Which path should I take?

I have asked myself this question many times. I made countless analysis, asked lots of people for advice but it’s still difficult because there’s so much information floating around in my head that choosing the right path becomes overwhelming.

But there is one lesson I have realized only recently with a profound sense of truth about how to choose the right path in life:

Take the hard one.

The hard path is the one full of chaos which is where we have to make sacrifices, confront our fears often finding ourselves in a fog of uncertainty.

Sure there are variations of easy path and hard ones but when we boil it down to the fundamental truth, we often know the right path to take but we often struggle with making a decision or a choice because the path we need to take is often a grueling one fraught with obstacles, unknowns and hard work. Back breaking work. Gut wrenching courage.

Whether we’re trying to repair a fragile relationship with a loved one or move across the country or make a major career shift or start a new business, choosing the hard path is not our first choice.

Why should we purposely pursue the hard path? 

Because the hard path is often the one that we need to be on but don’t choose it because of the fear of failure.

We are afraid that we won’t make it. We are afraid of the “not have” problem…

We will not have enough money

Not enough knowledge

Not enough courage

Not enough strength

Not enough time

Not enough energy

Not enough experience

Not good enough

Not enough this or that

 

The Hard Path is Worth It

In my own life, I have walked on easy paths and hard ones. Being born poor in a village in India growing up with nothing was hard. But somehow I ended up living in America serving ice cream cones running a Dairy Queen, living in New York City working in a Fortune 50 company getting to do some awesome things, writing books that have been published in many languages when I could barely speak English when I came to this wonderful country. It has always been the hard paths coupled with a little bit of luck that have served me the best because I learned, grew and developed into the person I am today.

What I realized is that we have to do what’s hard in life because that is often what is needed.

We have to choose the hard path because that is what will mold us into the person we are meant to become.

We must choose the hard path because that is what will dramatically change the quality of our life.

We need to choose the hard path because that will alter the course of our future.

We must choose the hard path to fully appreciate and be grateful for what we have.

The hard path is where we get the most growth, meet the best people, learn things we never could imagine, feel every emotion and become a better person.

 

Click to Tweet: The right path is never the easy one. It is the one that is necessary.

 

Hard versus Easy

To have true transformation of ourselves, we must do what is hard. But it’s not that easy. It requires us to sacrifice our time, money, effort and energy.

No one ever says, “Easy work pays off” because it never does. Does it?

Hard is where we experience failure, pain, suffering, rejection and the nausea of uncertainty. Hard teaches us about others…who our friends really are. Hard teaches us about ourselves and what we’re willing to do in order to live a full life. Hard is how we learn that the best part of ourselves is often hidden deep inside ready to come out and be put to greater purpose.

Hard is the way forward.

Everything worth doing is hard.
Everything worth doing requires effort.
Everything worth becoming is hard.

Hard builds relationships, turns failure into opportunity, despair into self confidence, weak into the strong and molds us to the person we have always wanted to become.

I recognize that choosing the right path these days can be difficult because they all look hard. But the good news is that…

You can handle the hard path.

What do we really need to handle problems and obstacles on a hard path in life?

Being open and flexible with our plans

Ability to learn new things

Adapt to a changing environment

Bringing out the best in people

Working long and hard

Being humble and thoughtful

Getting up after being knocked down

Having a high sense of self-worth

Understanding that anything can be achieved through work, effort and committment

There is no perfect path nor ever an easy one.  Over time the easy paths become hard. And the hard paths become easier.

Looking for the right path to choose in life: stop overthinking it and choose the hard one because that’s the only one in front of you.

Start walking.

How to choose the right path in life  |  By Bob Miglani  |  November 2015