The Power of Hard Work: Why Struggle is Part of Success

It's supposed to be hard.

And that's ok.

The reality is, you're not going to know what to do next most of the time, and when you do, it's not always going to work, and you're definitely not going to always get it right.

The sooner you accept that,

The less hard it will feel, and the sooner you can get onto just allowing the pain and the struggle to be there for a bit.

I get up each morning and head into the gym to do a workout knowing that it’s going to wreck me.

But then it will end and I let myself recover.

And then I feel invincible for the rest of the day.

Like dragon’s blood flowing through my veins.

I don’t waste my energy fighting it, or wishing it was easier, or telling myself that I’m out of shape or not as good as the person working out next to me because it’s hard.

Working out is hard.

And so is running an art business.

A good friend of mine always says that effort is a choice.

Effort by definition is a vigorous or determined attempt.

You’ve chosen to sell your art.

You’ve chosen to put yourself out there.

You’ve chosen to travel to shows, set up in the heat or the wee hours of the morning, or in the rain, and deal with cranky neighbors, dogs peeing on your stuff,  and bad weather.

You’ve chosen to set goals, and take risks, and learn a ton of new things.

You’ve chosen to put in the effort.

Let’s just embrace the reality of all of it.

It’s hard.

You’re going to struggle.

It’s not going to feel good sometimes…

But on the other side of the hard stuff, the effort, the struggle…

Is finishing things, and doing things you’ve never done before, and reaching goals, and creating the life you want for yourself.

And that…

that feeling…

Makes it all worth it.