Life Doesn’t Become Easier, You Become Stronger

Here is me six years ago: around 7 a.m. in Heathrow Airport’s shower room. I had just landed after a long-haul flight from New York to London. I slept a few hours on the plane, took a shower at the airport, got dressed for work, put on makeup — ready to rock and roll. I hailed a cab and went straight to the office.

And here is me in a completely new stage of life. The scene looks different, but the hour is the same. Early morning again—one of many—after another sleepless night.

So, what do these two photos have in common, and why do I place them side by side? Because when I look at them together, although they on the surface show two very different lives, I realize how much the earlier version of myself prepared me for who I am today. Her discipline, drive, ambition—and her willingness to work hard for it—built the very strength I now rely on. The strength to raise a family while building a business. The strength to handle sleepless nights, constant demands and unexpected challenges, without losing my center. The strength to keep going, even when things don’t go as planned.

What I’m trying to say is this: especially in our younger years, we shouldn’t be afraid of hard work—particularly when the circumstances allow it, before we have major financial obligations, families or other types of responsibilities. We shouldn’t be afraid to give ourselves fully, to push, to want more, to do more, and, yes, even to “suffer” a little along the way. Because life doesn’t necessarily become easier—what changes is you. You become stronger.

To anyone in that season of life now—catching flights, chasing deadlines, drinking more coffee than water, moving from one thing to the next—I want to say: don’t rush to escape it. Don’t slow down. Don’t label your ambition as an imbalanced life or your long hours as a lack of boundaries. There will come a time when you’ll need every ounce of strength you’re building right now—whether that’s when you’re building your own business, leading others, raising a family or navigating challenges you can’t yet even begin to imagine. The pressure you’re under today is quietly shaping you into someone who will know how to handle more than you ever thought possible.

I’m not romanticizing exhaustion or glorifying overwork. There is nothing glamorous about burning yourself out. But there are also periods in life where you are better served by rolling up your sleeves, allowing your hands to get dirty and things to get a bit overall crazy.

I genuinely do believe those seasons of our lives serve a purpose. They propel you forward. They force you to grow. They equip you with discipline, humility, focus and perseverance. And eventually, if you’re paying attention, they also teach you what kind of life you actually want.

The woman in the Heathrow mirror was not lost or misguided—she was becoming. Her world looked different, but her spirit was the same as mine today. She didn’t know that all those flights, all those early mornings, all that movement would one day transform into something else—a quieter kind of strength, a steadier form of confidence, a deeper sense of peace.

So here’s to both versions—the one getting ready in the airport shower at seven in the morning, and the one holding a baby at the same hour years later. Both equally strong. Both equally alive. Both necessary parts of the same story.