Hard Work: An Antidote to the False Promises of Comfort

I recently found myself in a lousy, no-good emotional slump.

This particular slump was characterized by an aversion to the sort of work I should be doing, and resulted, predictably, in me being unable to enjoy (without guilt) any of the things I normally found pleasure in.

The usual tricks to snap myself out came up short. My overly analytical brain worked itself to mental exhaustion looking for a solution to a problem that was too fuzzy to define.

Then, slowly, over several conversations with my wife, it revealed itself. My issue was that I had fallen prey to the voice in my head saying that the best life is one of ease.

Comfort & Temptation

Instead of looking for challenge and adventure, I was lured by the promises of comfort and ease. But easy is never easy enough— that is the great deception that lies at its core. As soon as something feels easy, then the next hardest thing in your life becomes like a pebble in your shoe. 

Go down this path too long, and pretty soon everything from putting away your clothes, flossing your teeth, and replying to an email seem like far too much hassle for what you’ll get back.

Most of us don’t choose comfort and ease as our guiding principles explicitly, but rather slide into this state in the search for something better. Unfortunately, they are terrible guides. Their promises are thin and quickly grow stale. But even worse, it’s a trap! Chase after comfort, and all you get is a growing sense of burden and a weariness for all the work to be done.

Work & Simplicity

In a bit of irony that was not lost on me, the very thought that snapped me out of my low motivation funk was simply deciding that I would work harder than ever. Not only would I work hard, but I would track my hours, and hold myself accountable to pushing myself harder than what would be considered a reasonable effort.

Why not shoot for an easier target and take baby steps towards my goal? The answer, I believe, is that embedded in the mindset of easily achievable goals and avoiding discomfort is a philosophy with comfort at its center.

That philosophy was what got me here in the first place by slowly making my world, my goals, and myself smaller and smaller.

On the other hand, there is something gloriously simple and appealing about a season of hard work. It tests your spirit, challenges your stamina, and builds you into something new. I want to leave you with a list of positive changes you might enjoy by embracing hard work rather than running from it. Some are obvious, but my experience tells me that we can all use a reminder from time to time to keep us from losing the way.

My List of Positives

A more controllable path to success. Research done by Angela Duckworth and published in 2007 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology isolated “grit”, which can be thought of as the ability to work long and hard toward a goal, as a powerful predictor of success across multiple domains. Other core factors include talent and IQ, but since hard work is the variable most directly under our influence, it makes sense that for most people looking to succeed, this is the lever you want to focus on.

Far greater enjoyment of leisure time. There are few things sweeter in life than a well-earned reward. When your leisure time is preceded by hard work, the pleasures of rest and novelty are heightened to the utmost degree. In fact, you may find that the harder you work, the less time and effort you’ll need to put into entertaining yourself. Life’s simple pleasures will sing louder than ever against the contrast of focused exertion.

Higher degree of self-respect and confidence. One of the main impediments to personal growth is a lack of trust in oneself. If, in the past, you failed to follow through and keep promises to yourself, it’s easy to predict that will happen again. Over time this results in a slow, but steady march toward fewer and less ambitious goals as a way to protect yourself from further disappointment. But, on the other hand, looking back upon a month or two of hard work provides an instant jolt of confidence and you begin to see yourself as someone who can show up and do the work that needs done.

Less stress as a result of greater clarity. It should go without saying that the goal of working hard isn’t merely to accomplish great feats, or to better enjoy the time away from work, but rather to find a quiet enjoyment of the work itself. How is this possible? If you’re in a slump right now it may seem rather quaint to mention an enjoyment of work, when this is likely the object of your strongest aversions. But trust me when I say there’s light on the other end of this tunnel. When you work hard towards a single goal, you begin to experience a sense of clarity and purpose that lifts your spirits and, almost like magic, pushes aside the restlessness that occupies your thoughts when you’re less busy.