One Simple Rule For Acing Life

If I could tell my future children just one thing, this would be it.

I didn’t know it then, but at 17 years old I watched one video that would change my life forever. The video was titled “ One simple rule for acing life.”

With a clickbait title like that, how could I not watch it?

I was eating my breakfast when I found the video and was running late for school. I was so captivated by the video that I downloaded it illegally ( sorry mom) so that I can save it on my phone and watch it on the bus.

The video is nearly an hour long and is well worth the watch, but for those who don’t have the time to watch it here’s the rule :

“ In every situation, do that which is most emotionally difficult. “

If you take a moment to think about it, most people, myself included, do the exact opposite of this, we do that which is most emotionally easy, comfortable and convenient.

You might think that living in this manner would produce the best possible life.

Counterintuitively, though, when one lives a life centred around ease, their life, paradoxically, becomes quite difficult.

For instance, doing that which is most emotionally easy would mean that you spend the vast majority of your meals eating junk food, that you watch television instead of exercising, that you abuse drugs and alcohol on a regular basis, that you shy away from asking out that person you like, that you scroll away on Facebook instead of doing your homework, that you rack up absurd amounts of debt to pay for things you don’t need, that you do the bare minimum to not get fired at your job, that you are too scared to negotiate your salary with your boss, and that you are emotionally impatient, reactive and impulsive towards your loved ones.

This, clearly, is no recipe for a good life.

All of this is what your emotional, primitive mind wants you to do. It wants to be comfortable. It wants to do that which is easiest, that which requires the least amount of willpower. But in order to live a good life you must have power over your mind, and decide to do the very opposite, that which is most emotionally difficult.

This means that you eat the apple instead of the doughnut, that you work out when you don’t feel like it, that you muster up the courage to ask that girl or boy out, and that you educate yourself instead of watching hours of television each day, that you study hard instead of spending countless hours on social media, that you save some money and that you spend the rest wisely and with intention, that you work as hard at your job as you possibly can, that you shoulder as much responsibility as you can handle, that you negotiate for a raise, that you are patient and let others do most of the talking, that you listen to those perspectives that differ from your own, and that you treat others with love and kindness even though they may not reciprocate.

Think about what a life one would have if they did all of these things. They’d be fulfilled and happy beyond measure. They’d be fully content knowing damn well they’re living up to their full potential.

There's one problem, and that is that it is unbelievably hard to live this way. You are, in every situation, going against your very own default emotions and impulses. You are, in essence, constantly battling with yourself.

However, if you’re willing to voluntarily face all those weak parts of yourself and destroy them, a life well lived awaits you.

This is the road less travelled, and it will make all the difference.

If you do what’s easy, your life will be hard. If you do what is hard your life will be easy.