Better or Easier?

I had a conversation the other day with someone who's been complaining about the same problem for about three years now. Same issue. Same frustration. Same excuse for why nothing's changed.

When I suggested a different approach, something that would actually move the needle, they hit me with the classic: "I know what's best for me."

Do they though?

Because if what they were doing was actually best for them, their life would be improving. Instead, it's the same story every time we speak. Different month, same problem.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most of us say we want better when what we actually want is easier.

We want the better body without the early mornings at the gym. We want the better business without the difficult conversations or the investment in proper help. We want the better relationships without doing the hard work of being honest and vulnerable.

And when someone suggests we might need to do things differently? Out come the defences. "I know what I'm doing." "This is what works for me." "I'll figure it out."

Except you haven't figured it out. Not in January. Not in June. Not last year. And probably not the year before that either.

The Problem With Easy:

Easy keeps you exactly where you are. And if where you are isn't working, easy is just slow-motion failure.

I get why we choose it. We're knackered. Overwhelmed. Stretched too thin already. The idea of adding something harder to the mix feels impossible. So we take the shortcut. We stick with what's comfortable. We convince ourselves that knowing our limitations is the same as knowing what's best.

It's not.

The Truth About Better:

Better is hard. Properly hard.

Better means doing things that feel uncomfortable, scary even. It means admitting you don't have all the answers. It means investing time, money, or energy into something with no guarantee it'll work.

I've been there. I've chosen the harder path when every part of me wanted to take the easy route. Early starts when I wanted to sleep in. Difficult conversations when staying quiet would've been simpler. Spending money on help when I convinced myself I could muddle through alone.

And here's what nobody tells you about choosing better: it doesn't stay hard forever.

When Hard Becomes Easy:

Something magical happens when you consistently choose better over easier. The hard stuff becomes your new normal.

What felt impossible six months ago becomes just what you do. The habits you had to force yourself into become automatic. The skills you struggled with become second nature.

And suddenly, life gets easier. Not because you took the easy path, but because you built the strength to handle the hard one.

The people who burn out? They're usually stuck in the cycle of choosing easy, which paradoxically makes everything harder because nothing ever improves. They're treading water, exhausted, wondering why they're not moving forward.

Choose Your Hard:

Life's hard either way.

You can have the hard of staying stuck, overwhelmed, and burnt out. Or you can have the hard of doing the work to get better.

One keeps you exactly where you are. The other leads somewhere worth going.

So if you're reading this and you've got the same problems this year as last year, maybe it's time to admit something: you don't know what's best for you. And that's okay. None of us have all the answers.

But pretending you do? That's what keeps you stuck.

Want to dive deeper into this? I've recorded a full podcast episode on choosing better over easier, why we lie to ourselves about what we actually want, and how to break the cycle of staying stuck. Listen to Podcast #357 "Better or Easier? (Spoiler: You're Lying to Yourself)" for the complete story and some practical ways to start choosing better today.

Take Care

GB