Practicality and ease are where good goals go to die

Our mindless everyday decisions are determined by 2 things: 1) practicality and 2) ease.

We’re hungry. We eat.

Practical right? Hunger = want food

But we’re not whipping out a Michelin-level 5-course dinner. We’re throwing the frost-bitten chicken nuggies into the air fryer and calling it good.

Why? Ease.

But ease is not the ultimate villain here. We need repeatability. We need autopilot sometimes. The problem starts when ease is the default, and it hinders us from the things that require growth.

We often fall into these patterns because they are repeatable and easy. Any change to that causes discomfort. And ultimately, we are discomfort-averse. We avoid it at all costs.

Discomfort can look like effort, awkwardness, uncertainty, vulnerability, boredom, conflict, rejection, or the deeply rude experience of doing something before you feel ready.

Avoidance gives you relief in the moment. For about five cute little minutes.

Then it usually comes with stress, resentment, missed opportunities, unfinished goals, and the frustration of knowing you keep letting yourself off the hook. Making a change is actual work. Not because you’re weak. Because change asks you to interrupt patterns you’ve spent your whole life building.

Rude? Yes.

True? Also yes.

Your brain likes familiar patterns because familiar feels efficient and safe. Even when the pattern is not helping you, your brain recognizes it. New action takes more energy. New action creates uncertainty. And uncertainty feels exhausting. It is not easy, and it is not for those who passively pursue their goals. You do not casually wander into change. You choose it on purpose.

If it were easy, everyone would do it, and you’d be doing it already.

But you’re not… respectfully, of course.

Discomfort is the edge of doing the thing you already know you need to do.

So when you find yourself at a crossroads between your good goals and the discomfort that you must endure to accomplish them, what are you going to choose?

Subscribe for free to join a 2-week challenge for the thing you know you need to do but keep avoiding because it feels uncomfortable.

Lean in.