It’s OK To Struggle

Nietzsche’s classic line was “what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” It’s a nice sentiment, but is it true? Don’t people who were born with advantages do better in life? Isn’t it better not to suffer setbacks? Why would someone want to experience disadvantages or difficulties? Those questions were answered in a recent paper published by Cornell University. Researchers looked at RO1 grant application for the National Institutes of Health, focusing on individuals who just missed receiving funding (“near-misses”) and individuals who just succeeded in getting funded (“near-winners”). Comparing the two groups over the ten years following first submission, results found that near-misses produced work that garnered substantially higher impacts than their near-win counterparts. Researchers concluded,“For those who persevere, early failure should not be taken as a negative signal—but rather the opposite, in line with Shinya Yamanaka’s advice to young scientists, after winning the Nobel prize for the discovery of iPS cells, ‘I can see any failure as a chance.’”It’s beautiful proof that getting what we want isn’t always what we need. Coming up short, getting stuck, getting passed over—this can be fuel. That’s what Marcus Aurelius was saying when he talked about the impediment to action being an advancement to action, how the obstacle can be the way. There’s another study that shows that college basketball teams down a point or two at half-time were actually more likely to win than the team with the lead. Again, because it made them hungry. The struggles gave them something to prove. In any endeavor—creative, business, or grant proposals—we rarely achieve the result we hope for on our first go. Many great artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists have all admitted some version of Einstein’s, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” We must adopt and keep that mindset. We cannot let one obstacle, one “near-miss” turn us off the path. Keep at it. Persist. Resistance is futile. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Setbacks can be a good thing. Nietzsche's classic line was, "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." It's a nice sentiment, but is it true? Don't people who were born with advantages do better in life? Isn't it better not to suffer setbacks? Why would someone

• 0:48Ryan Holiday?

  want to experience disadvantages or difficulties? Those questions were answered in a recent paper published by Cornell University. Researchers looked at R01 grant applications for the National Institutes of Health. They focused on individuals who had just missed receiving funding, near misses, and individuals who had just succeeded in getting funded, near winners. Comparing the two groups over 10 years following first submissions, results found that the near misses actually produced work that garnered substantially higher impact than their near win counterparts. Researchers concluded, "For those who persevere, every failure

• 1:33Ryan Holiday?

  should not be taken as a negative signal, but rather the opposite." In line of Shinya Yamanaka's advice to young scientists after winning the Nobel Prize for the discovery of IPS cells, "I can see any failure as a chance." It's beautiful proof that getting what we want isn't always what we need. Coming up short, getting stuck, getting passed over, this can be fuel. That's what Marcus Aurelius was saying when he talked about the impediment to action being the advancement to action, how the obstacle can be the way. There's another study that shows that college basketball teams, down a point or two at halftime, were actually more likely to win than the team with the lead. Again, because

• 2:18Ryan Holiday?

  it made them hungry, it gave them something to prove. In any endeavor, creative, business, or grant proposals, we rarely achieve the result we hope for on our first go. Many great artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists have all admitted some version of Einstein's, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." We must adopt and keep that mindset. We cannot let one obstacle, one near miss, turn us off the path. Keep at it, persist. Resistance is futile. And for a few more days, "The Obstacle is the Way," which is my book that I think is very much about this very principle that I think is confirmed by this fascinating new

• 3:03Ryan Holiday?

  study, is $1.99 as an ebook on Amazon, and I believe anywhere else ebooks are sold in the US. So it's $1.99. It's not going to last much longer. The book sold over half a million copies worldwide. I think it's one of the best things I've written. If you haven't read it, check it out. It's $1.99. If you were planning on giving it as a gift to someone, it's never going to be cheaper than it is right now. Check it out. I really appreciate it. Stay at it.