why you need to struggle more

why finding the right struggle leads to fulfillment, a SaaS idea for knowledge workers, and three workouts to challenge yourself this weekend

Author

Morgan Tate
April 04, 2025

The world is full of unhappy people.

Many blame their unhappiness on life's struggles—yet these "struggles" often amount to feeling stuck in a dead-end job, being addicted to their phone, or not working out enough.

In other words, things within our control.

Marcus Aurelius puts it best:

❝

Ask yourself, "Why is this so unbearable? Why can't I endure it?" You'll be embarrassed to answer.

Ironically, much of our misery is solved through tremendous struggle. Why do people love running marathons? Because there's a euphoric sense of personal accomplishment on the other side of physical hardship. This is why farmers have so much pride in their work.

This feeling is harder to come by when you're a white-collar worker shuffling papers around in the Matrix.

Your days blur together, your energy flattens. You start living for the weekend just to binge the latest generic TV series.

These people aren't struggling—they're unchallenged.

Meanwhile, the "struggling artist" living on microwavable burritos is more alive than most. They're energized by the pursuit of perfection. Leonardo da Vinci famously would never finish commissioned paintings (meaning he didn't get paid), continuing to tinker with them for decades. Someone doesn't act this way unless they're absolutely obsessed with mastering their craft, motivated by the joy that comes from working through struggle in the pursuit of perfection.

So here's the challenge: what if you chose something—anything—that you already do habitually and decided to master it? Not casually improve, but master. Maybe that's watercolour painting, running a fast 5K, or building a category-changing company.

For some, this challenge may require years of focus (building a company); for others, maybe it's 12 months (training to run a marathon). Regardless of the timeline, everyone should have one personal challenge they're trying to master at any time.

You don't need less struggle—you may just need a better one.

idea of the week 💡

  • problem: Knowledge workers have dozens of bookmarked articles and videos they never actually revisit (guilty).

  • idea: Personal “read/watch later” feed that summarizes saved links into quick, digestible takeaways using LLMs. Summaries could get sent as a daily email ‘brief’ or even via text.

  • how it makes money: Freemium + $5/month Pro version with GPT summaries, podcast transcripts, and export features.

  • why it might fail: This becomes more ‘inbox noise’ and this space is super competitive. Really an idea for an indie hacker or someone who wants to vibe-code a niche SaaS tool.

friday fitness

Three workouts to challenge yourself this weekend.

at-home workout:

Complete 4 rounds:

  • 30 jumping jacks

  • 12 diamond push-ups

  • 20 reverse lunges (each leg)

  • 30-second wall sit

  • 15 v-ups

Rest 60 seconds between rounds

gym workout

  • 4x8 deadlifts

  • 3x12 bench press

  • 4x10 pull-ups (assisted if needed)

  • Finisher: 50 box jumps for time

outdoor workout

Complete 5 rounds:

  • Run 200m

  • 10 push-ups

  • 15 squat jumps

  • 20 mountain climbers (each leg)

  • Bear crawl 20m

tweet of the week

Some additional thoughts on the pursuit of mastery.

my plugs