Everything Is Hard Before It Gets Easy

We’ve all had times in our lives when we wanted to try something new. However, often we notice that such a thing is very difficult and we give up. We simply return to our old routines. Instead of trying again, we throw in the towel with surprising ease. A verything is hard before it is easy. We often forget that.

Learning new things and developing new habits are great pursuits. Learning new things is good for you. But even though we are aware of this, it remains difficult to leave your routines behind and change. Leaving your comfort zone is difficult. You’ve been working on this for years!

But if you look back, you’ll see that nothing was easy in the beginning. Everything, absolutely everything, takes effort. It is always difficult to some degree before it becomes easy.

The learning process

If you think back to your early years, you realize that you have to learn to walk, talk, count, write … Can you imagine what would have happened if you then had given up? After all, it was very difficult for you—as a small child—to learn and do these things. You fell, you made mistakes, you found it difficult to make new information your own. Now, though, all these things seem like a breeze.

Most challenges seem difficult at first because you have to go through a learning process. This process demands willpower, motivation, desire and goals from you. Think back to when you took driving lessons. Wasn’t it very difficult in the beginning to do so many things at the same time? Now you can probably drive without thinking too much about it. It’s more or less on autopilot.

Negativity loses its charm

When we learn to walk, we fall every once in a while but we keep trying anyway. However, when something fails us once we grow up, we give up completely. But why do we do that? The older you get, the less eager you seem to be about learning processes. You are always looking for the easiest way to do something. People tend to do things or activities that don’t require much effort or radical change. Although such a change has more advantages than disadvantages in the long term, we still oppose it.

It’s easy to forget that it’s normal for something to be difficult before it becomes easy. You are not yet familiar with the new idea and you lack knowledge and experience. But negativity quickly loses its charm. You eventually get tired of the day job you have to put yourself down: ‘I can’t do this… This is too much for me… This is really hard… I’m not going to make it…’

If you were able to learn to talk, write and drive, why couldn’t you? What is the difference?

Everything is hard when you keep repeating that you ‘can’t do it’

The difference is in the excuses you come up with to avoid a life change and take yourself off autopilot. When your life is on autopilot, you move through your days without enjoying them, without experiencing new things. You feel safe because this is what you always do; it requires no extra effort.

However, times have you surrender yourself to the learning process. Whether that’s getting your driver’s license or taking a course for work, you’ll make it through and achieve your goals despite how difficult it is. Why? Because you will struggle past the most difficult point and gradually you will start to feel comfortable and confident in this task. After all, everything is difficult before it becomes easy.

Everything is very difficult if you keep repeating that you ‘cannot do it.’ This is self-sabotage. It’s an excuse to avoid achieving something that would be really, really good for you. It often happens when you try to eliminate a bad habit from your life, such as smoking. It also happens when you want to develop a new habit that jeopardizes your usual routine, such as meditating daily.

You tell yourself you can’t do something when it’s not definitely true. It’s better to say to yourself, ‘It’s not a matter of not being able to, it’s a matter of not wanting to.’ You feel comfortable in your comfort zone (hence the name). You have few worries and you don’t have to put in much effort. Starting meditating or exercising, quitting smoking or signing up for a writing class… These things all require effort and adjustment to your daily routine.