Embrace the Suck

“Embrace the suck and move the f***on, ma’am.”

I was watching Whiskey Tango Fox Trot on a flight back from a non-profit board meeting the other day and this phrase just resonated with me.   Just a few weeks ago I watched A Game of Honor about the Army vs Navy game and they all talked about it as well.

I would never try to compare the “suck” of everyday life and work to what our military personnel go through day in and day out as they defend our country and do the job of making our word a better, safer place.  That suck is a level most of us can only imagine and watch in movies which could never compare to the real life work these brave men and women do every day.

What I would like to do is explore how we can all learn from this simple, not so elegant phrase from our military.

When you face a mundane, boring, sometimes loathsome task in life or at work, you have two choices:  complain about it and be miserable all day or just embrace it and move on knowing it’s part of what you have to do.  If you embrace it and make those tasks into a challenge that you can do them without it bringing you down.

Make a list today of 3 things in your life that you do that you think suck at home or at work. Can you eliminate them?  If you can’t then you need to embrace it and move the f*** on.

I know this is all a bit existential and it’s actually a Buddhist concept but we all deep down know it to be true.  Complaining and avoiding is toxic and draining. It reduces our drive and motivation and spirals our minds down rabbit holes that are hard to climb out of.  Instead, embrace the suck and know you are strong enough to do anything that is in front of you.