I don’t know about you, but The Easy Way sounds like a whole lot more fun.
Of course, anyone would choose The Easy Way, right? Not so fast, cupcake! We often try to sabotage ourselves by making sure that we’re “working hard” and “joining the struggle.” I get it. I’ve been there and done a lot of that. A whole lot of that.
Let’s do some numbered lists. Just to shed some light on the subject. I love numbered lists.
The Hard Way
How about just a few randomly selected vocabulary words to set the mood?
- Struggle
- Upstream
- Hard
- Work
- Resistance
Get the idea? This is hard work. This is what you need to do to succeed.
The Easy Way
Let’s see what we come up with for The Easy Way.
- Clarity
- Curiosity
- Flow
- Better Together
- Downstream
- Fun
- Trust
- Play
I used to do things The Hard Way. Now I do them The Easy Way. What gives? How did I get from struggling and suffering to paddling downstream and playing?
Mindset
I’m sure that sounds like one of those overused words that doesn’t really have any meaning. But this one isn’t in that group. This one does matter and this one is the difference.
So, great, Mr. Mindset, how do I change my mindset from The Hard Way to The Easy Way.
Let’s head back to my favorite numbered lists for a minute. How about #1? Do you know where you’re heading? When you have clarity, you don’t need to make as many decisions because you just know. Take #4. Are you going it alone? Is there a potential partner you can find? I’m a huge believer in 1 + 1 > 2. #8 is the real secret although you won’t believe it if you don’t have 1 through 7 going for you. Just trust me–see #7.
You know how, when you’re listening to a book or podcast or radio program and you hear a single sentence, maybe even just a few words, that string together and really sink in? You often can’t shake them even if you wanted to. One such phrase went something like this:
It’s not the path of no resistance, it’s the path of least resistance.
They went on to explain it using terms that made me think of outer space. When there is no gravity and no resistance way out there in space (speaking not exactly from personal experience here … ), there isn’t anything to push off of. So even if you want to change directions, you can’t just pivot on your foot (on the ground) or even paddle with your arms (in water), but you’re practically, dare I say, powerless to change direction. OK, fine, there are thrusters, but I think part of that is science fiction films. But my point is made: we need resistance to help guide us on our way.
We learn from our mistakes. In fact, if we encountered zero resistance, we would never learn and thus never (or rarely) grow. If we didn’t fail or struggle or figure out what we didn’t want, it would all just be easy peasy and we’d float along in immortality and become … bored to death. There is no zero resistance. There doesn’t need to be full resistance. Find the path of least resistance.
If you’re looking for the one-word answer, let’s go with mindset on this Thursday Thunder. Sure, there are others, but work on this for a week. How can you think bigger? Don’t work on your plan to increase your business by 10%, work on a plan that would increase your business by 200%. Might you have a different strategy?
Work as if you’re already there, success is pounding on your door, it can’t wait to get in. It’s more of a pull than a push, it’s more of a steering downstream than a hard paddle upstream. I apologize to those of you following this who are still struggling as this is just going to make you more frustrated, but please believe me, and here I am speaking from direct experience, that it can be easier.
Here’s your homework. Write your collection of vocabulary words for The Hard Way and The Easy Way. What do you come up with? How can you integrate more of the Easy into your Hard? How can you change your mindset to go from upstream to downstream?