This is Hard! But Are You Sure?

Do you find yourself droning the lament “this is hard” about several things in your life? Like the slow whine of some oddly strange and out-of-tune stringed instrument, this lament vibrates and swells in the background of our days, magically sapping little bits of energy with every groaning tone.

I relate. I caught my “this is hard” lament this morning.

I was complaining about bookkeeping and redoing bank logins and API integrations when a dear friend looked up at me mid-whine and said quite pointedly, “Operations are easy. You are dealing with mostly predictable outcomes that can be implemented for a time and then changed later for scaling, etc. If you want to talk ‘hard,’ sales and marketing are hard. They have infinite outcomes and infinite possibilities. Finding out what works there – now that is hard.”

It stopped me in my tracks.

I paused. What if all the “hard” stuff I complain about is easy?

As I said this to myself, I felt my gut and heart lighten and lift, a telltale sign from my intuition that the answer was yes. I was finally telling the truth and wasn’t lying to myself anymore. It was easy work. I just wasn’t “energized” by it. No biggie.

Suddenly, I realized that I had been using “Lazy Labels.”

What is a Lazy Label? It’s a label we use that has not been reflected on, investigated or given due diligence to ensure it is accurate, appropriate, and true for us. Lazy Labels are usually found in prompts – some of which look like these:

Labels are powerful, needed, and effective when you put thought, diligence, and reasoning into using them. In our busy lives today, however, many people – myself included – will slap a label on something and not realize that it can be inaccurate and even damaging.

What happens to us internally when we use a Lazy Label?

When you use a Lazy Label, you risk lying to yourself. And when we lie to ourselves, our bodies feel heavy, drained, and lower on energy. Lies take a lot of energy to maintain.

When I carelessly used the “hard” label, I was lying to myself. This Lazy Label, or in my case, “lie,” felt like I had added 50 extra pounds of bricks on top of the task itself. No wonder I procrastinated, whined, and took forever to finish these things.

So, I reflected.

Instead of using my Lazy Label, “This is hard,” I tried calling these tasks “easy.” That felt more like the truth in my body. It felt even better when I acknowledged and without worry that these ops tasks didn’t give off the energy I enjoyed compared to other tasks – and that was totally OK.

Once I stopped the lie, I noticed that the smart parts of my brain – which were no longer heaving under 50 extra pounds of bricks – began to not only direct me through these tasks with more ease, but ideas popped into my head around automation and delegating. Whoo hoo!

Simply put, I felt better, so I could do better.

The next time life feels heavy with complaints and Lazy Labels, inquire! Reflect and try asking yourself a question (fill in the blanks) such as:

“What if what I’m complaining about or calling [x] is actually [y]?

And then notice if you feel a little better when you turn your label into another one closer to your truth.

Experiment and see what happens. Remember, unquestioned thoughts and labels can do damage and make terrible lamenting music. So, pause, take a chance on a new tune closer to your truth, and let the lovely melody of authenticity guide your way.