As I watched the Superbowl interviews, one of the player’s responses stuck with me. When asked how to keep playing through a long season and maintain physical and mental health, the player said, “I look at perceived pain by someone else’s standards as discomfort, not pain, and push on.”
I thought about this statement when I ran five miles yesterday and decided on this Wednesday Wisdom topic. There were times in my entrepreneurial career when I felt the actual sting of pain, such as when no one came to my very first Women TIES event, and I questioned my decision to start it or when I lost a long-time member. I had to sit in the loss and acknowledge the pain. Eventually, I moved on from the pain-filled mindset and put it behind me.
There were other times when situations were discomforting, like raising membership prices because event prices were rising, expanding to a new region within New York State to expand our reach, or preaching my mission of eradicating women’s pay inequality in front of legislators. Those scenarios weren’t painful, but certainly uncomfortable not knowing the outcome and taking the risk.
As 2025 settles into mid-February, my question is, “How many of your New Year resolutions haven’t you achieved yet due to pain or discomfort?” The resolutions can be personal or business/career-related. Are you exaggerating the uncomfortableness into something more than it is? Or is there actual pain in taking on the resolution?
Today’s Wednesday Wisdom prompts you to write a list of 3 resolutions made on January 1. Next to each resolution, mark whether you have done it or not, and then if not, is it because it is too painful or uncomfortable to accomplish? I hope you see clarity in the feelings behind why you aren’t tackling your goals and then rethinking them.
I decided recently that I couldn’t train well enough to complete a full marathon in April due to sickness and weather conditions that threw me off track. Instead, I’ll train hard for the Syracuse Half Marathon in March and let any uneasiness in training roll off my back, knowing it isn’t pain but discomfort. I hope you can revise your resolutions too and feel good about it.
Women TIES 