I'll be honest — I'm tired. The hard things I chose to do are still hard. I'm writing this anyway because something inside me knows that's the point.

A collaborator came over for a working breakfast yesterday. Busy as I am, I made it from scratch — frittata with pasture-raised eggs, local veggies, and cheese, bacon, oven-roasted potatoes. We compared notes on which patches we're wearing to stay grounded and focused, then cheers'd with alkaline water, organic lemon juice, and pink salt. Earlier I stepped outside for a dose of sunlight — enough to signal my body the time of day and let its natural rhythm begin.

We worked for a few hours and moved the needle. After, I drove to my favourite water shop, refilled my jugs, stopped at Healthy Planet for a supplement, then came home to pay bills, answer customers, draft a course, and hand year-end paperwork to the bookkeeper. Emails flew until early evening — findings, writings, developments. A wicked storm kept me off the golf course, but once it passed, I celebrated my productivity with a walk in the fresh air.

Here's what I didn't do yesterday: take a shortcut.

Not because shortcuts aren't available. They're everywhere. There's an app for skipping dishes, an AI for the email, a hack for the habit. We live in the golden age of easy — and somehow, more people than ever feel stuck, depleted, and behind.

Funny how that works.

We were told easy was the goal. Get the shortcut. Skip the hard part. And we bought it — because the brain is wired to seek safety and comfort first. That's not weakness, that's biology. But here's the thing biology doesn't tell you: easy is a muscle that atrophies. Every time we hand off the hard thing, we get a little less capable of doing it ourselves.

Remember when calculators weren't allowed during tests in school? (I do) The rule felt cruel at the time but now I smile watching people try and count change in the grocery store, those used to “tapping” of course.  It’s like we can’t think without a device in our hand.

Do you wonder if comfort can cost you potential?

A fellow speaker friend, Jeff Tobe, drove a taxi to generate income in his high school days. He told the story that most drivers avoided the short grocery runs — small fares, not worth the time. He took every single one. Why? While others waited for the big fare, he took the small ones for the big tips. He did the part nobody else wanted to do, and he was rewarded handsomely for it.

That's not a story about taxis.

Aha! ~ Success comes from doing what most people won't. 

Not because you're tougher. Because you stayed in the game while everyone else was waiting for easy.

The hard things are still hard and I’m feeling it. But that’s okay. I'm still going — because I know the easy part isn't a destination. It's what you earn by not quitting.

Stay the course for what matters.