By: Nick Niedzwiecki
We live in the most convenient time in human history. We can have food delivered without leaving the couch, order groceries from our phones, and work, shop, communicate, and entertain ourselves without ever leaving the house. If we don’t know something, we can find the answer in seconds. If something takes too long, there is probably an app promising to make it faster.
Most of that is great. Convenience saves us time and makes many parts of life easier. But I think there is a hidden cost to all of it: we are becoming less willing to do difficult things.
Human beings naturally look for the path of least resistance. Given two options, we tend to choose the easier one. The problem is that the easier option rarely leads us toward the person we actually want to become. Getting stronger isn’t convenient. Losing weight isn’t convenient. Learning a new skill isn’t convenient. Building a business, improving a marriage, raising a family, changing your habits, or becoming better at anything requires effort and discomfort.
Almost everything worthwhile asks something of us.
That’s why I think we need to intentionally put difficult things back into our lives. Think about the last time you chose to do something simply because you knew it would challenge you. When was the last time you tried something you weren’t sure you could do? When was the last time you allowed yourself to be a beginner—to struggle, fail, learn, and try again?
Those experiences are becoming easier to avoid. We can fill our lives with conveniences that protect us from frustration, uncertainty, and discomfort. But when we avoid every difficult experience, we also avoid many of the opportunities that help us grow.
We can see this clearly with exercise. There are endless products promising easier workouts, faster results, shortcuts, hacks, and ways to get fit without being uncomfortable. But your body doesn’t work that way. If you want to become stronger, at some point you have to lift something that feels heavy. If you want better endurance, at some point you have to breathe hard. If you want to become more capable, you have to attempt things that are currently outside your capabilities.
The resistance is the point.
And I don’t think that lesson stops when the workout ends. One of my favorite things about CrossFit is watching people willingly choose something difficult. Every day at CrossFit Athens, regular people walk through the door knowing that sometime during the next hour they’re probably going to be uncomfortable. They could choose something easier. Instead, they show up.
They attempt movements they’ve never done and lift weights that once intimidated them. They struggle through workouts, and sometimes they fail. Then they come back and try again. Over time, something interesting happens: the difficult thing becomes easier. Then they choose something difficult again.
That’s growth.
We should be careful about creating lives where everything is easy. Convenience can save us time, but discomfort develops us. It teaches us patience, builds confidence, and reminds us that we are capable of more than we initially believed.
So use the grocery delivery. Order something from your phone. Enjoy the air conditioning. There is nothing wrong with making life more convenient. But don’t eliminate struggle from your life entirely. Find something difficult and voluntarily walk toward it.
The easiest path might make today more comfortable. It probably won’t make tomorrow’s version of you better.
Coach Nick Niedzwiecki
Owner
CrossFit Athens
www.CrossFitAthens.com
