This has been one of my later in life discoveries and it applies more to day to day operations than over investment activity. Where day to day operations might be your job, your personal life etc.
Everyone maintains a todo list - Conscious or subconscious. This list is ranked by necessity/importance.
Doing the hard thing
Doing the hard thing is deliberately being conscious about the most important item on that list, being aware of how much it discomforts you and tackling it head on. Right away.
It could be:
engaging with someone in a situation over a sensitive subject
entering a new situation that causes anxiety
starting a task that you don’t know how to do - so you keep putting it off
talking to your relative who you haven’t spoken to in years and want to avoid painful conversation
finishing the work that needs to be completed but you don’t want to
Maintaining items that are “the hard thing” in your todo list are a burden. A burden that weighs on you night and day. When you sleep, when you relax. There is no escape.
The only certain thing in life is uncertainty
The audible volume of uncertainty, change, increases the more you live life and the more value you provide
The nice thing is that completing the hard thing is easy, the real barrier is the skipping the procrastination. Doing the hard thing will lift that mental burden, freeing you to be present, feel fulfilled and accomplish more.
Be aware that uncertainty and change increases the more you live life and the more value you offer.
Know that living is hard - choose your hard.
Marriage is hard, Divorce is hard.
Exercise is hard, health issues from not exercising is hard.
Gaining wealth is hard, Poverty is hard.
Acknowledge hard, but make it shorter by doing the hard thing earlier, removing the burden, freeing you to be truly present and accomplish more.
🙏Promise me you’ll give it a go. You’ll achieve more and feel better too.
Steer the ship in the direction of your choosing - it is your last life.
Looking for Children’s books? The Tuttle Twins books covers topics such as why property rights exist, free market economies, entrepreneurship and why Socialism can be destructive.
Great thoughts! Thank you for this article. I still eat my veggies first as I did when I was a kid!
Great way to put it. I have always been a procrastinator but have been making a conscious effort to tackle the hard stuff earlier than I previously would have. Thank for this post!