It's hard to write a newsletter every week. The process of writing and editing and editing and editing is often painful. Each word a pulled tooth.

But it’s worth it. Though the choice to show up every week is hard, my writing, clarity of thought and quality of life continue to improve.

Week after week, I’m becoming more productive and self-disciplined. I’m making progress, honing my craft, having more meaningful conversations with the people who surround me, and better connecting with my small corner of the world, with you.

Slowly but surely, I’m building a community of people who care.

It would of course be easier to not. To care less. To give less. To do and be less. It would be easier to not have a project I cared about. But then I wouldn’t have a project I cared about.

Though it would be easier in the moment, I know over time I would come to regret making that compromise. Opting for easy moments over a lifetime of striving for meaning and purpose is not a path I want to go down.

More and more I see this pattern repeating itself in every area of my life. The idea was put most simply by legendary weightlifter Jerzy Gregorek:

Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.

It’s no surprise that he lives by these words. You don’t become a four-time world weightlifting champion by making easy choices in the gym. He chose hard over easy day after day and reaped the rewards.

But I’ve come to understand that this idea applies broadly, to almost every decision we make on a routine basis. The words echo in my ears almost every day, a constant reminder to resist the temptation of easy.

I use it during my morning commute when, instead of taking the shortcut to the subway, I take the long way. Instead of the escalator, I take the stairs. Instead of sitting on the subway, I stand. Instead of riding the elevator to the fourth floor, I hop up the stairs two by two.

It might not seem like much, but I know over time, all those little bits add up. And it helps me practice choosing hard over easy. It gets me in the habit.

In my work, instead of settling for as good as last time, I push for better. Instead of being merely efficient, I strive to be effective. Instead of doing things the way they’ve always been done, I question the status quo and look for better ways.

Of course, I don’t always succeed, and sometimes it makes the work harder than it needs to be. But it’s easier to sleep at night when I know I pushed my potential, stretched my limits, grew.

I think if you look at your own life, you'll find that your days are full of these little choices between the easy way and the hard.

I'm not saying you must always choose hard. We only have so much energy, strength and will power. We all need rest and relaxation. We all have bad days.

I’m just urging you to consider what’s at stake, to consider the consequences of a lifetime of easy.

Because easy is easier than ever. Dangerously easy.

When there’s an app for everything, easy entices and enchants. When you can have almost anything you’d like dropped off at your door with just the flick of a finger, easy tempts and tantalizes. When your every whim can be fulfilled in an instant, automatically, effortlessly, easy seduces.

The problem is that easy isn’t easy forever. Easy choices, hard life.

It’s easy to pay with credit. Hard to live with debt. Easy to not floss. Hard to live with gum disease. Easy to say less than the truth. Hard to live a lie.

Easy scares me because I know it doesn’t lead to where I want to go. I know if I make too many easy choices, I won’t live up to my potential, won’t have the impact I want to make, won’t become the person I know I can be.

The even scarier part is that I know the choice is mine and mine alone. I know no one else is going to make the hard choices for me. And I know how easy it is to lose sight of the stakes. To be enticed and enchanted. Tempted and tantalized. Seduced by easy.

So instead, I repeat hard choices, easy life, easy choices, hard life, over and over again. And then choose hard over easy as often as I can.

Instead of hitting snooze, seize the day. Instead of sitting, stand. Instead of spending, save.

Instead of craving more, learn to do with less. Instead of overindulging, show restraint. Instead of chasing tomorrow, feel grateful for today.

Instead of avoiding uncomfortable conversations, speak your mind. Instead of assuming you're right, ask if you're wrong. Instead of avoiding failure, embrace the process.

Instead of rushing, slow down. Instead of getting angry, remain calm. Instead of becoming complacent, make change.

Instead of selling yourself short, invest in your future. Instead of regretting a life of less, pursue a life of purpose. Instead of asking if it will be easy, ask if it will be worth it.

Because it will.

Steele