Have you tried discomfort yet? You really should.

Discomfort is the currency to your dreams.

We all have dreams. When someone asks us: “What do you dream of?” most of us say something like: a strong marriage, happy children, a fulfilling, well-paid job or retiring early and moving to the Costa Brava. Of course we want that. It’s very easy to want these things.

But the more interesting question is: what effort are we willing to invest in our dreams? How much pain are we willing to feel?

Because a “strong marriage” requires many, sometimes unpleasant, conversations, many compromises, many hurts, and is not the hot, symbiotic, never-ending chain of happy moments we originally expected for the next 50 years. Even this realisation is painful and important at the same time.

I, too, dream. Besides the strong marriage and my life on the Costa Brava, I dream of being a great piano player. This image of me sitting at the piano, fluently playing a sonata, inspires me deeply. Practicing for twenty minutes every day is actually not that hard. I have even spent real money on this. I bought an electric piano now, so that I can finally practice without the noise of the children in the background and in the evening. I could now choose to spend every free minute to fulfill this dream, improve, eventually start playing some sonatas, become that pianist.

I dream of being a great piano player. I am in love with the picture in my head, but not with the process of practicing for hours.

Do I do it? No. Why not? Because I actually don’t want it enough. I am in love with the picture in my head, but not with the process of practicing for hours. No self-played sonatas for me, at least for now.

There is no happiness without pain; no dreams without effort. And this is the better question: which pain do you choose? Or in other words: which dream of yours is worth your effort? Because let’s face it, the most rewarding experiences in life are the ones where we had to invest real effort. Knowing you can do hard things to turn one of your dreams into reality creates a feeling that is hard to top.  

What dream are you willing to pursue for real?