Dung is good…pain is better!

No pain, no gain holds true for leadership development at all levels.

The difference between a happy person and a depressed one is how we respond to difficulties and disasters in our life. Imagine being out and returning home to find a huge truckload of manure (dung) left in front of your home’s entrance. The dung is awfully filthy and stinks your whole house. And worse, you have no idea why this manure is in your front porch. You are stuck with it!

In this metaphor, the truckload of dung in front of the house stands for the traumatic experiences that are dumped on us in life. How we react to this dung defines us.

We can lament, moan and complaint – Why Me?.
And slowly see this dung destroy our happiness and ruin our friendship. And soon, we sink into a negative state and our lives spiral into depression and anger. This happens to many people and businesses. The adversities of life affect us and we end up making excuses for the terrible calamity that has befallen us. And before long, our lives & businesses that we lead spiral down a unsalvageable state. Yes, I can see the shadows of my range review case already :)

Another way to respond is to first moan and sigh because of the calamity. But then, we proactively figure out a way out of the mess. This type of folks will bring out the wheelbarrow, the fork & the spade. They fork the dung into the barrow, wheel it around the back of the house, and dig it into the garden. These folks go through much pain & difficulty to move dung slowly into the garden. It may take months but little by little every day, the pile of dung gets smaller. Till it finally disappear. But, another amazing thing happen…the flowers in the garden are bursting out in a richness of color all over the place. Their fragrance wafts down the street. Then, the fruit tree in the corner is nearly falling over; it’s so heavy with sweet fruit. There are so many that it is able to share with the neighbors.

Welcoming tragedies in our life can sometimes act as fertilizers to enhance other parts of our life. And going through painful times may actually help us become better leaders and allow us to become a richer & wiser person.

Pain prompts us to face who we are and where we are. What we do with that experience defines who we become. Most us run away from pain but the best leaders embrace pain and constantly work to get more pain into their lives.

Accept the hardest roles & jobs – you will learn the most even if you didn’t succeed but also it would provide you the biggest upside if you were to succeed. Face your Fears & Pain head on – the most terrifying thing about pain experience is the present moment when faced with the pain. Don’t avoid or run away from the pain. Usually, they last for short bursts only and soon you will look back at those moments and joke about it to others going through similar pains. Remember, pain is temporary but gains may last a lifetime.

With that…on Monday, I am stepping in to the office…with renewed hope & courage…smile & be grateful for the pain. Bravery opens doors of opportunities.