Everyone wants to try and do all these magnificent things with their life. 

Get in shape, start a business, become successful. 

The only problem is, the minute it gets hard, we quit. Heck, I do it too. Or used to, at least.

We quit because we don’t see any progress, or because we start to feel our brain resisting the work we know we need to put in.

So let me ask you a question…

Isn’t this what you asked for? 

You asked for discipline, and now distractions keep coming your way. 

You asked for peace, so you’re tested with chaos. 

You asked for love, so now you’re forced to stand strong on your own. 

You asked for strength, so you’re tested with hardship. 

You asked for patience, and now you’re facing delays. 

You prayed for wisdom, so you’re tested with difficult choices. 

You see, everything you’re going through is preparing you for what you asked for. And the life that you so badly want demands a price, so if you keep avoiding the down payment, you won’t get any closer to your goals than you are now. 

But I want you to understand that there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s perfectly natural that you prefer the safe and comfortable over the hard and uncertain. I like to call this the mountain.

You can climb it, or you can avoid it, but it’s not going away. There is always a mountain. There is always something in front of us that we know we should do, but it just seems so … hard.

On any given day, we can avoid the climb. All we have to do is stand at the bottom, look up, and say, “I’ll do it tomorrow”.  It’s the easiest and most comfortable thing to do, so our brain will choose this option any day of the week. The question is, will you? 

The problem with comfort is it feels safe, but it costs you. Growth feels hard and terrifying, but it pays you back.

And no matter what you do, life will be hard. Life will inevitably knock you down. But the liberating part is that you get to choose. 

Marriage is hard, but so is divorce. Being fit is hard, but so is illness. Building a business is hard, but so is working a job you hate. Showing up for yourself is hard, but so is living with regret. 

So choose your hard. Because the battles you are avoiding are the keys to becoming who you were meant to be. There’s no view without an initial climb - the obstacle is the way. And if you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.

I hope you enjoyed this read, now go make yourself proud, because you deserve nothing less.

Best regards, Niklas

owner of Project Meliora