The Boredom Paradox
Hey,
It's been a while since I wrote a newsletter. Here's the latest.
Sometimes you should ignore boredom and push through it.
Sometimes it’s a sign you should quit and move on to something new.
Knowing the difference is a rare and beneficial skill.
We all face boredom.
The boredom of building new habits…
The boredom of doing the work after the excitement of starting something new dies down…
The seasons of boredom that everyone experiences. No matter how passionate and driven they are.
And we all know a person that quits as soon as they taste this boredom.
They jump from business idea to business idea without ever following through.
They’ve had 12 different hobbies in the past year, but haven’t stuck with any of them.
They change workout routines and diet plans every month but haven’t got any results yet.
You don’t want to be this person.
Because you must push through this boredom to achieve anything worthwhile.
Let’s call it resistance-boredom.
There’s also another type of boredom.
It comes when you’ve been doing something for longer than you should be. Often after you’ve achieved some degree of success.
You’ve overstayed.
Maybe you’ve been in the same business or job for 10+ years and you don’t feel challenged anymore. You don’t even like it.
Maybe you’ve had a hobby for 5+ years and you just don’t care about it at all anymore. You don’t feel challenged or excited. But you keep working at it because you feel guilty about quitting after all the time you’ve put in.
Let’s call this comfort-boredom.
It’s crucial that you can distinguish between resistance-boredom and comfort-boredom.
The boredom that arises from necessary monotony (that resistance you face when you know you should be working on something important)...
And the boredom that comes from a lack of challenge and being in one place for too long without growth.
With resistance-boredom, quitting is almost always the wrong move. You need to push through, persevere, and be consistent. That’s what separates achievers from non-achievers.
With comfort-boredom, blind perseverance is almost always the wrong move. You’ll waste weeks, months, and potentially years of your life operating in a zone that doesn’t suit you anymore.
The temptation with resistance-boredom is telling yourself that you're experiencing comfort-boredom. And vice versa. You quit when you should persevere, and persevere when you should quit.
So, be ruthlessly honest with yourself. Know where you’re at, and push through…
Or quit.
-Sam
Sam Matla
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