Refuse to Start Until It’s Easy

I hate buying groceries. I’m thrilled to pay someone to deliver them. We constantly trade money for time. We value convenience. We choose more hours over more dollars.

Why don’t we do the same when time is the thing we have to give up? The side project is a distraction, but it looks to be a quick buck, so we jump in with both feet. Writing the book will take forever, but adding a week up front to think about how to compress “forever” into six months? Nu-uh. No dice.

For the first four years of writing, I did not feel compelled to make an online course. Then, one cold September morning, I woke up and it was easy. I had a complete outline in my head. All I had to do was write it down, refine it, make bullets for each lesson, and hit record. Did it take effort? Of course. But the initial inspiration and structure carried me all the way.

When the result is more money or more time two years from now, don’t do it the hard way. Pay for convenience by abstaining. Refuse to start until it’s easy. Wait until downhill is obvious. Then, get on your sled and enjoy the ride.