Great Thinkers: How Suffering Can Improve Your Life

Introduction

We’re all naturally inclined to avoid pain and discomfort—this survival instinct is deeply embedded in human nature, as Patrick King explains in Read People Like a Book. However, despite our best efforts, it’s impossible to eliminate all suffering from life. But what if suffering wasn’t just something to escape or minimize? What if, instead, it could add value to our lives?

Many experts have argued that when properly understood and embraced, suffering can be a catalyst for growth. Each of us must contend with some hardship, whether that’s a minor physical ache or deep emotional anguish—so we may as well learn to make the most of it. Ahead, we’ll discuss four Great Thinkers’ perspectives on how suffering can improve your life and their advice for harnessing the power of pain.

Goggins: Suffering Empowers You

Few people can say they’ve embraced suffering like David Goggins has. In his memoir Can’t Hurt Me, Goggins explains how after a traumatic upbringing—one that included poverty and parental abuse on top of school struggles and racism—he transformed his life by harnessing the power of suffering.

At his lowest point, Goggins was overweight, working a job he hated, and feeling directionless. But instead of resigning himself to his circumstances, he developed what he calls the “calloused mind”—the ability to use pain and discomfort as tools for growth. To cultivate resilience, he deliberately sought out extreme physical and mental challenges, from grueling Navy SEAL training to ultramarathons.

From this experience, Goggins says he learned that suffering is something you should lean into rather than avoid. He explains that by intentionally exposing yourself to controlled suffering, you cultivate resilience and gain confidence in your ability to handle life’s inevitable hardships. You don’t have to be innately tough, but you must make a conscious decision to embrace discomfort and push through pain.

This approach to suffering isn’t just for extreme athletes or the military-minded. In fact, many philosophers would agree with Goggins—including Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil), who believed his mental and physical health challenges helped him build character. Similarly, as Ryan Holiday explains in The Obstacle Is the Way, the Stoic philosophers of ancient Greece taught that every problem you encounter is an opportunity for growth.

So, if you feel your current challenges are holding you back, Goggins might recommend that you embrace those challenges and push past your comfort zone. This could mean committing to a difficult workout even when you don’t feel like it or waking up earlier to work on a personal goal.

What if your life feels relatively easy right now? Goggins’ advice is simple but demanding: Do something uncomfortable every day. Every act of intentional discomfort strengthens your ability to handle adversity when it truly matters.

Campbell: Suffering Leads to Enlightenment

Like Goggins, mythologian Joseph Campbell sees suffering as an essential part of personal transformation. In The Hero With a Thousand Faces, he outlines a universal pattern in myths, known as the hero’s journey, in which a hero is called to adventure, faces trials and tribulations, and ultimately emerges more enlightened. Campbell’s analysis suggests that suffering isn’t just an unfortunate byproduct of life—it’s a gateway to greater insight into life. The pain of separation from comfort and familiarity forces people to confront their deepest fears, develop resilience, and ultimately, gain wisdom.

Although Campbell writes about mythological heroes, his ideas could apply to real-life figures who have undergone transformation through suffering. Take, for example, the civil rights leader Malcolm X, whose journey (detailed in The Autobiography of Malcolm X) mirrors Campbell’s framework. After experiencing relentless childhood trauma and being incarcerated, Malcolm X could have remained bitter and directionless. Instead, his time in prison became the catalyst for his intellectual and spiritual awakening. Through rigorous self-education, he redefined his purpose, emerging as an advocate for Black empowerment and civil rights.

Campbell might advise you to view your hardship not as a meaningless struggle, but as an essential step toward a greater transformation. You may also find it helpful to think of yourself as the hero of your own life story. As you navigate challenges, recognize that your discomfort is pushing you toward something greater. To fully embrace your journey of transformation, ask yourself questions like:

• What skills or strengths is this challenge requiring me to develop? Campbell emphasizes that suffering is the training ground that cultivates heroic qualities.
• Which mentors or role models can I look to for strength? Just as mythic heroes are often guided by wise figures, you can learn from those who have faced similar struggles and emerged stronger.
• How can my struggle serve a larger purpose? The hero’s journey doesn’t end with personal triumph—it concludes with the “return” phase, where the hero contributes something meaningful back to their community.

Brach: Suffering Frees You

What if your suffering feels too overwhelming to romanticize by casting yourself as the hero in your own story? What if you’re going through a dark night of the soul, where your pain feels so endless it plunges you into an existential crisis? In Radical Acceptance, Buddhist psychologist Tara Brach argues that this kind of suffering, too, has value: It can bring about profound self-compassion, healing, and freedom.

Brach explains that much of our suffering doesn’t come from painful events themselves but from how we react to them—with self-judgment, avoidance, or resistance. She describes a cycle of self-rejection and shame that causes us to believe our suffering means we’re fundamentally unworthy. To overcome this “trance,” she teaches that you must radically accept both your situation and your inherent goodness. By fully acknowledging your pain with kindness rather than judgment, you can cultivate a sense of inner peace and wholeness.

As a result, you can achieve true freedom—freedom from the constant battle against yourself and your harmful illusions about the world. Instead of fearing and resisting pain, you can begin to accept it and take refuge in all the good the world has to offer, including truth and community.

So, how can you begin to turn your suffering into something more life-affirming? Brach recommends that you start by pausing. When you’re faced with a challenge, such as hurtful words from a friend or the memory of a traumatic experience, take a moment to acknowledge your pain without immediately reacting to it. Instead of pushing the discomfort away or trying to rationalize it, allow yourself to fully feel it. Then, ask friendly questions about the situation. For example, name the bodily sensations you’re experiencing and try to understand what beliefs or fears underlie your suffering. Finally, respond with compassion for yourself and others. Taking these steps allows you to create space for healing, which leads to greater freedom over time.

Burke: Suffering Can Give You Purpose

Tarana Burke, founder of the “me too” movement, understands suffering intimately. In her memoir Unbound, she writes about the deep pain of surviving sexual abuse and racial trauma and how these experiences shaped her life. Rather than allowing her suffering to isolate her, she channeled it into a movement that empowered countless abuse survivors to break their silence and find community.

Burke’s life story demonstrates how suffering can be transformed into something life-changing—even world-changing. Although some forms of suffering are worth resisting—as Burke explains, she wishes she could prevent sexual abuse from happening to anyone—surviving such trauma leads some people to find profound sources of meaning and connection in their lives.

This echoes the philosophy Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl espouses in Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl argues that suffering in itself is meaningless, but how we respond to it determines whether it destroys us or gives our lives purpose. For Burke, that purpose was activism.

If you’re struggling, Burke might encourage you to seek meaning in your suffering—not by justifying the pain but by asking how you can use it to serve others. Can your hardship give you insight that allows you to offer comfort or guidance? Can it deepen your ability to empathize? By shifting your focus from suffering itself to what it can create, you may find that your pain can become a bridge to deeper connection and purpose.

Great Thinkers’ Advice for Harnessing the Power of Pain

• David Goggins (Can’t Hurt Me): Instead of avoiding suffering, lean into it. By intentionally exposing yourself to discomfort, you build mental toughness and confidence in your ability to handle life’s hardships.
• Joseph Campbell (The Hero With a Thousand Faces): Reframe your pain as a necessary part of your journey. Just as mythological heroes must endure trials before achieving enlightenment, your suffering is a step toward personal growth and wisdom.
• Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance): Much of our suffering comes from resisting pain rather than experiencing it with compassion. Practice radical acceptance to break free from self-defeating cycles of shame and avoidance.
• Tarana Burke (Unbound): Some forms of suffering are never desirable but can be transformed into something meaningful. By using your pain to cultivate empathy and serve others, you can turn personal hardship into a force for connection and change.

What Do You Think?

Whose perspective on suffering resonates most with you, and why? How could you reframe a hardship you’ve experienced using this Great Thinker’s advice? How might this help you cope with—or grow from—the source of your suffering?