Lucas's Blog

“How long have we been in for”

“About ten minutes” I regretfully inform Rudy

“Feel’s like an hour” he replies

We both sip our water bottles and run our hands through our hair

It’s Monday morning, which means one thing

Hell in a cell as it came to be called

25 Minutes in the Sauna at 7 AM

Our weekly ritual to commence another week in our corporate jobs

I don’t want to get philosophical about a sauna

At the end of the day, It’s a room cranked up to a temperature no one should voluntarily endure.

But, here’s the thing: the longer you sit, the harder it gets.

Every minute that ticks by, you feel it

The heat pressing in, your mind telling you to step out into the fresh air, cool down, and take the easy route.

Every passing minute feels like an hour

Yet, that is where the benefits lie

Like any worthwhile endeavor

The good stuff is only realised after the struggle

To leave prematurely would defeat the purpose of you being in there in the first place

It’s learning to sit with it, that uncomfortable feeling,

The voice telling you it would be easier if we weren’t doing this at all

The sweat, the struggle

The choice to stay just a little longer makes it worthwhile.

As the minutes wore on, the conversation lessened

Heart pounding, sweat dripping from every inch of skin of our bodies

Head and shoulders slumped over, hoping that time would miraculously speed up temporarily

You’d be amazed at the places your mind takes you when you’re in self-induced discomfort

When we thought we couldn’t take any more punishment

That beautiful sound would ring out

“Beep Beep Beep” my Garmin watch would sing

“The boys have done it again” We’d both say

Breathing our first breath of normal air

A small win to start the week

Demons defeated, silenced

We quickly hop into cold showers, drenched in the spoils of our small weekly victory (lots of sweat)

Enjoying the mental clarity of contending with discomfort in the early hours of Monday morning

We dry off, get changed, and head to Salumanisti (the local spot) for a Latte

Some good conversation and multiple games of table tennis before we start work

There will be further challenges to come throughout the week

Actually let me rephrase

There will be struggles, trials, and tribulations for the rest of your life

Big, small, and at times completely overwhelming

But that is beauty, the art of existence, the privilege to have to suffer for something you want

To exist without struggle is to exist without meaning

Easy isn’t worth it

It’s this very paradox that we all contend with

It’s true.

Comfort is tempting

It’s warm, it’s cosy, it’s nice

It’s what our brains are wired to seek out

Safety, food & comfort

Anything to the contrary and your mind is trying to get you back to normality

But it doesn’t push you.

What we want is always going to be on the other side of discomfort

There is no other way

There’s no shortcut, no easy route, and, honestly, no way around it.

It’s having to put in effort, having to work through setbacks and struggles, that makes the end goal worth it.

Imagine if everything you ever wanted was accessible by pressing a button.

Press here for your dream job.

Press here for your dream body.

Press here for your dream life.

Sounds good at first, but think about it.

If it were really that easy, would any of it even matter?

Making peace with the hard parts

Ultimately, you get to decide what you want to do with your entire life

Which is a liberating realistion of existing

What path you take, the ambitions you have, the jobs you take, the people you forge relationships with

Are all fundamentally under your control

As I’ve written about earlier, all these things also come with a degree of discomfort

There is no path where you can avoid struggling entirely

But, the point is, you can choose your fate

You define entirely in your own life what is worth suffering for

The end goal

The final

The crescendo to whichever or whatever ambition brings you purpose

That’s part of the deal, and it’s what makes each choice meaningful.

Because while you can’t avoid hardship, you can choose what’s worth the effort

What’s worth the sweat, and what’s worth the late nights and challenges

You get to define what’s worth struggling for.

Maybe it’s a career that fills you with purpose, a passion project that lets you give back, or relationships that ground and inspire you.

Whether it’s time, energy, money, or social status you’re parting ways with

Whatever it is, you’re choosing the pain points

The rough edges, and the moments that demand patience and grit, are all in service of something that feels real to you.

When you know what you’re working toward—your ultimate goal, your vision, your “crescendo”

The struggles along the way stop feeling like roadblocks and start feeling like stepping stones.

The challenges are no longer something to get through just for the sake of it

They’re part of a bigger picture

one that brings you closer to a life you find deeply fulfilling.

When you meet with turbulence, adversity, or hardship

Don’t make yourself small, hide under the blankets and wish it didn’t exist

Extend your arm and shake hands

Welcome it like a wise old friend into your home

Treat it as if each encounter with the struggle was a lesson

A chance to get closer to realising your ambitions

Every difficulty holds a lesson

Each setback is an opportunity to refine your vision and test your resilience.

It’s easy to view obstacles as interruptions, as distractions from where you want to go.

But what if, instead, you saw them as essential parts of the journey

As the very things that will prepare you for the life you want?

When you stop resisting the hard parts, something powerful happens.

You start to see that struggle isn’t there to hold you back

it’s there to sharpen your focus, clarify your goals, and bring you closer to realising your ambitions.

Each challenge is a chance to grow stronger

To learn more

To become someone who’s not just chasing a dream but actively creating it.

In the end, you’ll find that struggle wasn’t just part of the journey; it was the path itself

The one that made every success, every moment of joy, and every feeling of fulfillment mean that much more

So shake hands with the hard stuff, treat it as an ally

Trust that it’s guiding you toward a life that’s worth every effort.

You’re never alone in the trenches

The phrase “comparison is the thief of joy” has been a game-changer for me.

When I was younger, I used to look around and measure my life against the lives of others

Everyone seemed happier, more successful, and completely at ease with where they were headed

My own life, with all its messiness and questions, felt miles away from the curated snapshots I saw in others

But as I got older, I began to realize that comparison doesn’t just drain joy; it distorts reality

It creates a false belief that happiness or success is a finite resource

That if someone else has it, there’s less available for you

In reality, life isn’t a competition, and everyone, yes, everyone

faces hardships, even if they’re not visible

No one gets out of this life without experiencing pain or loss in some form or another

The struggle is built into the experience of being human.

As an engineer would say, “It’s a feature, not a bug.”

Some people will experience hardship more intensely than others, but ultimately, no one is immune

That shared vulnerability, that shared resilience, is what brings us together.

One of my oldest and closest friends, Jordan Capkin, embodies this beautifully

He was the first friend I ever made in primary school

The famous line which commenced a friendship spanning decades

“Hi what’s your name? I asked sheepishly on my first day of school

“Jordy” he responded nervously

“I’m Lucas” I said

The rest, as they say, is history

Jord & I have watched each other grow up ever since that conversation

Through school, puberty, and into early adulthood

We’ve been on train tracks heading in the same direction

I’ve loved Jord since the day I met him, he is one of the friendliest guys I’ve ever met

His presence, smile & being make him a pleasure to be around

Jord has all these qualities despite whatever life has thrown his way

He’s faced challenges that would shake anyone to their core

Losing loved ones, going through job and location changes, injuries that altered his path

Yet, despite everything, Jord has an outlook on life that remains steady and hopeful

He doesn’t let his struggles define him

He makes time for joy, he loves deeply, and he brings positivity to the people lucky enough to meet him

Jord has taught me that hardship doesn’t have to close us off or make us bitter

Instead, it can open us up, teach us compassion, and allow us to be fully present in each moment

It can make us open up, share our experiences & bring us closer to those around us

When we stop comparing and start seeing each other as allies in the struggle, life feels lighter

We’re all just doing our best to make it through, and realizing that can be incredibly freeing

Each challenge we face, each battle we fight, isn’t a marker of how we’re falling short

It’s a testament to how we’re growing

How we’re becoming more resilient

How we’re finding meaning and purpose in our own way

The power of starting from scratch

There’s something uniquely powerful about starting from scratch

About being the one at the beginning with everything to prove.

It’s easy to feel like an outsider when you’re trying something new

Launching a business

learning a sport

or making a major career change

But the truth is

Being at the starting line, as the underdog, is one of the most valuable places you can be

You have nothing to lose, the stakes are as low as they can be

You’re stepping into a world where you have no leverage, a story unwritten, no pages in the book

When you’re up against the odds, every small win, every bit of progress, feels like a huge accomplishment.

With every step, you’re building a foundation of resilience, focus, and grit that only comes from climbing uphill

The struggle itself is a tool, shaping you, teaching you lessons that can’t be found in comfort zones

Whether you’re competing in a new sport

setting up a venture from scratch

or redefining your career

Facing bigger challenges forces you to dig deep, to find courage and creativity you didn’t know you had

It catapults your growth as a person, your skills, and your ability to deal with adversity

You won’t be great in the beginning, in fact, you might be awful

When I first started my job in sales

It was horrific, I think back to my first few training sessions with my manager Tom, and commend him on his patience

I had no grounds for getting that job

I think my old boss Simon hired me because I knew about AFL and had a firm handshake

But no qualifications

But that was the best part

I had nothing to stand on, so I could prove everything

Those early days weren’t about hitting sixes and home runs

They were about learning, standing on the shoulders of giants & focusing on little wins in the arena

By the time I left that position, I was No Jordan Belfort or Donnie Azoff (I apologise for the shameless WOWS reference)

But I’d improved, vastly

I’d gone from nothing to something

There were days were it all didn’t make sense

Time after time when things didn’t go right, things fell through and deals collapsed

But, the frustrations, the struggles, the many hours practicing

This is what made the final destination worthwhile

Because without one, you simply can’t have the other

This journey—full of trial, error, and small victories

Turns you into someone who thrives on growth and adapts to change.

And when you do reach those milestones, it’s not just the end goal that’s fulfilling

It’s knowing you built it yourself, one hard-won step at a time.

The power of starting from scratch is in proving to yourself that you’re capable of far more than you ever thought possible

Struggling isn’t part of the journey, it is the journey

Life is a series of struggles, victories, and hard-won moments that shape who we are

It’s tempting to wish for shortcuts

To hope for the easy way,

The truth is, the challenges we face are what give life its meaning

Sweating it out in the sauna

Grappling with career changes

Heartbreaks, tummy aches & everything else in between

The beauty of life lies in these moments of discomfort and challenge

In pushing ourselves just a little bit further and becoming more resilient

So shake hands with the hard parts

Treat them as teachers

Just know that they’re guiding you toward a life that’s genuinely worth living

If you’ve read this far, Thank you

I feel so grateful to have people genuinely interested in my ideas and thoughts

I hope that it’s brought some inspiration to think about the world in new and different ways

This has been more of an extended edition

So I thought I’d some additional takeaways and recommendations

My key takeaways

• Choose Your Struggles: Decide what’s worth the hard work. You have the power to pursue the things that genuinely fulfill you.
• Appreciate the Journey: Small wins along the way are worth celebrating. The destination is important, but the journey is where the growth happens.
• Connect Through Hardship: Struggles bring us closer, whether with friends, family, or colleagues. Remember that everyone faces their battles.
• Be Okay with Starting Small: There’s strength in beginning at the bottom. Each step forward is a testament to your resilience.
• Stop Comparing: Your journey is your own, and each challenge you face is shaping a unique story. Comparison only robs you of joy.
  

Youtube recommendations

Here are some videos you might like if you’ve read all the way through to here.

I’ve also been reading the book by Ryan Holiday – Obstacle is the way

It heavily inspired this blog post.

Ryan is a fantastic writer and does a fantastic job at articulating his ideas and breaking them down

1. How to succeed as an underdog (Jay Shetty) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUgeJqWx_Ls
   
2. Obstacle is the way (Ryan Holiday summary) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kXI49HbIaQ