Character

In one of the most memorable scenes from the movie Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence holds his thumb and index finger beneath the flame on a lit match. Then, without flinching, he slowly moves his fingers up the matchstick to extinguish the fire. A military colleague observes this fearlessness and attempts to mimic it, but then quickly aborts the attempt with a yelp of pain.

"What's the trick?" he asks. "It hurts!"

"The trick," Lawrence replies, "is not minding that it hurts."

Many people have explored the importance of this life skill, most notably Angela Duckworth in her wonderful book on grit.

Our bodies and brains are not like machines with pre-set performance parameters. They are an amalgam of feelings, beliefs, and perceptions.

Performance is not merely the result of what we're physically and intellectually capable of, but the product of what our brain is willing to endure in the moment.

Transcending periods of discomfort is possible when pain and anguish are subordinate to a larger commitment, whether that's a vision of our future self or allegiance to a higher law.

Prior to his international acclaim as an author, speaker, and Harvard professor, Arthur Brooks spent many years as a professional French horn player. He believes his foundation in music was what paved the way for his later success.

Elaborating on the point, he explained that striving for mastery as a classical musician forced him to embrace three forms of discomfort:

Repetition: He spent thousands of hours repeating scales, knowing this was the only way to bypass the conscious mind and activate subconscious sources of ballistic movement.? ?

Criticism: He exposed himself to an endless stream of "constructive feedback" from teachers, peers, and audiences, knowing these external observations were the only way to understand and compensate for his blindspots.

Anxiety: He became intimately familiar with the self-doubt and insecurity that precede a live performance, but gradually learned that his nerves were the handmaiden of a stronger stage presence.

Today's idea economy rewards creativity born from experiences. Extracting everything we can from our experiences comes down to character, or the ability to reframe struggle as the stimulus for growth.

Perhaps you too needed this reminder.