Taking the Hard Way

In practice, returning to a hard task in this way comes with a ‘restart’ cost: we must spend time and mental effort getting back into our task set, rather than making progress. For this reason, it is important to create time and space for hard tasks.

The hard way is about effectiveness and effort.

Effectiveness is the part to be most careful about. Walking the hard way can often be done slowly and patiently. However, the fake path will go nowhere.

If a pursuit has a deadline or steep costs, going slowly won't do...

Every year, at the very beginning, we start working on our fitness habits too hard, too quickly, in an unsustainable way, and expect instant gratification.

The instant commitment and expectation of instant gratification go together.