“I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.”
SUCK IT UP: To endure a period of mental, physical, or emotional hardship with no complaining.
I don’t care if you’re sad or stuck, get out there, suck it up and deal with it!
We live in times of increasing divides, selfish concerns, and individualistic pursuits of power. Think about the last time some person told you to “Suck It Up”. How did it make you feel? Dismissed by someone? Ignored? Pushed aside? Not heard?
The phrase “Suck It Up” sends a very wrong message … It tells another person that their feelings about a situation don’t matter. That you need to deal with a problem and move on even though you have no solutions to offer. Moreover, it’s aggressive and diminishes emotions related to one’s state of mind. Basically, it leaves the receiver frustrated, depressed and full of anxiety … And that ‘THERE IS NO OTHER WAY’. It defies who we are as humans while also ignoring empathy and encouragement.
SUCK IT UP symbolizes:
Emotional suppression, which can lead to psychological & physical harm in the long run.
Lack of healthy coping mechanisms to deal with difficult situations.
Missed opportunities due to lack of personal growth & resilience.
Decreased mental well-being.
In the 1950s, when LEGO decided to make one product the centerpiece of its business, the Danish company went looking for a single toy that could be the foundation of an empire. It picked the colorful plastic bricks that have captured the imagination of children ever since. It was also a fitting life & business building #strategy: BRICK BY BRICK, LEGO TURNED A SMALL THINK INTO SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER.
Brick by Brick
LEGO TURNED A SMALL THING INTO SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER.
In a majority of cases like anything else, if your kid is just starting at building Lego, they generally get stuck during the process —> As a parent, do you then ask them to “SUCK IT UP” and continue building OR you personally get mentally, emotionally, and competitively involved to help them to figure out the right shapes and order to help finish the construct? Most likely, the later … and in many cases, you don’t start from scratch dismantling everything that your child has built … but from a point where they left, refactoring, retrofitting, and adding bricks to get to a logical finish-line.
Key here is that on their next build they will have a much stronger MENTAL, SOCIAL and EMOTIONAL muscle that has evolved where they will require less help. And one day they get to a point where they have developed a framework that can independently build the structures without very limited or no support of yours. And this model framework keeps evolving throughout the journey of life from its experiences and learnings.
LIFE and BUSINESS work the same way. Everyone’s threshold for discomfort in their life and business is different, and everyone responds to situations differently based on their developed experience or lack of experience. Feelings that come out of these life and business situations are like waves and can be super intense, but they subside.
Sometimes storms last longer than we want but eventually the waves will calm, the sun will rise, and a sense of peace will prevail, but you got to ride out the waves.
All-feel-good mindset can offer a band-aid solution but with long-term damage than good. Not understanding why or how people even feel, and encouraging someone not to feel their feelings (“Suck It Up”) lacks EMPATHY.
Lego way of brick-by-brick building (flexible and extensible) encourages embracing who we are and accepting our limitations. Nothing is perfect … but we can make it better. We are all humans. So, help humanize the feelings by lending a shoulder to others who show us their fears, insecurities, and moments of self-doubt.
As humans, we all want to be heard and understood. A common humanitarian purpose is to —> Become a best version of yourself … self-actualization. Self-actualization is not about the destination … it’s about the journey. And that journey (…of self-esteem full of wonderful possibilities) can only be realized constructively by GEMEINSCHAFTSGEFÜHL (community feeling and social connectedness) + A Growth Mindset — Building Brick by Brick.