When I was a kid, I remember playing video games at an amateur or easy level. That was the temptation because you can easily get the points or easily beat the opposite team in the FIFA match. Yet I remember that I would never gain points or win the FIFA match at hard levels. So the only solution to win the match at hard level is to practice it at hard level.

This is what happens with us in real life. We never grow by doing easy things. To really improve we need to focus on hard things and play with hard things. The same has happened with me. I never felt that I learnt something new when doing easy things.With God’s grace and from the support of friends and family I was lucky enough to choose hard fields in academics and competitive exams. I even used to fail in most of them but that didn’t matter because opting for hard things is what mattered in the long run.

Its not only necessary to keep choosing hard things and work hard. One also has to be clear with the hard choices and be smart enough to execute it. There is a very fine line here of working hard and working smart.

Entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant explains it beautifully. He says that “Easy choices hard life,hard choices easy life.” Its so simple yet full of wisdom. He further says that “If you are evenly split on a difficult decision,take the path more painful in short term.”

Just like the video game example we easily get tempted to do easy things. By doing that we reap the rewards immediately. The satisfaction and happiness from easy choices is short and temporary. I think to opt for hard things,the most important thing is patience. For example once you start the gym you won’t be able to see any results for one year. So one should be willing to work hard even when the results are not visible and one receives no compliments for his work.

The question of how to go through the process of doing hard things is subjective. I recently came across James Clear’s article in his weekly newsletter where he very elaborately explains the process of going through the hard part in a more universal way. He says,

“When you’re doing something hard, focus on the fun part.

Many people make a subtle mistake, which is they emphasize how difficult it is to do something. They tell themselves writing is hard or running is hard or math is hard. And so on. The dominant thought in their mind is that this is hard to do.

And it is true these things (and many others in life) can be challenging.

Meanwhile, people who thrive in a given area are often emphasizing a completely different aspect of the experience. They are thinking about how it feels good to move their body rather than telling themselves exercise is hard. Or, perhaps, they aren’t really thinking much at all. They may slip into a trance during their run, a meditative rhythm.

But what they are almost certainly not doing is repeating a mental story about how hard it is to do the thing. Their dominant thought is about some element of the experience they enjoy. They are working hard, but with the fun part in mind.”

The easy path today makes a hard path tomorrow. The hard path today makes an easier path tomorrow.