Use Pain and Tedium as Your Secret Training Ally

Imagine you’re hiking up a steep hill, legs burning, lungs screaming—every step reminds you why you stay at sea level. Yet when you reach the top, that heavy-legged thrill unlocks something in your mind. The same spike occurs in your brain when you push through tedious practice or painful feedback. Endorphins kick in, sharpening focus and building resilience.

Mastery isn’t built on comfort; it’s forged by embracing the parts you dread most. The top violinists practice scales for hours. The top negotiators embrace objections and silence. The punishing monotony is where your brain’s plasticity kicks into high gear, wiring new pathways for complex skills. And if you’ve ever hated doing something only to find you became inexplicably good at it, that’s your resistance practice paying off.

But most shy away from these hard modes, preferring feel-good routines instead. Don’t fall for that trap. Seek out what makes you cringe—those blind spots are the fuel for mastery. Design purposeful, focused drills to magnify your weak areas and watch your capabilities explode.

This links to habit-loop theory: pairing a challenge (cue) with acute discomfort (craving) and the relief when you finish (reward) conditions you to return for more growth. The more you do it, the more you crave the reward of competence.

You pick one area you dread—maybe public speaking jitters—and craft a targeted drill, like presenting a one-minute pitch to your roommate cold. You schedule it and lean into the discomfort rather than running. Afterwards, you write down what you felt and learned in five minutes. Do this drill once this week, and watch how it shrinks your fear and expands your skillset.