The Power of Struggling for Success

Why does everyone else seem successful?

I was reading yet another interview with a self-published author who wrote a novel that was selling dozens of copies every day. I can’t remember the author’s name or title of the book but I do remember one of the questions about mid-way through the text-based interview and the author’s answer:

Q: Why do you think your story is selling so well?

A: I don’t know. The sales [on Amazon] were slow for the first week and then suddenly it picked up and started selling 60 to 70 copies a day.

A discouraging dialogue. I wanted a lesson that I could implement, but she didn’t know why her book gained traction even though she rocketed toward the top.

Knowing what little I do about Amazon’s algorithm, I figured it was a well-written story and somehow word of mouth referrals kicked in and the book started making money. Okay, good for her.

My fiction writing partner and I are releasing our fourth novel and our sales have been — let’s just say that we’re working hard, but we haven’t hit pay dirt like this particular author. We’ve struggled to make sales.

While the numbers are lower than what we’d like, our writing journey has taught me a number of truths about struggling — and the benefits that come with striving for success.

Consider a baby chick hatching. The chick struggles to peck through the shell, but the effort made is part of their maturing process. Concerned folks raising baby chicks at home in an incubator want to jump in and help the little creatures to freedom.

This apparent act of kindness interrupts nature’s tough lessons. “Chicks you help out of the shell are likely to be weak and will need some extra time in a warm spot where they won’t be picked on,” as noted in the Waldeneffect.org in an article “How to help chicks during hatching.”

Helping a baby chick escape its shell means that you will likely have to euthanize the little creatures because they may not have been well enough to survive.

Success without struggle seems alluring and desirable. The downside is that you don’t learn how to become strong in order to…

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