them too.

Rick: 1:25

I would really, really really appreciate your help, sharing this word with your friends and family as well, and if you're a brand new listener, welcome. I hope you find something of value here that helps you in your personal or professional life as well. Please make sure to click the subscribe or follow button so you never miss another episode. Recent events in my ever-challenging life, while forcing me to rethink some moving forward decisions, also had me diving back into some of the messages I shared last year here on the MindWrench. This one really hit home for me, so I thought I should reshare it with you as well. I hope this helps you reevaluate what may be going on with you, too, and give you a fresh perspective like a new set of lenses to look through to help you with those moving forward decisions you may have. So let's take a little trip back to March of 2023, and episode number 118.

Rick: 2:18

Life is hard, isn't it? But when you really think about it, isn't everything at one point or another? I mean, relationships are hard, aren't they? Running a business can be hard, wouldn't you agree? So can working for someone else, or not working at all, can be really hard, unless you're a millionaire or retired, right? Staying healthy and working out is hard. So sticking to a diet, that can be really frickin' hard. You know, retaining control of your emotions can be extremely hard when someone triggers you or gets under your skin a bit, embarrasses you or challenges your ego, am I right? Isn't our gut instinctive React swiftly and severely? Sometimes just dealing with our daily lives can be really hard. But it should be. You heard me right. Life should be hard. What we do each day should be hard. So why would I say that? Well, it's really quite simple.

Rick: 3:13

When things in life are easy and there's no resistance, nothing to slow us down, nothing to work at, work through or work around, there is no reward, no feeling of accomplishment, nothing to be excited about or grateful for. So why do we always seek easy, otherwise known as the comfort zone? Feeling comfortable is a universal, basic human desire. This relaxed, sometimes euphoric state of being draws us in and provides us with a safe, secure and settled mind. Life feels good when we're comfortable, doesn't it? But this good feeling can become empty and unsatisfying, especially when it keeps us from working on our higher aspirations or working towards our goals and dreams. Comfort may be our greatest deterrent when it comes to making progress on meaningful but difficult tasks and goals, but when we become such creatures of habit, we run the risk of getting stuck in a boring rut, deprived of enjoying new or different experiences. This can even result in feelings of depression, laziness or complacency. I know, when asked, most of us hell, probably all of us would love to wake up tomorrow and find an extra couple hundred million dollars was deposited into our bank accounts. And while it seems it would be a dream come true doesn't always work out as well as one would think.

Rick: 4:29

Many times that wealth won't last. Research has suggested that a significant number of inherited wealth is lost by the second or third generation. I believe the lessons we learn through the hard work, hard times and the struggle of building our own wealth give us the wisdom needed to do the right things that allow us to hang on to it and grow our fortunes. According to a study by Williams Group Wealth Consultancy, 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% by the third. This is often due to a combination of factors, including poor financial management, a lack of financial education and conflicts with the family over money. Similarly, a 2015 report by UBS found that just 30% of family businesses survive into the second generation and only 10% into the third generation. Again, this is often due to a range of factors, including poor succession planning and a lack of financial discipline. That's probably why 70% of lottery winners burn through their money quickly and are broke within the first five years.

Rick: 5:34

If you're looking for a competitive edge for your business or a more effective jumpstart to your personal development in 2024, I'll make your first step super simple. It is a fact that an incredible number of the most successful business owners, nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies, top-running professional athletes, entertainers and industry leaders like Microsoft's Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, richard Branson, amazon's Jeff Bezos and Salesforce's Mark Benioff, all have one thing in common they all have at least one coach and some have several that they work with on a consistent basis, someone that helps guide, mentor and support them, challenge them, help them set and achieve goals that move them forward and then hold them accountable to follow through driving personal and professional growth. Working with a coach has many substantial benefits. Just for an example, 80% of coaching clients report improved self-esteem or self-confidence thanks to coaching. 99% of individuals and companies at higher coach report being very satisfied and 96% would do it again If, deep down, you know it's time to make those improvements in your business, your personal life, that you've kicked down the road year after year. If you're tired of knowing there's a better version of you waiting to shine, but unsure of how to bring that version to light. If you're tired of wanting to enjoy a more successful business but not sure how to start. And if you don't want to go another 12 months without better results but you don't want to go it alone, then take the first step. It's super simple. Sometimes talking to the right person can make all the difference. Go to wwwricksellovercom, slash contact and I'll set you up with a free consultation. Call with me to see if one-on-one coaching is right for you.

Rick: 7:14

While it may seem counterintuitive, experiencing challenges and hardships in life can actually lead to greater personal growth and satisfaction than a life of ease and comfort. And here's some reasons why. Number one hardship builds resilience. When we face difficult situations, we're forced to tap into our inner strength and develop coping mechanisms that can help us face future challenges with greater ease. Over time, this can lead to greater resilience and a more positive outlook on life. Number two difficulty leads to growth. In the face of adversity, we're often forced to stretch ourselves and step outside of our comfort zones. This can lead to personal growth as we learn new skills, develop new perspectives and discover strengths we never knew we had. Number three struggle gives us a sense of purpose. When we face difficult circumstances, we often find ourselves searching for meaning and purpose in our lives. This can lead us to discover new passions and interests and to work towards goals that are truly meaningful to us. And number four overcoming obstacles builds confidence. When we face and overcome challenges, we build confidence in ourselves and our abilities. This can help us feel more self-assured and capable in other areas of our lives, leading to greater overall satisfaction Overall.

Rick: 8:34

While hardship may not always be pleasant in the moment, it can ultimately lead to a more fulfilling and satisfying life. I know personally my life has never been easy. Nothing was ever passed down or given to me. I busted my ass for decades. There were many hardships, started and failed a few of my own businesses and learned the lessons I need to know along the way to enjoy the life that I do now. Being physically fit at my age is hard. Getting up before 5 am every morning to go to the gym and workout is hard. Believe me, I don't always want to go, but I make myself because the benefits are worth the pain. Cold showers are hard. Discipline is hard. My morning routine is hard, but worth it for me for what it does for me.

Rick: 9:18

The last five years of my job or life were extremely hard, and that's putting it lightly. The challenges I had to face on a daily basis were unbelievable. It was no longer the enjoyable career I mastered over the previous 25 years. The stress and pressure I was under from several directions was something I would have never chosen or asked for, but in hindsight I'm grateful for going through it, as it helped mold me into a more resilient, resourceful, effective and creative version of myself. I still remember as a kid I loved watching Star Trek, the original series. I used to watch it every week. I guess it was the whole idea of exploring new frontiers that had my interest. You know, boldly go where no man's gone before. Anyways, there's this one episode and I tried unsuccessfully to look it up for a reference. But as I was thinking through this podcast, for some unknown reason, I remember this episode.

Rick: 10:09

Captain Kirk, spock, bones and a few others beamed down to some new planet and I'm not really sure why. And on this planet everyone had everything they could ever want. The temperature was perfect. There was nothing you couldn't have. You didn't have to work or pay for it, it was just yours for the asking. Nobody seemed to age. It was like the Garden of Eden. A few from the enterprise wanted to stay there forever because it seemed like such a nice, easy life there. But I believe it was Spock that summarized the fact that humans need struggles to overcome. New adversities result in new learnings, that man will not thrive in an environment such as this. But in the end, the residents of this planet were just prisoners of this easy lifestyle. They were not able to marry, have kids or leave. Ultimately they served the computer that held them captive.

Rick: 10:59

Talk about a glimpse of the future. Huh, I don't remember too many of these episodes, much like Lost in Space. I love that one too. I was fascinated by each episode. It's funny how some of these little life's messages seemed to have stuck somewhere in my brain. So, no matter where you are in your journey, regardless of how difficult your business, career or job may seem, or the struggles you may have with some of your relationships maybe it feels like your finances will never be where you want them to be.

Rick: 11:27

Well, don't look for the easy button. Don't wish for instant success or a magic money machine, because there is none. Don't play the lottery hoping to be the next Mega Millions winner. Life is hard, as it should be. Learn through the struggles. Gain strength through the challenges. I believe we were designed to continuously grow, learn and become better versions of ourselves. So embrace your hard life and use the wisdom earned to move towards a better tomorrow. There's a great quote from Jim Rohn Don't wish it was easier. Wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems. Wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge. Wish for more wisdom. Well, that's all I had for you today. Thanks again for tuning in. I really appreciate your support and I hope you have a great week. I can always be reached at wwwricksellovercom, where you can find all my social media links, episodes, blog posts and much more.