What would you define as "hard"? 🤔
I mean "hard" in a practical sense, the kind of "hard" that stops you from achieving.
Don't rush to an answer, it has more depth that you may think 👇
Start, and keep going
Here is a definition:
Hard: A task whose required effort exceeds your current ability, habits, or tolerance, forcing you to adapt over time to close the gap.
From this perspective, “hard” boil down to 1 friction point: Getting started.
Think about this. No single activity is that "hard" in practice. Start and continue are the problem (and solution).
Just start
Friction in physics pushes against an object as it moves forward. And it pushes with more force when the object is still:
Static friction is typically higher than kinetic friction.
More force is required to start moving a stationary object than to keep it moving.
That's the same for most tasks. The energy/motivation to get started is the main bottleneck.
Not getting started only at the very beginning, but every day. It's a battle in starting every study/work session.
Consistency is getting started, every day
Every skill is impressive only long-term (by definition).
If a skill takes no time to learn, then anyone could do it, making it common and therefore not impressive.
Furthermore, any impressive skill is mostly the result of long-term repetition of the same set of tasks. In one word: Consistency.
But what is consistency really?
Consistency: getting started repeatedly.
Take care of getting started and keep going, and the skill equation boils down to time ⏱️
How about other factors like emotion, inherit complexity, and such? 👇
Emotional load
Fears, identity clashes, imposter syndrome.
These all show up as resistance to starting, every single session 🫠
Doubt creeps in before starting each working session. Doubt in the form of fear, uncertainty, tiredness. It's all a force against getting started.
Overcome the friction of starting, every day, and mastery boils down again to time.
Complexity is time
Complex skills/projects are the result of consistent effort.
Every programmer, painter, actor, they all learned to stack a set of simple moves in a cohesive pattern. No single move is "hard", it's their combination.
Therefore, the inherit complexity of a skill matters only in the total time it takes to learn it.
Complexity only increases the total time required to mastery, not the nature of "hard" and getting started ⏱️
Measure
Since "hard" is subjective, you must measure skill acquisition. Otherwise you fall into a tautology loop.
Example: “I’m getting better at public speaking.”
- A. “How do you know?”
- B. “Because it feels easier now.”
- A. “Why does it feel easier?”
- B. “Because I’m better at it.”
You see? 👀
This is pure circular reasoning. “Better” is being defined by “feels easier”, which is defined by “better”. There’s no anchor outside the feeling.
A better example:
- A. “How do you know?”
- B. “Because last month I could only speak for 3 minutes before stumbling, and now I can go 7 minutes without losing my place.”
Now “better” is anchored to an observable performance metric (time before stumbling). Even if the feeling disappears, the measurement stands.
If you want to guarantee success:
- Get started every day (no matter any friction and justification)
- Define and measure an objective metric for improvement
Why does this all matter in your day to day?
It reduces the problem of learning to one variable: start.
"Start" every day, and any skill is yours (with time).
See you next 👋