Making yourself do the uncomfortable

In "Mastery" Robert Greene makes the point that to really become a master you need to embrace "pain" in a way.  I think this article is saying the same thing.
http://www.businessinsider.com/hard-things-you-need-to-do-to-be-successful-2014-1
You have to do the hard things. 

• You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
• You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
• You have to give more than get in return right away.
• You have to care more about others than they care about you.
• You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
• You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing if safe seems smarter.
• You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
• You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
• You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.
• You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
• You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
• You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
• You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
• You have to try and fail and try again.
• You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
• You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
• You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
• You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
• You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

You have to do the hard things. The things that no one else is doing. The things that scare you. The things that make you wonder how much longer you can hold on.
Those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between living a life of mediocrity or outrageous success.
The hard things are the easiest things to avoid. To excuse away. To pretend like they don’t apply to you.
The simple truth about how ordinary people accomplish outrageous feats of success is that they do the hard things that smarter, wealthier, more qualified people don’t have the courage — or desperation — to do.
Do the hard things. You might be surprised at how amazing you really are.

Read more: http://danwaldschmidt.com/2014/01/attitude/hard-things#ixzz2qUNciCg7

Piles: Stage 2

Horrifying.  Today I have to deal with the piles.  The really hard one is the one that is comprised of notes that I need to edit and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.  They say that decisions take more energy, or "bandwidth" than anything else in the realm of mental work.  Not sure if that's true or not, but today is the day.

Organizing

The full catastrophe of my desk. 
The good news is my desk is in a sweet spot, with views of the bridge and bay.  The bad news is, it's in the middle of the large living space upstairs, where the young people like to party.  So I'm repeatedly having to shove my stuff in to a hamper to get it out of the way.  So it's like an archeological site, with the oldest stuff on the bottom.  So I dumped it all out and here's what it looks like.  My plan is to make piles of different "actions."  We'll see how that goes....

The Value of Work

This is a quote from I know not where,

"There is one unbeatable rule for the mastery of sorrow and disappointments-the transmutation of those frustrations through definitely planned work.  It is a rule that has no equal."