Suffer better. Suffering is something I disliked and shied away from for many years of my life. As someone who looks up to Tony Robbins, his goal was to “end suffering”. So I wanted to end my suffering and the suffering of others.

Now, I still want to and will help to end the suffering of those who are less privileged, helpless, or were just born in a tough environment.

That being said, these last few years, I have embraced suffering and truly see it as the path to inner and external fulfillment.

What I mean by this is that when you face your fears and go through the suffering and pain of an obstacle, challenging time in your life or project you have been putting off, you gain the power as you endured the worst and either completed your mission or at the very least, still came out alive.

And in my own personal experience, I have encountered challenging times that could have easily broke me but I chose to endure the suffering and pain.

For example, my business was struggling to survive due to a “perfect storm” of events which I’ve written about here. Or I was gaining to much weight and my belly began to pop out overflowing with fat around my waist creating love handles, which made me, a sports skills trainer, look unprofessional, lazy and undisciplined.

I could have easily given up on my business and gotten a job or continue to let myself go and become fatter and more out of shape. But I “embraced the suck” like the Navy Seals say and kept fighting. I’ve cold called leads, followed up on referrals, and closed 10 times more clients. I’ve gotten back to waking up at 4 am and going to the gym. I cannot be stopped and will not stop.

And so what I mean by “suffer more, suffer better” is continue to callous your mind and body by enduring the pain of suffering and then quiet your mind so you can objectively look at what is worth suffering for and what will bring you closer to your goal or help you achieve it. That’s what I mean by “suffer more, suffer better.”

So many of us “live lives of quiet desperation” and give up on the first signs of suffering and pain.

“Life is dukkha”. – Lord Buddha. Translated in English this means “life is suffering”.

In life, we will suffer but we have the choice, in most occasions, to choose our suffering. Sometimes you don’t get to choose, that’s fine too. Get through that suffering and then when you have the freedom you can choose your suffering.

Someone else who believed this is Frederich Neitzche who said, “to live is to suffer. To survive is to find meaning in the suffering.”

Life is full of suffering.

What will you choose to suffer for?