By T.J. Wright
“Discomfort isn’t the enemy of growth—it’s the forge that shapes it.”
Pain teaches. Anyone who’s ever touched a hot stove knows that.
It’s a blunt, unforgettable lesson. That sting? It sticks with you. You remember it the next time your hand drifts too close to the burner. You grow. You learn. You change.
That’s how I’ve come to view discomfort—not as a signal to stop, but as an invitation to push forward.
Letting Go of the Need to Please Everyone
When I started writing Apocalypse Unveiled, I wanted people to love it. All people. The idea that someone might hate it? That kept me up at night. I obsessed over its worth—wondered if I was good enough to share a story with the world.
And now? I don’t lose sleep over it anymore.
Not because I’ve stopped caring—far from it. But because I’ve learned that creating something worth doing doesn’t require universal approval. The reception to Apocalypse Unveiled has been overwhelmingly positive, and for that I’m grateful. But the most powerful growth came from the fear itself—from facing that fear and doing the work anyway.
Building Something Worthy—Even If It’s Hard
The same lesson hit me again while designing my upcoming tabletop RPG, Fatebound: The Ixteledar Sagas. I started with the dream of making something that everyone would enjoy.
But that approach? It almost killed the heart of the game.
Fatebound isn’t built for ease. It’s deep, tactical, and challenging—by design. I want players to think, collaborate, and earn their victories. Not everyone will want that, and that’s okay. What matters is that the people who do engage will find something rich, something real, something unforgettable.
I had someone ask, “Do you think I’ll like it?”
I told them, “It’s not easy.”
They said, “Then maybe it’s not for me.”
And maybe that’s true.
But maybe it is—if they’re willing to try.
Pressure Creates Growth
Every creative path is paved with discomfort: the grind of revisions, the self-doubt, the questions no one else can answer but you.
But I’ve come to believe that discomfort is where the good stuff lives.
When players wrestle with a complex encounter in my TTRPG, or when readers sit with a difficult decision a character makes, that tension becomes a tool. It sharpens the story. It refines the experience. Like a diamond forming under pressure, something lasting begins to emerge.
Discomfort builds resilience. Pressure forces clarity. Trials forge truth.
Find Your Diamond
If you’re a creator, a gamer, a dreamer—or even just a human trying to get through the day—here’s what I’ve learned:
Don’t run from discomfort. Use it.
Don’t fear failure. Learn from it.
And above all, don’t let the fear of not being liked stop you from making something you’re proud of.
Because sometimes, the most beautiful things we create only take shape when we stop trying to polish them for everyone else—and start shaping them with our own hands.
⚔️ Want to Join Me?
- 📖 Read Apocalypse Unveiled → [Link to book]
- 🎲 Playtest Fatebound: The Ixteledar Sagas → Sign up for the Newsletter for exclusive playtests when they are ready!
- 🧙♂️ Subscribe for updates, lore drops, and more behind-the-scenes content → [Link to the hidden content.]
Let’s keep building. Keep challenging. Keep growing.
And maybe—just maybe—we’ll find a few diamonds along the way.
The Official site of TJ Wright 
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