Pain + Reflection = Progress
I had read Ray Dalio’s Principles when it first came out. The biggest take away I had was the above equation, Pain + Reflection = Progress. As he breaks it down in the book, as well as in countless interviews it seems so I obvious. At least it did to me. It is the idea that you will experience pain when evolving, especially if you have ambitious goals. It is in handling the pain that often determines your progress.
In keeping with this theme. I am also reminded of another story Tom Bilyeu uses to describe finding gold nuggets for progress. To paraphrase and I hope I am getting this right. (side note: Tom Bilyeu and Impact Theory are a great follow) It goes something like this. When someone is mean to you and trying to hurt you with words. I am talking about the blowout fight with your spouse or best friend or co worker. They know you and exactly what you’re insecure about and know the jab they can say to really get under your skin. Those jabs while they hurt, are usually TRUE. And if you can figure out how to armor yourself to let those comments bounce off of you, you can in fact find gold nuggets on the ground. And perhaps those nuggets will provide insight for opportunity and progress.
So, if we can agree that this equation makes sense, what can hinder our progress. I believe it is in the reflection. We all deal with pain differently. And by pain, I don’t mean physical pain. I mean all the things going wrong in your life or business that is causing you stress and hindering your growth.
How can we be sure that we are adequately reflecting? I have a couple thoughts….
Recognize your pain. It can be money problems. Stress from a bad decision. Problems with physical health. Stress on a relationship.
Capture it. Certain people can sit in the pain and reflect on what needs to be done. I think this might be a skill you can develop over time. When you feel discomfort, have some method to capture and reflect over, when appropriate. It can be as simple as a note book.
Avoid ignoring it. We live in an instant gratification world and we can mask are problems by moving on to the next post or Netflix show.
How do you cope? Coping with stress can be productive or unproductive. Productive might be working out or learning or mediating in your thoughts. Unproductive ways of coping might be alcohol, eating or binge watching TV. While there is nothing particularly wrong about those activities, be aware if you are doing them to avoid problems.
Reflect. What can you do to avoid this in the future? This should be a productive brainstorming exercise. Reverse engineer the outcome you want. Know your goal. What steps need to be done? And on and on.
Action! Take the first step toward working on a problem that is causing your pain. Just because you ignore a problem doesn’t mean it will go away. In fact, it may show up as a bigger one down the road.
I believe progress in life or what ever you may be pursuing can give you the feeling of fulfillment. Remember progress equals growth and you know what they say, “you are either growing or you're dying.” Make sure you're on the right side of it and never peak.
Know what you want. Write it down. Recognize your pain points. Reflect. Then tackle it.
- RCL
