With all the focus on success it’s easy to overlook the valuable lessons we can learn from the more difficult parts of our journey. Below, you’ll find some very interesting insights from some of the most fascinating members of the community.
Lenora Johnson
Suffering taught me something success never had the capacity to teach: how to believe in myself even when the world was falling apart. My hardest seasons showed me that I could survive, grow, and eventually thrive not because life was easy, but because I refused to let pain keep me stuck. Read more>>
Sydnee Harris
I am a firm believer that hard times and sometimes misery teach you the absolute most. Suffering taught me humility, patience, and what it means to get back up after failure. I learned who I was through self-reflection and without any wins. Overall, it taught me how strong I am and that I can do anything I put my heart into. Read more>>
Ramona Edie
Suffering taught me realities that success never could. I know what it feels like to save money by not turning on the heat, to make sacrifices that most people never see. Those moments taught me discipline, not just with money, but with my entire life. They showed me the value of choosing what truly matters and letting go of what doesn’t. Read more>>
Sonya Hensley
Suffering has taught me a type of gratitude that is full of joy. A compassion for others that is much more encompassing. Before suffering the tendency was to more easily judge others circumstances and positions of powerlessness. In suffering I have learned that I have the power to change any circumstance with my mind set and right action. Read more>>
Jaime Coast
Grit is an extremely underrated skill these days and the only way to develop that skill is through adversity. To this day, I am an incredibly stubborn person. The nice way of saying that is that I have a tremendous amount of grit and determination. Read more>>
Candace Wells
I wouldn’t call it suffering, but in late December of 2022 I heard three of the scariest words of my life: “You have cancer.” Those words wrapped around me like the heaviest blanket of panic, fear, and sadness. All I could think about were my boys—three pieces of my entire heart, the biggest and best parts of me—and my husband. Read more>>
Christopher ‘Warlok’ Stephens
Suffering has taught me that what others think of me or my contributions to this life actually matter alot less than what ‘I’ think about it. Read more>>
Georgina M. Cox
Suffering taught me something success never could: patience with myself. When things are hard, you learn to slow down, listen to your own needs, and rebuild your confidence piece by piece. Success is great, but it doesn’t teach you how to stay standing when everything feels uncertain. Struggle did. Read more>>
Tara Hollies
The niche brand that I am best known for is dissertation coaching and editing, but I could not have become the successful mentor and editor that I am today without suffering through the dissertation process myself. Read more>>
Jen Guidry
Suffering taught me things success never even touched. Success builds confidence, but suffering builds character. It strips you down to the truth. It shows you what actually matters and what was just noise. When I went through cancer, trauma, and the seasons where everything felt like it was falling apart, I learned how strong the human spirit really is. Read more>>
Dani Ochoa
I think suffering taught me the things that really matter in this life. I learned the importance of slowing down, taking care of yourself, and working in a sustainable manner. Growing up, I was always goal-oriented and wanted to be the best possible student, getting the best grades so that I could later go to the best schools. Read more>>
Shylynn Imbraguglio
Suffering taught me patience and humility in a way success never could. It’s the tough moments that almost strip away the noise and show me what really matters in life! Read more>>
Architect Jui Patil
From the year 2020 to 2023/24, i suffered from chronic illness. I had many health problems. I was almost bed ridden in 2022 for some months. This phase taught me the most important life lessons. One being that professional life/ image is not everything. It takes minutes to shatter everything. The illness got me back to the ground. My attitude towards everyone changed. Read more>>
B Alan Bourgeois
Growing up poor, you don’t have to be taught what you don’t have—it’s paraded in front of you every day. You see what others get to enjoy, and something in you starts to grind: the hunger to have more, to be more, to succeed. That hunger can be useful. It pushes you forward. Read more>>
Miguel Manrique Chirinos
The tension between the expectations I had, both from the world and from myself, and the reality I actually faced. That discrepancy was hard to navigate. Read more>>
Liz Russell
Resilience. That you can bounce back up – even when you thought you never could. I experienced much suffering with having OCD, very much one of the lowest points of my life, constantly in fear that I messed something up. Constantly – and often times irrational. Read more>>
Patrick Ortman
One of my favorite songs is by Bastille called Blue Sky and the Painter. There’s a line in it: ‘Would I be who I am without the sadness in me?’ No, no I would not. And wow have I been through stuff. I’m naturally drawn to people who have been through stuff, too. They’re more interesting. More human. More relatable. Read more>>
Dustin Tuttle
Suffering makes success. At least makes it that much more rewarding. Read more>>
Lauren Davidson
I think suffering has taught me strength. Even in the darkest of times there’s light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see it at the time but I promise, you will eventually. Things will be better. You just gotta keep moving one day at a time. Read more>>
Jaye Thompson
Endurance and patience are two of the most valuable traits you can have as an entrepreneur. I’ve learned that if it all came easy, I might never have learned how to hustle to achieve certain goals. My best advice is not to view challenges as failures; rather, it’s a mindset shift that these experiences are further preparing you. Read more>>
Shemika Brown
Suffering taught me grit and resilience. It also showed me true character, who I was and what I was made of. It sparked creativity. The inability of folding under pressure as well as never giving up was the most vital lesson in life. In the words of the great Kobe Bryant ‘rest if you must, but don’t stop.” Read more>>
Nim K.
Suffering unlike success has shown me what I am made of and who actually cares and loves me for me. When your back is up against the wall, the well runs dry, and everyone disappears there is a clarity present that success could never conjure. Read more>>
Mar Fayos
My parents always say that whatever it happens to you, it is meant to be to teach you a lesson and make you stronger. My worst enemies have been to have a low self-esteem, to give too much weight to what others thought or said about me, and to deal poorly with frustration, disappointment, and heartbreaks. Read more>>
Maryam Marhumah
Success can never teach anyone how to worship, repent, and pray. Success before submitting to God’s will will destroy a person—whether in this life or the next. Hardship has brought me closer to my Rabb than material gain ever could. Without hardship and fitna (tests and trials), I would have never drawn close to the Quran (Holy Book). Read more>>
Michael Melusky
Get back up and keep going, just keep going. We all deal with setbacks and disappointments. We all experience failure and loss. It’s easy to stay positive when things are good, when you have everything. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, made bad decisions. I take full responsibility for my life. Read more>>
Isabella Alvarez
I have to admit that when I first read this question, it brought up some resistance for a moment. But without a doubt, something suffering has taught me that success never did is this: suffering is 100% optional. Why? Stay with me while I explain. I know it sounds controversial to say that suffering is optional. Read more>>
Cindy Witteman
As a child I believed I wasn’t good enough. I also thought I talked too much and thought too much, like the way my mind worked somehow made me “too much” for people. I no longer carry those beliefs. Read more>>
Lucia Colosio
It taught me so much, both unfortunately and fortunately. I’ve learned to almost never put things off. To seize opportunities without asking too many questions. To never give up fighting for my dreams and goals. From true suffering, you learn to give true and proper value to life itself. You learn the importance of gratitude, and of finding a reason to smile every day. Read more>>
