Embrace the Struggle: There is no Easy Way

My first martial arts instructor taught me that nothing in life that’s worth having or doing comes easy. He taught me that if you want to achieve success, you have to be willing to embrace the struggle and not shy away from it.

This is a fundamental truth, and one of the master keys for success, but equally as true is the fact that it’s human nature to seek the path of least resistance. In fact, people will often do so to their own detriment. It’s for this reason, I’m not that fond of the word shortcut. Not because shortcuts don’t exist. Of course they do. Everyone knows that there are paths that can lead you more directly to your destination. Regardless of the path you take, however, getting there will take time and effort. The problem is too many think “shortcut” means easy way. The reality is, there is no “easy way” at least not when it comes to arriving at any meaningful destination.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to leverage this false notion of the “easy way” as a means to increase sales. Everywhere you look, someone is trying to sell you on their 10 easy steps to financial freedom, or their software or plug-in that’ll help you achieve massive success in a matter of minutes. When you think about it, it’s not all that surprising, “snake oil salesmen” have been around since before the United States was a nation. What’s really sad, though, is that so many will never achieve the success they’re after, all because in their desperation to find a shortcut, they were willing to buy into such nonsense.

The lesson to be learned from all this, then, is to make sure your decisions and actions are grounded in reality, and reality teaches that true and meaningful success is not something that can be bought. True and meaningful success can only be accomplished by those willing to embrace the struggle.