I have a daughter in her Junior year in high school. Do you remember that year? If you do, you likely remember that it was the hardest year in high school. It’s like every teacher wants to give you tons and tons of homework. She is working hard but wishes it was easier. And you know what I tell her? Everything is hard.
I lead a group of amazingly talented folks at work. They can do just about anything. Nevertheless, today we had a meeting to talk about a new feature. You know what we discovered, right? Once we got into the details it was clear it wasn’t going to be easy. Or even straightforward. Why? Because anything worth doing takes work. Everything is hard.
I’ve spent the last two years working harder than the last few years to lose some weight. And it’s worked. I lost weight during the pandemic – much to my family’s frustration. 🙂 But nothing about it is easy.
And this morning I wanted everything that Starbucks sells. Hot Chocolate AND Passion Tea Lemonade. Plus several croissants. I ordered it all. And ate it all. Not because it was a cheat day. I just didn’t have the extra energy to be disciplined this morning. Why? Because it’s hard. Everything is hard.
Here’s the crazy thing.
If you want to stay fit (and no, I’m not the definition of fit), it’s going to be hard.
But if you decide not to care about your health, it’s going to be hard too.
Living in debt and not in control of your finances, life is going to be hard.
But if you choose to spend less than you earn, it’s going to be hard too.
I meet with entrepreneurs regularly and their success takes tons of work.
But when you wing everything and struggle to have a strategy, it’s work too.
Every way you live. Every choice you make. It doesn’t matter. Everything is hard.
There’s no getting around work.
You work one way or another: dealing with the chaos or creating the order.
So if you know it’s going to be work, no matter what, here’s my recommendation:
Choose the work that creates the life you want to live.
Sure, it will be hard. But everything is hard.
From Chris Lema, here.