The statistician and writer Nassim Taleb came up with the concept of “antifragility”, the idea that systems and people can become stronger after being exposed to stressors, shocks, and mistakes. It was then expanded upon by American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in “The Coddling of the American Mind”.

Some things are fragile, like glass – when you drop a glass, it breaks. Some things are robust, like a plastic cup, when you drop it, it stays as it is. But some things are anti-fragile, when you drop them, when they are exposed to shocks, they end up becoming stronger. Easiest example to use is the human immune system which is built up through exposure to viruses and other pathogens. 

So we shouldn’t necessarily go looking for trouble, but experiencing and overcoming stress and difficulty tends to make us stronger people in the long run. If anything, we may have ended up in a position where we’ve developed avoidance behaviour when it comes to struggle and challenge. 

Therefore we shouldn’t always shy away from something which makes us uncomfortable, it may ultimately end up strengthening us. 

Picture source: Merkle