The Game with Alex Hormozi

Episode 993: Passion Is Suffering, Not Happiness
Date: January 20, 2026
Host: Alex Hormozi

Episode Overview

In this episode, Alex Hormozi challenges the popular notion of “following your passion,” arguing that passion is not about happiness or ease, but about what you are willing to suffer for. Drawing from etymology, personal experience, and philosophical reflections, Hormozi reframes suffering as a necessary and fixed cost on any meaningful path. He urges listeners, particularly entrepreneurs, to pursue something so important that the inevitable hardships become not only bearable, but purposeful.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The True Meaning of Passion

• Passion’s Origin: The word “passion” comes from the Latin passio, meaning suffering, not happiness or enjoyment.
  • [00:19] Alex Hormozi: “The root of the word passio is Latin for suffering. So it's not about doing what you love, it’s about finding something that you love enough that it's worth suffering for.”
• Historical Context: The “Passion of Christ” refers to Jesus Christ’s suffering and crucifixion, further emphasizing this definition.

2. Myth of ‘Follow Your Passion’

• Reality vs. Perception: Passion in the popular use is misunderstood as consistently doing what you love, whereas in reality, successful paths only briefly intersect with what you love doing.
  • [01:08] Hormozi: “95% of what you do every day, if you’re successful, will not be your passion. You’ll just have brief moments where you’ll do that specific thing, if at all.”
• Inevitable Loss of Enjoyment: The more you do something you love, the less special it becomes—scarcity creates appreciation.
• Danger of Seeking Constant Enjoyment: The expectation of constant happiness or flow creates more suffering and sets up unrealistic goals, particularly for entrepreneurs.

3. Suffering Is Inevitable—Choose Your Path Carefully

• All Roads Have Pain: Whether you’re an entrepreneur, employee, rich or poor, each path has its own fixed cost of suffering.
  • [05:27] Hormozi: “Entrepreneurship is hard. Being an employee is hard. Being broke is hard. Being rich is hard... There is suffering in every path of life.”
• Reframe the Experience: Instead of seeking a path without suffering, reframe difficulty as inherent and choose what is worth enduring pain for.
  • [06:50] Hormozi: “The secret to getting what you want is doing lots of things that you don’t want... The goal is to reframe reality so that bad things are good, not to try and only experience good things.”

4. Go Big—If Suffering Is Fixed, Swing For What’s Worth It

• Suffering is a Fixed ‘Fee’: If all options cost the same in suffering, choose the option that yields the highest payoff or meaning.
• Delaying Action is Futile: Waiting for perfect alignment with your passion leads nowhere; find work valued by others and get started.
• Fertilized Green Grass Metaphor:
  • [09:00] Quoting Suzanne (Hormozi’s CEO): “It’s greener on the other side of the fence because it’s fertilized with shit.”
• Skill Reduces Suffering: Being good at something doesn’t remove suffering but makes it more tolerable.

5. The Importance of Why—Purpose Over Pleasure

• Passion As Purpose: The “why” behind your actions sustains you through hardship more than the specifics of what you do.
  • [10:25] Hormozi quoting Viktor Frankl: “‘If a man has a big enough why, he can overcome almost any how.’”
  • [10:35] Hormozi citing Joe Rogan: “‘A man will crawl through broken glass with a smile.’”
• Sacrifice Measures Love: What you’re willing to give up for a cause or goal is the truest measure of your passion.
  • [11:14] Hormozi: “You measure [love] by what you’re willing to give up in order to maintain it.”

6. Stories and Personal Proof

• Gym Floor Story: Hormozi recounts his early entrepreneurial days sleeping on a gym’s dirty floor, social and financial sacrifices, and perseverance through doubt.
  • [19:22] Hormozi: “When I was sleeping there, I was barely sleeping because it was underneath a parking garage... I would sleep for around four to five hours every night. But I did that consistently for about six months.”
• Choosing to Suffer For a Goal: Rather than avoiding pain, commit not to stopping—endurance is the real difference-maker.
  • [22:34] Hormozi: “As long as I had enough to cover food, which doesn’t really cost that much, I was going to be okay.”

7. Work and Growth as Masculine Identity (Personal Lens)

• Work as Identity: Particularly for men (from Hormozi’s experience), work and striving are central to purpose and fulfillment.
• Generational Lessons: Hormozi shares the immigrant hardships of his grandfather, reinforcing suffering as part of striving and growth.
• Universal Application: While he frames much of his advice through the lens of his experience as a man, the underlying messages are broadly applicable.

8. The Illusion of Arrival and Subjective Well-Being

• After the Achievement: Happiness regresses to a personal mean; new circumstances, good or bad, rarely create permanent shifts in subjective well-being.
• Accept the Steady State: Recognize internal states remain mostly unchanged regardless of external success or struggle. Choose a meaningful battle.

9. The Real Reason to Pick Your Struggle

• Pick the Reward: Since all paths require sacrifice, consciously select the “reward” or outcome worth the pain.
  • [25:37] Hormozi: “If you accept the suffering as the toll that you pay on all these paths, then at least you get to pick where you go.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Passion’s Definition:
  [00:19] Hormozi: “The root of the word passio is Latin for suffering.”
• On Entrepreneurial Reality:
  [01:08] Hormozi: “95% of what you do every day, if you’re successful, will not be your passion.”
• On Suffering’s Universality:
  [05:27] Hormozi: “Entrepreneurship is hard. Being an employee is hard. Being broke is hard. Being rich is hard.”
• On Choosing Suffering Wisely:
  [07:55] Hormozi: “You will suffer the same. You’ll suffer regret more here, you’ll suffer difficulty more here, will suffer the same. It’s a fixed cost.”
• Green Grass Realness:
  [09:00] Suzanne via Hormozi: “It’s greener on the other side of the fence because it’s fertilized with shit.”
• On Endurance and Failure:
  [06:14] Hormozi: “Success and failure are on the same path. Failure is just an earlier exit.”
• On Love and Sacrifice:
  [11:14] Hormozi: “You measure [love] by what you’re willing to give up in order to maintain it.”
• On the Illusion of Lasting Happiness:
  [18:41] Hormozi: “After your next major life change, you’ll have a short period of improved subjective well-being, and then you’ll return to baseline.”
• On Owning Your Suffering:
  [25:37] Hormozi: “If you accept the suffering as the toll that you pay on all these paths, then at least you get to pick where you go.”

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:19 | Redefining passion: suffering, not happiness | | 01:43–02:09 | Loving parts of your work—but not all of it | | 03:11–03:27 | Passion as excuse for inability to handle hardship | | 05:18–05:27 | All routes (growth, plateau, decay) are painful | | 06:14 | Success and failure are on the same path | | 09:00 | Greener grass metaphor (Suzanne quote) | | 10:25 | Viktor Frankl, Joe Rogan on enduring for your ‘why’ | | 11:14 | Sacrifice as measurement of love and purpose | | 19:22–22:34 | Hormozi’s gym floor story (perseverance and sacrifice) | | 24:36 | Reflection on mortality and meaning | | 25:15–25:38 | Suffering is unending; pick meaningful work |

Final Thoughts

Alex Hormozi’s episode is a candid, motivational, and sometimes sobering reflection aimed at reframing how we think about passion and struggle. He encourages listeners to reframe suffering as an essential, fixed cost in any meaningful pursuit. The actionable takeaway: Don’t chase a mirage of constant happiness—find something worth suffering for, and commit not to stopping, even when the journey is brutal. Your “why” must be big and external enough to sustain you. Suffering isn’t a sign you’re on the wrong path; it’s proof that what you’re after actually matters.