How Do You Carry The Load?

I heard this thought through one of my favorite authors, the brilliant mind behind the iconic book “Atomic Habits”, James Clear. He related our life experience in a very simple and profound way, saying that we don’t always choose the load, but we do choose how to carry it.

The implication behind this is that many people waste their time and effort complaining about the circumstances. It’s unfair that you got looked over for a promotion. That injury you sustained is the reason you can’t work out and you’re gaining weight. The truth is, a lot of what happens to us is out of our control - that’s just the load we carry. What is in control is how we carry it.

Is your tendency to avoid it altogether and act like you don’t need to carry it? Is it that you procrastinate and delay the inevitable because you don’t feel like it? Maybe your ego gets in the way and you struggle to lift it and make life harder than it needs to be.

In having an awareness that we do have a say in how we carry the load, even though we didn’t choose the load, it allows us to get more resourceful. Instead of focusing all of your energy on the problem, this transitions your attention to possible solutions.

What if you chose to get some help in carrying the load, that would make it a whole lot lighter wouldn’t it? Or what if you invested in some tools that helped you wheel the load and make it more manageable? There are options available to you, and when you get your ego and pride out of the way, you’ll begin to see them.

You do not choose the load but you do choose how to carry it. This gives you power in your life when you feel powerless. It gives you the agency to make things right when it appears as though you’ve been wronged. 

A piece of advice I constantly hear from the world’s most successful people, from all backgrounds, is that everything changed for them when they took ownership of their life. They’re not defined by their environment, they assign their own meaning to it and make it whatever they want it to be.

To wrap this up I’d like you to internalize this question - What is yours to carry and how can you carry it better?