If you haven’t worked for it, it’s not worth as much…

It’s not supposed to be easy…

If you’re like me then you have seen and heard all of the motivational, inspirational and rote platitudes. You know the ones. They have meaning but over simplify everything. And I get it, they have to. You wouldn’t read it if it contained all the necessary nuance, it would be too long (or a blog post).

There is some power in these though, especially the “it’s not supposed to be easy” one. I don’t entirely agree, wouldn’t it be nice if it was easy? But when you hit hard times in something worthwhile, this expression can help you carry on. It encapsulates the difficulty of change; how hard it is to truly move off your normal track. That has an important psychological effect. Acknowledging the difficulty in what you are doing helps on those days where motivation and energy are completely sapped.

It’s certainly more useful than the recent surge in I have seen in the “if you don’t do it you don’t really want it” comments. This really infuriates me. Kudos to people who have achieved, but there are so many more layers to life. Broadly, I can accept such a comment to be true. Again, however, it removes nuance to attack people. It makes people feel worse for no other reason than to boost someone’s ego. It makes it worse when it’s someone who clearly is using “medical” enhancements, which seems to be the most common utterer of this specific expression. One could challenge them to take only readily available supplements and see if it remains as simple? Let them try to manage through the aches, pains, plateaus and energy drains. They may be able to do it, but it won’t be simple or easy. I am willing to bet some would fall from the path.

Sometimes you need hard work, sometimes you need luck, and sometimes you need both at the same time. I have hit a few weeks where all my strength and energy has drained. I have gone to the gym consistently now for a whole two months! In the last few weeks I have managed to pick up and move less weight than when I started. That’s worse than even a plateau. I have no rhyme nor reason for it. No injury, no change in diet. It has honestly hit my motivation. Not enough to stop me, but enough that I haven’t enjoyed it as much. That’s why these platitudes matter to me. Some have the power to make you question yourself. I mean, I can’t really want this if I haven’t been doing it, right?

Alternatively. It’s not supposed to be easy…that one I can get behind. That one helps me stay on track. It recognises that this is hard, not just for me, but that change and transformation is hard for everyone.

Those that say “if you don’t do it you can’t really want it” will find out one day that change after 10, 20, 30 years is far harder than getting into a good habit early. When they hit that wall, which all of them will, can they push past and keep going?

After all, it’s not supposed to be easy…