Happiness Is Momentary, Suffering Is Default

Entrepreneurship

2026-04-17

Why long-haul entrepreneurs flip the usual script: suffering is the default, and happiness is the temporary state.

People who haven't lived inside entrepreneurship for a long stretch, and I mean ten years or more, tend to assume that suffering is a stint. They believe happiness will be their default state once they get through this "little hard bit." That is not the case. Suffering is the default. Happiness is the temporary state.

And I don't mean suffering in a depressing, joyless way. I mean constant challenge, constant striving, constant hardship to be overcome. It isn't easy and it doesn't get easier, because every win simply becomes the jumping-off point for the next thing. That's what I mean by suffering. But it's a happy suffering, because we suffer for what we love.

I know this sounds masochistic, and in some ways entrepreneurs are masochistic. But they are not victims. They fully and consciously enter into this life because the suffering contains meaning. That can be hard for other people to understand.

Suffering isn't bad if you choose it for growth and challenge. And happiness isn't as great as it's cracked up to be if it arrives as a permanent state of contentment without challenge. That's just boredom. And entrepreneurs generally hate to be bored.