The opposite of hard work isn't easy, it's soft
On effort, ambition and meaning.
I used to be categorically obsessed with hard work.
It was my mantra. My identity. The means and the end.
Perhaps it stemmed from a desire to prove I was worthy or a deep need for recognition, but all I cared about was being perceived by my boss and colleagues as someone who, above all else, was trusted to get it done. It didn’t matter what ‘it’ was. An email, a deck, staying up until all hours of the night to turn around a last minute request…I’d do it without complaint. Fully, dutifully and proudly.
This insane work ethic served me for a while. It helped me pivot industries, get promotions and even served as a foundation to start my first business. But somewhere along the line, things turned. I began working hard for the sake of working hard. Blindly putting in effort without questioning why. I stopped asking myself the important questions:
Does this bring me joy?
Are the sacrifices worth it?
What’s the opportunity cost?
What (or who) am I even doing this for?
I failed to understand a simple idea: that what I work on is more important than how hard I work. That effort has infinitely more value when it’s channeled towards something I love.
These days, I can tell the difference between hard work for hard work’s sake, and hard work for a cause. Between blind ambition and ambition with direction. You’d think this realisation would slow me down but ironically I’ve never worked more and I’ve never tried harder (go figure). But there’s one notable difference in how I move through the world: the hard work doesn’t feel hard anymore. It feels soft. Light. Like walking on a cloud.
This is what I now know to be true: the opposite of hard work isn’t easy, it’s soft.
Soft work is working hard towards your destiny despite every obstacle in the way. It’s not knowing how, but knowing that you will. It’s being at peace with the sacrifices because they’re creating space for something new. Soft work is the comfort of knowing that your discomfort has a purpose, a reason, a function. It’s the elegant irony of working harder than you ever have, in flow like you’ve never felt.
Soft work isn’t easy, but there is ease. It takes huge effort, but can feel effortless. In softness you don’t break, you bend. The failures don’t shatter you because there’s a cushion beneath your fall.
It’s not being pushed.
It’s being pulled.
It’s being called.
When you stumble across soft work, you’ll know.
3 little questions that might be confronting, but also, I think you’ll appreciate the prompt 👀
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The what > how lesson is such an impactful one to go through!
Love this; all about soft work these days!