I mentioned this during a recent trip to the gym with a close friend and employee. This had been my response to the follow-up question of how his arms felt after a day of negatives in a grueling bicep and tricep workout the day before.

 

The fact that it was challenging for him to hold his phone to his ear, or for me to wash my hair this morning, meant that the work out the day before had been quite successful.

 

We had not worked out with much weight at all, but had changed our workout routine to lift the weights in the reverse method, very slowly allowing the weights to return to a starting position and resisting the whole time. Sometimes even 10 pounds can crush the biggest arms.

 

And so I really started to think about that concept and how it could apply to life and business alike. You see, without fatigue, and a little intentional pain or discomfort, muscles are not stretched beyond their comfort zone and will not grow larger and stronger.

 

Sometimes in business, we must do what is not enjoyable, what is mentally painful and challenging to accomplish. We would rather not tackle some tasks, but after having done so discover that we are far better off now that we had. Intentionally setting time aside to focus on tough tasks, gets them off of our plate and creates a strength that we otherwise would not attain.

 

Examples might be focusing on finances, tax preparation, corporate legal documents, or sales efforts – at least in my case. But when I do focus on these tasks I become quite good at them and accomplish great things. Much like diligently going to the gym and building a body I can be proud of.

 

So remember, life and work are not all fun and games. Sometimes it has to be uncomfortable or hurt a little to accomplish great things.