Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of embracing challenging tasks to achieve long-term fulfillment and personal growth.

Abstract

The article "Sometimes You Just Have To Do Hard Things" argues that personal growth is contingent upon facing and enduring difficult tasks, despite the brain's natural inclination to seek pleasure and avoid pain. It suggests that the pursuit of short-term rewards, such as checking one's phone, is a form of procrastination that can lead to a cycle of distraction and a lack of progress. The author, citing Sheryl Sandberg and Mia Love, posits that true achievement lies in the willingness to confront hardships, as this approach yields the best long-term benefits. The article encourages readers to train their brains to embrace discomfort, asserting that while pain is temporary, regret is permanent. It concludes by distinguishing between short-term enjoyment and true happiness, which comes from reflecting on overcoming challenges and striving for one's potential.

Opinions

The author believes that avoiding pain and seeking pleasure is a natural but counterproductive tendency that hinders personal development.
Procrastination, even in small forms like checking a phone, reinforces bad habits and detracts from long-term goals.
Growth requires pain, and there is no substitute for the discomfort that accompanies meaningful progress.
The article suggests that the risk of not pursuing one's potential due to a preference for short-term gratification is greater than the risk of investing in a better future.
Training the brain to endure hard things is seen as a critical strategy for achieving success and fulfillment.
The author advocates for the idea that happiness is derived from the satisfaction of overcoming difficulties, not from fleeting moments of enjoyment.
The article implies that self-care is important, but it should not be an excuse for complacency or avoiding the hard work necessary to realize

Sometimes You Just Have To Do Hard Things

Show your brain that you’ll endure pain.

“Your life’s course will not be determined by doing the things that you are certain you can do. Those are the easy things. It will be determined by whether you try the things that are hard” — Sheryl Sandberg

None of us want to feel pain.

That’s normal, it’s how the brain is built. We are always searching for pleasure and getting away from pain. That’s why when you are doing a difficult task your attention is drifting toward your phone.

Short-term reward just feels good. So you tell yourself that checking your phone for a minute isn’t too bad. It’s just a way to decompress.

But deep inside you you know it’s bullshit. It’s just another form of procrastination. This tiny action might seem insignificant but it’s not. It’s one action that reinforces the bad habit of getting easily distracted. It’s momentum toward a messier life.

Tiny momentum for sure, but still, it’s there.

And bad habits are hard to break once they are solidly installed in our life.

That’s why I want to propose another approach. It’s not something new, we’ve all heard about it.

But it’s something we are trying to avoid.

I want you to go toward the hard things.

It’s The Best Long Term Strategy

“Difficult things aren’t easy, but they’re worth it” — Mia Love

I know what most people usually say. It’s better to start small and build your way up. Also, burning out is a real thing and something you want to avoid.

But still, growth will never happen without pain.

I know it’s hard to hear and I would also want it to not be true. But it is. If you are aiming for something special, for a dream that represents your definition of the word fulfilled then there is no other choice.

You have to accept the pain. It’s even worse than that. You have to go toward the pain.

And that’s because pain provides the best long-term gains.

All the choices in your life are along an axis. On one side you have the pleasurable choices that provide short-term reward and pleasure but usually stagnation or even degradation of your life in the long run. And on the other side, you have the hard things.

The ones that are going to make you bleed, sweat, and cry more often than you might want. They have short-term pain but provide the best long-term reward.

There is no getting around it. It’s the best long-term strategy. You’re investing your present into a better future.

You might think that this presents risks. If you get hit by a truck tomorrow then all of this investment would have been for nothing.

But is this risk worse than risking your potential for short-term gratification? I honestly don’t think so. At least not for me. And with what I read in Medium I know I’m not the only one thinking this.

We all know what we need to do. We just don’t want to do it.

Train Your Brain For It

There is no magic pill that will make your brain go for hard things every single time.

The only thing you can do is train your brain. One hard thing at a time.

You went for a run yesterday and are hesitating to go for one today? Your legs are hurting a tiny bit but not too much. Do you feel energized but don’t want to take the risk of a painful recovery? Stop caring. Go for it.

Tomorrow you’ll have to rest but you will have trained your brain to understand that you are the type of person who runs. Even when it’s uncomfortable and painful.

Pain is temporary, but regret is permanent.

You had a long day and are wondering if you should still put in one more hour of work on your side business? Just do it. Your future self deserves this sacrifice. I’m writing this article at 9 pm on a Monday after waking up at 6 and working until now.

Am I at the top of my physical energy? For sure not. But I’ve trained my brain to enjoy these hard things. I strive for them. Each time I manage one it reinforces the belief I have that I can do those. No matter how tired I am or what is happening around me.

I’m taking control of my life.

And you can as well. Your brain is the most powerful machine you will ever get to enjoy. It can be used for fulfilling your potential or it can be wasted on endless scrolling.

Your choice.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to take care of oneself. You don’t want to burn out and you don’t want to injure yourself.

But likewise, you never want to be less than who you could be.

We are not put on this earth to stay under warm blankets. We are here to move, to do something, to craft, to write, to create.

The human brain is happiest when it is stimulated. Note that there is a big difference between happiness and enjoyment.

Enjoyment is in the present moment. You deserve enjoyment from time to time. When you are with your friends after a long week of work or going to the movies to enjoy a nice experience.

But enjoyment can quickly turn into an addiction to short-term rewards. Happiness is more subtle than that.

Happiness is reflection. It’s a pleasure you feel when you reflect on what you have done and how you have done it. You see your past self doing the hard things, putting in the work, and you feel happy. You feel proud.

And you deserve this feeling.

Appreciate it. Because there will be very quickly more hard things to do.