"Let it hurt."

There are two great motivating factors in life - the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. These two forces govern what we feel like doing in conscious and unconscious ways. They both work, but the avoidance of pain has a much stronger influence. Understanding that, it serves us to get it working for us, which is what inspired today’s quote: “Let it hurt.”

Ironically, this is the opposite of avoiding pain. “Letting it hurt” is acknowledging, embracing, and allowing the pain to wash over you. Many people turn to substances, vices, and other outlets to make the pain stop or to distract themselves from confronting the painful reality they’re facing. But the pain is rich. There’s so much opportunity in it which only comes out when we choose to immerse ourselves in it.

Just as we’re motivated to avoid pain, we’re deeply impacted by experiencing it. Because it hurts, it makes you questions the systems, structures, strategies, and decisions that led to that point. The pain tells you that you did something wrong, and it brings radical awareness to everything that brought you to that point. Because it interrupts the pattern, it becomes a fuel source for sweeping transformation that is naturally done in an effort to avoid the pain in the future.

I had a profound moment of experiencing this personally, recently. There are certain aspects about my business that I’ve been avoiding. They’re truths I didn’t want to accept, so I acted like they didn’t exist. That is until I chose to ‘let it hurt’, and it created a space for me to get really honest with myself. It’s from this emotional state that I could really understand things that were working, things that weren't, and most importantly what I could do about it. 

And here’s the silver lining. Growth is inherently painful and an extraordinary life isn’t meant to come easy. But if the greatest joy we’ll experience is self-actualization, and a realization that we’re becoming all that we’re capable of, then the pain is an indicator that we’re on the path. 

It’s okay to get frustrated, emotional, discouraged, and to call into question what you thought was true. We’re all human. But in the name of personal growth, it takes the crucible that is these pointed moments of pain to birth our fullest potential. So let’s be committed to leaning in, learning from it, and keep moving forward!