In a recent CNBC article, contributor Dorie Clark argues that lasting success often requires doing things that feel uncomfortable in the moment. A common trait among high achievers, he writes, is their willingness to prioritize long-term goals, even when doing so comes at a short-term cost. Drawing on insights from his book The Long Game, Clark contends that what distinguishes the most top performers is “the willingness to make hard decisions, optimized for the long term.”
Here are the three uncomfortable things Clack points to:
- Say no to good opportunities. Clark says top performers guard room in their schedules for great chances. The only way to do that is to turn down some good ones. He offers a personal example. He and his wife were once offered a free week at a colleague’s home in Tuscany. It came just weeks before his wife’s book launch, so they turned it down. On a scale of 1 to 10, he says, it is the sixes and sevens that quietly fill your calendar and crowd out what matters most.
- Be willing to fail. Clark reframes what failure means. What most people call failure, he says, is often just useful data. A setback is a delay, not a dead end. The people who succeed keep gathering that information instead of quitting at the first stumble.
- Trust the process. Real results take time, Clark says, and the hardest part is the long stretch when nothing seems to be happening. He describes a phase where effort shows little visible payoff, until the progress compounds and arrives all at once. Staying the course through that quiet period is what marks the long-term thinkers.
Patience is the theme that ties all three ideas together. Clark’s central point is that what feels comfortable in the short term often conflicts with what leads to success over the long term. Those who come out ahead are typically the ones willing to tolerate temporary discomfort while keeping their focus on future gains.
Acknowledgement: This summary was generated with the help of AI writing tools as part of my AI Explorations process. For additional context and detail, please refer to the original article linked below.