Why is it so hard to do simple things?
Why do simple things feel tough?
Simple things are not always easy. "Simple" means not complex, but that doesn't automatically make it easy.
Walking is simple, but try taking 15,000 steps every day for 365 days without breaking the chain—suddenly, it becomes a Herculean task.
Buy a flower seed from the market and plant it. Try to grow and keep it alive. It looks simple but involves understanding the plant's water, light, and nutrient needs and consistently performing small, simple tasks patiently over the long term.
Pressing piano keys is simple, isn't it? A 3-year-old child and a 70-year-old person produce the same sound when they press it. How easy pianists make it look. It's not just about pressing the keys in a certain sequence, right?
Listening is simple, isn't it? But what about active listening? It requires serious focus and empathy.
Is hitting a ball simple? Is shooting the ball into the hoop simple? Learning these things regularly and persevering through small, simple steps regularly and disciplinedly suddenly becomes challenging.
So the question is, "Why are the simple things in life so deceptively difficult?"
If you don't have a clear purpose, even simple tasks become mere fantasies and never turn into action. Without a goal, we always struggle with consistency and discipline.
We constantly compare ourselves to others and seek instant gratification, which prevents us from completing even the simplest tasks.
Simple tasks are actually not easy because they require planned actions, consistency, and patience. These are factors that the brain finds difficult to sustain performance in. That is likely the reason you cannot continue simple-looking activities like drawing straight lines, playing the piano, walking, or watering plants.
To play the piano wonderfully, play soccer like Ronaldo, or make impressive presentations in public, you must have a purpose. To achieve this purpose, you should break down your goal into small, simple steps and carry them out patiently and continuously over a long period. The hard part is creating this purpose, breaking down goals into small steps, and maintaining consistency.
The reason simple things are difficult is that they require having a purpose, making decisions, taking action, and patiently standing by those decisions.
Great read!