Is Your Life Easy?



Is your life a struggle and difficult or does it flow easily?

I propose to you that life is not about difficult and hard. Unfortunately, some of us choose to make it that way through our belief system.

The Western cultural norm of "everything has to be hard or achieved through struggle" does not have to be so. Who established the expectation that the value of life is reflected by the level of difficultly you experience while going through it? I want to suggest that we have, in many cases, been misled by this belief.

Easy does not mean being lazy or without any effort, but easy involves accomplishment without struggle. Until we relinquish the belief that "Life is Hard," we intentionally or unintentionally promote and live a difficult life bogged down in drama.

I'm not inferring we don't have hard times. But if a person's life is always a struggle -- the problems never cease, and the fun and enjoyment never come -- what is that saying about that individual's belief system?

A person close to me bases his self-worth on the level of struggle he goes through; having an easy life would mean he has no value -- that he has not earned success through pain and suffering.

Think about it! Have you ever been part of a conversation where someone stated that another of those present has an easy life, then the "easy life" person got defensive, insisting his or her life is not as easy as it appears? He/she may even have offered reasons.

Why does our society discredit easy when, in fact, that should be our objective and not the exception?

Easy or at least easier should apply to all areas of our lives including relationships, work/career, money, fitness, business, hobbies, interests, etc. In my work on Personal Purpose, the individuals who are most on purpose do not see life as difficult; they are energized by the prospect of having another day to do what they love.

When Tom Cruise was being interviewed about his movie The Last Samurai, the host asked him why he chose to work on this movie for free. His answer: "I am in the unique position not to need the money and to be able to do those projects that I enjoy and choose." His choice was around his purpose, not money; he wanted his life to reflect his passions which are easier than obligations.

Let me offer a personal example of easy. I grew up in a family that embraced hardship, struggle, and difficulty as a philosophy of life. I admit I have carried forward some of these beliefs into my adult life. Recently, in examining the potential for a Joint Venture Partnership with a specific individual and company, I saw that everything seemed to be a struggle. The negotiation from the other party was win/lose and it was difficult to get answers from him.

I decided it did not have to be that way and stopped accepting his struggle approach to doing business. We ceased negotiations. Immediately, three other potential partners -- who were EASY to deal with -- linked up with my company.

I believe that our Perfect Customers are easy to deal with; when I shifted to believe that 100%, the difficult JV partner was replaced by the three easy alternatives.

Henry Ford's quote: "If you think you can or you think you can't -- you're right" fits the easy philosophy.

When we accept that struggle is the norm, we forget our vision, dreams, and goals. That's counterproductive.

I encourage you to look at all the areas where you are struggling and ask yourself how can make them easy or at least easier.

1. In what areas of your life are you constantly struggling? Write them down.

2. Rate your level of struggle for each area you identified in your life -- make sure you include family, social, business, financial, spiritual, and physical. Use a scale of 1 to 10 -- 1 being very easy.

3. What is your belief system about struggle? How is this affecting your outcomes?

4. List what you do want, not what you don't.

5. In each of those areas, list all the possible approaches that would make your life easy or at least easier.

6. Avoid individuals who want you to be as miserable as they are. To be successful in making things easy, you must be around easy people.

7. Challenge any feelings of guilt that might come along with the idea of having an easy life.

8. Martial art instructors teach their students to redirect their opponent's energy to achieve victory. Don't fight struggle; redirect it toward your easier lifestyle.

9. Envision the easy life where relationships, success, and career just fall into place without struggle. Isn't that feeling worth considering -- through a new, improved easy lifestyle belief system?

Until next time keep "Living on Purpose,"

Ken Keis