The idea of embracing struggle is not a new idea, Stoic philosophers such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius wrote considerably about that very idea. Most of us humans have to fight our natural impulses and the pill of embracing struggle is a hard one for us to swallow. However, that is precisely what makes it worth swallowing. Those people we all know who are naturally stoic or who ace tests without any effort should not be admired. As Seneca said, he admires the person “who has won a victory over the meanness of his own nature, and has not gently led himself, but has wrestled his way, to wisdom.” We, as a culture, like to look at ultra successful people and see them as lucky. They were born into wealth or they were naturally gifted. This may be true of some but the majority of them worked their arses off to get where they are. The majority will have felt stuck and lost before they made their first thousand pounds. All of those who have progressed and become successful or who have found meaning and purpose had to face struggle and hardship and fight their natural impulses.