Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 38 seconds
Avoiding your problems prolongs your pain.
Facing challenges early is uncomfortable, but it shortens that discomfort.
Be courageous and choose the hard thing now so that your life becomes easier later.
Allow me to embrace my inner-Attenborough and explain a little bit about wildlife to you:
When a storm comes, cattle and buffalo react very differently.
A cow tries to run from the storm, but in doing so, will lengthen the amount of time that they are in storm, making it worse for themselves.
Whereas buffalo are wiser and will tackle a storm head on, often getting through the worst of it quickly.
You should approach your problems like a buffalo approaches a storm: head-on!
Let’s unpack today’s saying:
The only way out is through.
A reminder that courage isn’t the absence of fear - it’s the decision to move forward despite it.
When a storm approaches, do you act like a cow or a buffalo?
Many of us deal with our own problems like cows:
We procrastinate on the tough conversation
We avoid opening the bill
We delay the project that intimidates us
We run from anything that feels like emotional weather
But like cows, avoidance stretches the discomfort, and so anxiety grows, our imagination spirals and the storm intensifies.
When you behave like a buffalo, you feel fear but you move toward the thing instead of away from it. And just like the storm, the problem passes far more quickly when you face it head-on.
Here are 3 ways to practice buffalo-thinking:
Name the storm.
Uncertainty creates fear.
Clarity removes power from the problem.
Write down exactly what you’re avoiding.
Take the smallest courageous step.
Buffalos don’t sprint the whole way - they just start moving toward the storm.
Send the email. Make the call. Open the document.
Begin.
Reward the approach, not the outcome.
Courage isn’t about perfectly solving the problem. It’s about confronting it.
Celebrate the act of facing things early.
Let’s dive deeper into today’s wisdom with these 3 journal prompts:
What problem have I been “running from” that I need to face?
What tiny step toward the storm would lighten my load today?
How would my life feel different if I consistently tackled issues early?
Today I have another book recommendation for you!
Today’s resource comes courtesy of a man that knows a thing or two about wisdom: Ryan Holiday and his book The Obstacle Is the Way.
This modern classic reframes challenges as opportunities for growth rather than threats to avoid.
Inspired by Stoic philosophy, it teaches you how to approach adversity with clarity, strength, and purpose - the perfect companion for anyone learning to “run toward the storm.”
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Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael