The Myth of Easy Street

Easy Street is not where you finish.Easy Street is where you start.So many people don't understand this. They imagine that once you are successful at anything—work, exercise, relationships, life—that you can sit back and work less. They don't understand that simply isn't that way. The more successful you are, the harder you have to work.Easy Street is where you start.

• Doing nothing is where you start.
• Sitting around is where you start.
• Staying stuck in your same old patterns and your same old ruts is the easy part.

Change? That's hard. Difficult enough to make happen in yourself. A damn-near miracle if you can help someone else change. Lots of forces of the universe need to be lined up for that one.But you know what? It happens. Every single day. In thousands of places around the world. Somewhere, right now, somebody is deciding "Enough!" and they're making a change. Maybe it will stick, maybe it won't, but at least they're deciding to get off Easy Street and they're hoofing it on "Holy Heck This Is Hard Boulevard." And there's something really cool about that.So, if you're on cruise control anywhere in your life today, if you're intentionally or unintentionally driving on Easy Street—in the gym, in your eating, in your relationships, in your business—take control of the gas pedal. Stomp that accelerator and leave some rubber on the road.Screw Easy Street. It’s haunted by the ghosts of dreams not backed by action. It resonates with the sighs of “I could have been” and “If only ...” Easy Street is a sad and lonely echo chamber.Take the turn up ahead for The Hard Road: the one with the sign that reads, “This is a land of peace, love,  justice, and no mercy.” Find the crowd and prepare to get your hands dirty. And, don’t worry, the stores are open all night.