I like to tie up loose ends quickly. I like to resolve things. But the more complex the problems I deal with, the more valuable discomfort becomes.
If I resist the urge to immediately alleviate the pain point, hours, days, or weeks later I might get deeper insight and better solutions. Early in my career and life, this wasn’t true. The problems I faced were simpler, and direct, impatient action was better 99% of the time. As I level up, the source and nature of problems get more varied and complex, and the better I am at living with some unresolved thorns in my side, the better I get at not just removing them, but eliminating the thorn bushes. (I almost wrote “from whence they came”, but realized how needless and dumb it sounded).
It’s hard to live with open problems, but I’m getting better at it. When you own a business, you have to. If you ask me what’s going on with the company, I’ll think of ten things we need to improve. We are always improving, but there are always more weaknesses and vulnerabilities and opportunities to consider. Always. It’s not like an artistic project or science experiment that gets finished. There’s no right or wrong. There’s just better. And better always beckons, day and night.
I used to get stressed by it. Then I got used to it. Now I kind of love it and thrive on it.