The sound and feeling of change

William Liao
2 min readSep 19, 2024

We often ascribe positive thoughts and feelings to the act of growing and becoming better versions of ourselves.

What we sometimes forget to acknowledge is that the means and the process by which we get there don’t always feel positive.

To grow we have to first be willing to do a couple of things:

  1. Receive feedback that we may not like the sound of.
  2. Apply feedback that involves the painful uprooting of old habits that, almost by definition, are source of comfort.

Conditions for change require a certain level of humility that we may understand, but may not be prepared to fully embody at first and that’s okay.

For example, I recently received a piece of feedback that raised my hairs when I first heard it. Instead of judging myself for my initial reaction, I gave myself time to let it sink in. Then and only then was I able to actually process the feedback and apply it.

And finally there’s perhaps a broader insight suggested by all of this, which is that the amount of joy something brings us shouldn’t be the only measure of what is worthwhile.

Nobody ever became more resilient or stronger or wiser by only doing easy things.

It’s only in facing difficulty that we learn and grow— two worthwhile outcomes worth pursuing.

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William Liao

Taiwanese American, daily blogger of ideas about impactful work in service of others, photographer (ephemera.photography)