Today on the US News & World Report career blog, I wrote about 3 reasons you need pain in your career. In a nutshell, those reasons are:
- Pain can be a catalyst for positive change.
- Pain is a warning bell.
- Pain can challenge you to learn and grow.
If you use it correctly, pain can be one of the best allies you have in your career (and your life). The trouble is, most people are so busy trying to avoid it, or bemoaning the fact that "that's just the way things are," that they never get to experience any of its potential benefits.
As long as you're going to be experiencing the discomfort anyway, you might as well get the most you can out of it. In the US News post, I suggest three questions to ask to help turn your pain into something positive.
- What positive change could this be catalyzing?
- What is this pain telling me? What can I do about it?
- What do I need to learn to help me move past this pain?
I'm not suggesting that uncomfortable circumstances will ever actually feel good. But since some degree of discomfort is unavoidable, doesn't it make sense to squeeze all the value you can out of it? And that doesn't happen when you're running the other way or playing the victim. It can only come when you look it square in the face and say, "OK, so this sucks, but what gift does it have for me?"
How about you? How do you get the most out of your discomfort?
[And for a little breath-of-reality P.S., this is one of those things that I'm definitely much better about talking about than actually doing. I still find myself getting sucked into either running away or feeling like a victim. But when I do actually remember to look for the gift, it can be extraordinarily helpful. Not only does it help me benefit from the experience, it also reframes it all in a more positive light.]
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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