Find the Largest Load You Can Bear, and Bear it.
We’ve discussed before how it’s necessary to do hard things in life if you want to develop into the best version of yourself. But Dr. Jordan Peterson took it one step further when he stated “The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear, and bearing it” and I tend to think he’s right.
I’ve been on a big Jordan Peterson kick lately. He’s a psychology professor, clinical psychologist, and writer. I first heard him speak on the Joe Rogan and Jocko podcasts, and I knew immediately that this guy was on another level intellectually. The way he spoke and broke down incredibly complex psychological topics was unlike anything I had ever heard, and he made me extremely interested in psychology, a field I’ve never had a whole lot of interest in.
One of the things that makes Jordan different than most academics is the way he approaches life and the way he frames everything. While I could talk all day about his many views, today I want to specifically hone in on one of them, his path to finding your purpose.
The Purpose of a Load
Jordan argues that people have been designed to overcome struggle and fight through adversity, but when there’s no adversity to face, we either create some fake adversity, or we become useless and suffer.
He argues that it’s not the attainment of a goal, or position, or status that makes us happy, it’s the fact that we are increasing and growing over time. By facing the largest burden, we can bear, we are forcing ourselves to grow. Think about when you exercise, you want to pick out weights and routines that will push you to your limit so that you get the absolute most out of your workout. You will grow the most when you operate at that place of maximal effort.
The reason it needs to be the largest load
Jordan argues that it can’t just be any load, it has to be the largest load you can bear. I think the first reason he specifies that, is because if it was just any load, then people would tend towards bearing the smallest load they could find. They would bear that and then say they were doing just fine. People are lazy and try to find the easy way out, and we all do it.
The reason small loads won’t work is because small loads don’t do enough for you. You have small loads every day but they don’t make you as strong as you need to be. One of the major purposes of bearing a load and making yourself stronger, is so that when the really big challenges in life come your way, you are strong enough to handle them. And life will eventually throw something at you that is so difficult that if you haven’t become strong enough, you will suffer and break.
Don’t push too far
Jordan also makes it clear that you must find the largest load you can bear. Not the largest load out there. In fact, if you take on a load that’s too big it can often times be detrimental, it can cause you to go backwards, or even break you if the load is far beyond what you can bear.
Either fortunately or unfortunately, the majority of the time people don’t expose themselves to such overbearing loads willingly. Most people don’t seriously take it upon themselves to solve global problems, because for the vast majority of people it would be impossible. If someone seriously took on that goal it would break them because they would do everything they could possibly do, and they would still fail. This would lead down a dark path where no one wants to go.
The Final Key
While you are bearing your load, you need to make things as good as you can. Bearing a load does not mean that you’re miserable or unhappy. Ideally you will find something challenging and heard in life that you can take pride in doing, enjoy to some extent, or maybe you learn to love the grind. There is a quote from Jocko Willink that I love “thrive in the suck”. The idea is that you should learn how to make the most of hard times to the point where some part of you actually enjoys the grind and the struggle. I will tell you for a fact that you can shift your mindset about difficult things to the point where you actually enjoy them.
Another point worth knowing is that hell is a bottomless pit, and the reason is that you can always make things worse. Take it upon yourself to be the guy that makes things better. Don’t fall for the trap of suffering, suffering is easy, it’s the default. If you want to make things better, you’re going to have to work for it, and that will require strength, the kind of strength you build by bearing the largest load you can.
This path will be hard and it wont always be fun, but I can promise you that you will be better for taking it. And all of the people around you will be glad you are taking it, because their lives will be better for it too. So, go out and find a load, find the biggest load you can bear and bear it, grow stronger, and be ready for anything. Good luck.