We were all born not knowing how to walk. We didn’t simply stand up one day and run around. We had to teach ourselves, by grabbing on to furniture and other people, and we had to gradually learn to walk without falling.
Honestly, if infants had the same mindset most adults today do, none of us would be walking.
Years of living in this world programs us to pick the easiest solution, or the “easy way out” of difficult situations, often with many complaints despite pursuing the easier option. A lot of this is marked by self-doubt and a lack of motivation.
How do you just wake up one day and decide not to take the easy way out of things and start taking the long road?
Well, you don’t. It starts when we stop looking for alternatives or shortcuts toward success.
We need to remember that there are no shortcuts to success or in life in general. Hard work, complemented by an intense desire to struggle and to achieve success is the only sure way of reaching the life that you have always wanted.
Hard work is one of the secrets for us to being successful in life. Laziness and sluggishness make your life a curse and only hard work can make your life a blessing.
Focusing on the end result, whatever that looks like for you, rather than the struggles in front of you, makes it easier to do those hard things.
Our lives are often much shorter than we expect, so we need to do some pretty darn hard things to maximize our very limited time.
Just recently for spring break, I hiked the Grand Canyon for four days with a group of close friends. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, physically and mentally.
The hike out, which was by far the hardest hike, was a true mental game.
I had a decision to make: I could either focus on every little step I was taking, which would result in overthinking every step or focus on finishing the hike when I could finally rest. Hint: I chose to focus on finishing the hike.
This reminded me of how we see our lives. Yes, it’s important to enjoy every little moment, but if your mind is only focused on the mountains right in front of you, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and harder to set goals.
Hard things may seem scary and uncomfortable at the moment but hard actions can have tremendous benefits, ones that may not be visible for some time. However, they ultimately build you up and change your life.
They make the difference between existing and living, between knowing the path and walking it, and between a lifetime of empty promises and one filled with more possibility and progress.
We can do hard things, even through the pain.
This is where we must give our brains the right amount of autonomy. When we have a choice, our brains often want to default to something easy.
We can mitigate that response by challenging ourselves to be innovative and providing incentives, like focusing on the end goal, and the reward that will potentially follow, whether that be physical, emotional, or even spiritual.
Whatever hard thing you must do, whether it’s a difficult conversation, a decision you have to make, or a physical trial, the end result will be worth it.
So many people are locked in by the wins of instant gratification, that they miss every opportunity for a new goal to form.
Make goals and make mistakes, and you will thank your future self.
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