“If the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.”
― Terry Goodkind

Quick-and-easy diets, machines that we strap around our stomach that “gives us” abs, a drink that will fuel you for hours upon hours and make you uber productive — the world is filled with these easy shortcuts.

But do they work?

Being comfortable is easy; doing what is necessary to be great is hard.

Often times, we want the easy way out. Immediate gratification, less work. More pay, less hours.

To be honest, it doesn’t work that way. Not all the time and not consistently.

There are daily habits and actions that people commit to that are easy; and the reality of it is that it doesn’t create better outcomes or results. It just creates more hassles, more work to be done, etc.

Let me define a few examples that would be easy to do:

• Complaining.
• Not putting yourself in the other person’s shoes.
• Arguing with your spouse or partner or friend, whoever.
• Being bored.
• Taking a diet pill and exercising for a shorter amount of time (or not at all).
• Not taking yourself out of your comfort zone.
• Pandering, criticizing, judging.

All of these are easy to do. But what results do they produce?

Essentially, these easy tasks are some of the most detrimental to both your mind and body. But yet so many people, on a consistent basis, pay mind and commit to these acts. As crazy as it sounds, I lived most of my life doing the easy.

But what is hard? And why should we commit to it?

First, let’s define what’s harder to do:

• Not complaining and getting the work done.
• Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and truly understanding their perspective and what they’re trying to say.
• Not arguing with someone, but listening to them. Empathizing. Paying attention to their desires.
• Not being bored and getting started on something, whether it be your life or work or career, whatever.
• Not taking the diet pill and getting your ass in the gym or outdoors.
• Taking yourself out of your comfort zone, learning about yourself and the world around you, and using fear as a weapon, not a sedative.
• Not pandering or criticizing or judging, but embracing, listening wholeheartedly, and being open-minded.

The results are blatant. The choices are there.

The question is: do we continue doing the easy tasks that destabilize us, or do we break out of the comfort zone of doing what’s essentially more difficult, but in the long run, more beneficial to the development of yourself?

Ultimately, the choice is yours. Just remember: you are in control.

Will you commit to what is easy? Or will you do what is hard? Share your story with me in the comments.