In the eyes of many, hardship means working hard, staying up late, and not being diligent. In reality, this is not true hardship; a person can truly endure difficulties if they focus their time and energy on what they want to do for their personal goals, daring to discard all the things that make them comfortable and happy, and then working hard until the end in life. If one does not actively take on challenges, they will passively bear great failures.

If one does not actively endure hardship, they will passively face the difficulties of life. Enduring hardship is also a step that leads to success; those who can endure the four types of hardship below will have an increasingly prosperous life without worrying about poverty.

1. The pain of thinking to break through perceptions

Warren Buffet often has the habit of spending time doing nothing but sitting and thinking; honing the ability to think and reflect is the first step towards change. When reflecting on oneself, you will assess your level of satisfaction with your education, work, and current life. When you realize that your level of dissatisfaction exceeds a certain threshold, the natural desire to change will arise. This is the motivation to find ways to elevate yourself to a new level, such as reading more books, cultivating a new hobby, learning a new language, obtaining new certifications, changing jobs, etc.

Thinking is actually a process of making choices; the important thing is not to be afraid to choose, not to fear change. When standing in front of a wall, it may seem very high, but when you are the one standing on the wall, you will see that overcoming it is not difficult at all. The following story will make us reflect. Hoa, a recent university graduate, moved to a first-tier city to work with a salary of 10 to 12 million VND per month. She worked hard every day, but after deducting expenses, she had very little savings left. Life made Hoa unable to see the future, so she was very worried about how to improve her work skills. How to find a place in big cities?

After careful consideration, Hoa realized that her busy, repetitive job did not bring high value. Once she understood her current situation, she began to have a clearer plan for the future. Through her relentless hard work, she was accepted into a graduate program at a prestigious university, and after graduating with a master's degree, she started working at a large company with a salary of over 20 million VND. Many people in life fall into repetitive jobs that seem very hard but are not very effective. Only when we are good at thinking and synthesizing can we escape fixed thinking and avoid meaningless efforts. Not enduring mental hardship will lead to bearing the hardships of life; those who do not exercise their minds for a long time will easily lose themselves in chaos and inner conflict.

2. The pain of discipline to avoid mediocrity

In life, there is never luck that falls from the sky; behind the success you see is the persistence day by day that those around you are striving for. There are countless people who admire the physique and appearance of others, admire their success and fame. But once they learn about the hard and almost brutal self-management behind it, they quickly withdraw and then live a life of indulgence. If you think freedom means doing whatever you want, you will later realize that when you have self-discipline, you will gain true freedom.

When a person lacks self-discipline, everything they do will be influenced by the inertia of habits and temporary inspiration, or they will be swayed by the thoughts of others, making it almost impossible to do what they truly desire. Philosopher Ken lived very disciplined; he once shared that how your life is depends on your decisions. He built for himself a specific work and rest schedule and strictly adhered to it. For many years, he operated like a high-precision machine and never changed; from 9 AM to 12:45 PM was the time he dedicated to writing, and he would never procrastinate. This self-imposed discipline helped him excel and produce famous works. After a busy workday, Ken dedicated exactly 3:30 PM to go for a walk, at the same time the church bells rang.

Perhaps in the eyes of many, Ken's self-discipline seems too harsh, even a form of self-torture, but this highly disciplined life has helped him achieve great results in his work. Ken stated that self-discipline makes us different; it allows us to live at a higher level and brings freedom. Only when a person endures enough self-discipline can they avoid their own mediocrity.

3. The pain of loneliness will accumulate strength

There is a principle that wherever there are high mountains, there are deep valleys; while flat plains will be surrounded by flatness. Life is the same; to excel in one area, you must sacrifice other things. Therefore, those who achieve resounding success in their careers must sacrifice certain things. Shark Nguyen Xuan Phu, chairman of the Sunhouse board of directors, recently affirmed to us in a discussion that simply put, Shark Phu said, "Everyone has the same 24 hours, but they use them differently.

For example, if a person spends one hour on family, one hour on sports, and one hour on studying, then everything they have will not be outstanding. But conversely, if they want to excel in sports, they will have to focus 10 hours a day, meaning they lose three hours for other activities." I think life is fair; those who want harmony will not reach the peak, and those who want the peak must accept shortcomings; that is normal and is simply a choice for each person. Shark Phu recalls that when he first started, his mind was always focused on work, with little time for entertainment, fun, or sharing.

Even when Sunhouse had a certain standing in the market, he continued to be caught up in other aspects of work; there were periods when he spent the whole week entertaining clients and did not return home for dinner with his family. On days when he was busy but got home early, the house felt empty, lacking this person or that. At that time, he clearly felt a sense of something missing and loneliness.

After graduating, Buffet became a private equity investor and spent most of his time alone in the office. Outside of work, he had almost no social activities; regarding this, his wife Susan commented, "Buffet is a genius, and geniuses are often lonely and independent." After becoming famous, Buffet gave up life in the bustling center of New York City and returned to the distant town of Omaha. The biggest advantage of living in Omaha is that no one visits frequently.

Buffet teaches on time every day and spends a lot of time reading various news, financial reports, and books, giving up ordinary entertainment, enduring loneliness, and maintaining lifelong learning are Buffet's secrets to wealth. There is a saying, "Loneliness teaches people to think rationally and makes them more independent. The strong often have to experience feelings of loneliness." In this world, there are too many people who want to become strong and wealthy, but most end up in failure because they cannot endure loneliness.

4. The pain of hurt to make the heart stronger

Little Zhang is a salesperson who often feels nervous when meeting customers. Facing unfamiliar customers, he does not dare to look them in the eye and even stutters, with his palms and shirt soaked in sweat. Naturally, this results in a failed negotiation. Later, Little Zhang asked his colleagues for sales tips and realized that the biggest difference between himself and his colleagues was that he became shy, insecure, and afraid of hurting his self-esteem when communicating with customers.

It turns out that being overly concerned about face and not expressing his requests well was the reason for Little Zhang's failure. After identifying the key point, Little Zhang reminded himself that there is nothing to be ashamed of when facing customers; even if he fails, he will lose nothing. Thanks to this secret, Little Zhang became the best salesperson in the company and was promoted to head of the sales department.

A person truly becomes strong not when they protect their self-esteem, but when they let go of their self-esteem at the right moment. The weaker a person is, the stronger their self-esteem tends to be. A truly mature person dares to let go of their pride and live authentically; they understand that a person's true dignity comes from a resilient and steadfast heart.