“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life living like most people can’t.”
-Jared Yellin
I am often fascinated by the short-termness of most people…
It’s immediate gratification or bust…
It’s immediate certainty or no-go…
It’s immediate frictionless or not for me…
Why do most people live with such a need for short-term satisfaction, comfort, and ease?
What if I told you that putting in extreme effort for 5 years meant that the next 65 years would be EASY?
This is what I refer to as the EASY HARD versus HARD EASY mentality which is a decision that every person on the planet has the ability to make every single day.
Let’s Compare The Two Approaches…
As you are reading about the distinctions of each path, I ask that you self-assess.
Where are you showing up as EASY to HARD?
Where are you showing up as HARD to EASY?
From my experience…
The EASY to HARD path is by far the most attractive, yet, the most grueling…
There are many people very close to me in life that default to the EASY to HARD…
They don’t address challenges in real time…
They put off something that should be done today until tomorrow and tomorrow never comes…
They brush their challenges under the carpet hoping and praying they will disappear…
And the only thing that happens when you make the choice of EASY to HARD is that life will eventually become extraordinarily difficult.
Okay, before I go off on another rant about EASY to HARD, allow me to share some of the distinctions so you can self-assess...
EASY to HARD looks like…
-Cutting corners today so that your life is easier…
-Spending your discretionary time watching reality TV…
-Waking up after your alarm clock goes off and skipping workouts…
-Eating fast food because it’s quick…
-Not scheduling time for your significant other because you are busy…
-Bowing out on intentional connectivity with your child because you are tired…
All of the above gives the impression of “EASY,” which I suppose they are, but what people don’t think about is the long-term effect of the following…
-The corners you cut will need to be repaid in the future…
-Your TV watching skill means that you won’t travel the world…
-Your body will experience potential health challenges from a lack of exercise…
-Your food choices mean that autoimmune challenges surface…
-Your relationship falls apart…
-Your children don’t even know you…
If I am bothering you with this message - I’m not sorry - this is your wake-up call to make a NEW decision...one that might be perceived as HARDER today, but will lead to a DRASTICALLY easy life in the future…
And if you don’t even know where to begin, stick with me...I am going to share how I always take the HARD to EASY approach in life, but before we go into the action plan, allow me to explain what this route looks like...
HARD to EASY…
-Be extremely thorough and complete with your commitments
-Invest discretionary time into personal development or a new side hustle
-Workout every single day because 100% is easier than 99%
-Eat a diet filled with nutrient dense foods
-Go on a weekly date night and never negotiate against yourself
-Commit to 30-minutes of connectivity time daily with your children and write this time commitment down in stone
I suppose the above could be defined as HARDER work, but this is what the future then looks like…
-Travel the world, enjoy the fruits of your labor, get whatever you desire because of your fulfilled commitments
-Your self-mastery is indestructible
-Your body is damn sexy and you look younger as you age
-Your energy levels are inspiring to be around
-Your relationship is one that lights up any room you enter
-Your kids can’t get enough of you and when you become a grandparent all they want to do is share the experience with you.
This is what HARD to EASY looks like and now I am going to tie this into entrepreneurship for those of you who are either on the inside of this glorious opportunity or on the fringe and considering stepping into it…
Will You Do What’s Necessary To Make IT?
Entrepreneurship is the single greatest way to EVENTUALLY build your ideal life, but there are a few factors to consider…
1 - Are you able and willing to let go of short-term gratification?
2 - Can you live in uncertainty for a period of time?
3 - Are you willing and able to ignore your naysayers and remain focused?
4 - Can you weather short-term compromises to eventually get what you want?
There are other questions to instropect on, but if the answer is a resounding YES across the board then I challenge you to adopt this premise….
Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life living like most people can’t.
Everything In Life Is A Give And Take, But Hard To Easy Is One Of Those Rare Opportunities Where You Definitely GIVE, But You Will Be Able To TAKE WAYYYYYYY MORE!
I want you to know that the majority of your YOUR world will question your decision of HARD to EASY.
They will say things like…
“Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Have you thought this through?”
“Why do you make everything so difficult?”
“There you go again!”
And yes, there will be other variations of what I refer to as SHEEP TALK.
SHEEP follow one another...for better or for worse.
This means that SHEEP would literally walk off of a cliff together simply because the pack is trending in that direction.
The majority of society are SHEEP…
They play it safe…
They put in just enough…
They check boxes in life…
They don’t really take pride in anything…
They don’t have a vision…
And please DON’T interpret this as me saying that I am BETTER than the SHEEP because I am NOT one of them…
I am simply creating a distinction for you IF you are ready to become the BLACK SHEEP and ignore the BAHHHHSSSSSS that will sound like the critics from above and now below…
“Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Have you thought this through?”
“Why do you make everything so difficult?”
“There you go again!”
Here’s how to handle THEM and how to handle your own INTERNAL SHEEP TALK…
Let’s begin with HANDLING them…
If THEY don’t have what you want, but are criticizing and questioning you for decisions you are making to get what you want...IGNORE THEM!
And I mean this…
I have people ALL OF THE TIME telling me their opinion of my decisions and I look at their life and it is crystal clear that they don’t have what I desire…
So…
Their thoughts…
Their opinions…
Their ideas…
Their critiques…
Simply don’t matter...PERIOD!
Stop caring what other people think when the other people don’t have what you want...PERIOD PERIOD!
ANDDDDD
When your internal SHEEP TALK shows up as you decide to take the route of HARD to EASY…
Throw yourself into the future…
I mean it…
Literally JUMP FORWARD…
Get out of your chair…
Stand up…
And JUMP FORWARD!
Once you land - see your future…
See the easy…
Experience the easy…
Live the easy…
Make the easy soooooo crystal clear that it makes the HARD (of today) exciting because you know what you are about to JUMP INTO!
Listen, I NEVER Ask Anyone To Consider Doing Anything I Have Not Done And Continue To Do...
I have made seismic short-term compromises because I am crystal clear on the long-term vision of my life…
I get it - this is NOT for everyone and I have ZERO judgement if it’s not for you - but if (and I emphasize IF) you can’t imagine NOT pursuing your dreams and IF you can’t fathom NOT giving whatever you desire your ALL, then make the choice of HARD to EASY because the EASY is sooooo darn sweet and the HARD is even sweeter as you look back and recognize what you have been able to accomplish.
I applaud the entrepreneurs…
I applaud the HARD to EASY people…
I applaud those that will ignore the SHEEP TALK...
I applaud YOU!
My final request…
Don’t think about this article…
DO this article…
Love and appreciate you always!
Live with Intention, JY