Why Hunt Discomfort When There’s Easy?

You could win the lottery. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. And there’s always crypto. It seems like it’s easy to achieve success, at least the financial kind. And happiness is an inside job, right? Why then, would you need to hunt discomfort? Those ways seem much more palatable. 

You’re right. There might be “easy” ways to make money. But they aren’t by themselves paths to sustainable growth. 

Bill Bob Harrell worked at a Home Depot in Texas in the late 90s. At least until he won USD 31 million in the Texas Lottery Lotto jackpot. A huge sum that led to his departure from Home Depot and entrance into the world of millionaires (as you would expect). A fantastic and welcome change for just about anyone or any business, right? Tens of millions of dollars overnight. 

Harrell did good with his money. He purchased homes for himself and his family. He donated significant amounts to his local church. And he did all the things that he had always wanted to do. No reason not to, he had the money. 

Until he didn’t. All his generosity left him broke within 20 months after winning the huge sum. Tragically, he ended up taking his own life. Before he did, he told his financial advisor: “winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

It’s easy to write Harrell off as not having good judgement (which maybe he did not). Or, imagine that how you would handle a windfall would be much different, better and more successful. Which may be true.

Here’s the thing. No matter how much money ends up in your account, there’s no denying the growth that comes with hunting discomfort. It teaches you lessons you just can’t learn any other way. Even if you do have 8 figures in your bank account. Sure, someone can win the lottery or randomly sell a NFT for a million dollars or win the birth jackpot and be born into a family of privilege. But that’s not growth. And it won’t get you to where you ultimately want to go. Unless you learn the lessons discomfort has to teach you, you’ll likely end up right where you started (or worse). 

Believe it or not, “70% of people that win a lottery or receive a large windfall of cash go bankrupt within a few years”. And according to Harvard Medical School Professor Sanjiv Chopra, winning the lottery won’t make you happier either. He cites research suggesting that circumstances may change short-term happiness, but in the long run people revert to their own “set point”.

Many of us intuitively know this already. I was listening to a podcast where LeBron James (who has a few dollars to his name and appears to be a pretty satisfied guy with his life) was, of course, wishing his kids the best of luck. But also, hoping they have their own challenges to give them the hunger to go further. He, and many of us, know that discomfort of addressing challenges makes us stronger, better and faster. And without them, it’s easy to get lost and eventually overrun by the natural changes in the world or those around us.  

To be clear: there are times for hacks, taking the easy route and luck where it may come. The world seems like it’s full of enough challenges and I’m all for easy when it’s not at the expense of overall growth.

I want you to win the lottery, sell an NFT for millions or have a windfall of cash. I do. And at the same time, the only way to reliably achieve sustainable happiness, money or any other result is true growth within yourself. True for you personally, professionally, in your business and in your life. And true growth that comes from hunting and conquering discomfort. Remember that next time you run into challenge — it’s only the opportunity to make you better.