The following is a modified excerpt from my new book
Choose Hard, Live Easy – The Art of War for Decision-Making
(Download Previews) (Buy on Amazon)
(DEFCON: How Good/Bad Are Your Decisions?)
I’ve been dealing with this decision-making BS for 20 years.
Every day on my forum, I get a front-row seat to a special kind of madness.
“I can’t succeed!”
“I keep failing and can’t earn passive income!”
“I give up on entrepreneurship!”
And then these failed entrepreneurs reveal everything they’ve “tried” and failed at.
- 👉 Crypto.
- 👉 Stock trading.
- 👉 Forex.
- 👉 Dropshipping.
- 👉 SMMA.
- 👉 Import some China-junk and sell on Amazon (competing with 100 other sellers selling the same junk).
- 👉 Some guru “step by step” program they paid $5000 for.
LOL.
Sadly, these entrepreneurs are clinically possessed by the Hard/Easy Paradox. As such, their failures are not only predictable, but likely to continue until they eradicate the curse.
You see, working hard to avoid Hard is not the same as choosing Hard.
It’s the plight of Modern Decision-Making as I highlighted in Choose Hard, Live Easy.
No doubt, these “entrepreneurs” worked hard. But they didn’t work hard on what matters. They worked hard hunting shortcuts, silver bullets, and step-by-step hacks. They worked hard searching for Easy.
Nowhere does this show its face more than the phrase “passive income,” which attracts the Easy-seeking junkies more than maggots to rotting meat. Building a real passive income empire is anything but passive. It’s freaking HARD, and its the reality gurus don’t want you to know.
I’ve watched this movie on repeat for 20 years, and it’s the same with everything in life, not just entrepreneurship.
Picture the dude who wants to lose weight. He’ll scour the internet for a fat-burning miracle pill, or the “as seen on TikTok” gadget that zaps belly fat while he’s couch-locked. Or, he’ll search for some stupid fad diet that doesn’t involve the sacrifices he refuses to make.
Hard never enters the frame, because Easy is running the show. And surprise! He’s still overweight, and the only thing that is running is his wallet chasing the illusions of Easy.
Again, working hard to avoid Hard is not the same as choosing Hard.
These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.
The Hard choice is the silver bullet you’ve been hunting the whole time. Daily exercise. Dense food. Disciplined eating. Discipline over “when I feel like it”. It’s slow and not fun, but it freaking works.
But Easy is what sells, so the marketplace floods with regret, lost parlays, and broken promises from influencers with affiliate links and $5000 coaching workshops.
Brian Tracy once said the bottom 80% are lazy, always looking for shortcuts that don’t exist. I disagree on exactly one word. They’re not lazy. They’re doped up on Easy. The Paradox quietly siphons their effort while the sweat remains.
I know, because I was one of them. Tom Vu, Carlton Sheets, Don Lapre, all beneficiaries of my quest for Easy.
Imagine being tasked with pedaling a tricycle across the country. You’re guaranteed to fail. And suffer. And yet, is the solution to pedal harder? Is the solution new shoes? Slick Nike Pro gear? None of it. The fix is getting your ass off the plastic toy and onto a machine that works.
That machine is Hard.
Real businesses, real value, real skew–not some passive income fantasy that you think will become real simply because you pressed “Buy” at Robinhood. Gee, aren’t you smart?
The problem these failed entrepreneurs suffer from was never that they didn’t pedal hard enough. The problem is the vehicle they hitched on to, funded by Easy. Giving an Olympic effort on a toddler’s trike won’t win you any races.
And here’s what’s even worse: Your culture wants you on that tricycle. A person doped up on Easy is easy to sell to, easy to distract, easy to steer and manipulate. Friction, the ordinary resistance that hones strength, has been rebranded as the enemy, so you’ll keep reaching for something soft and comforting to buy.
If you’re struggling, cut yourself some slack. It isn’t entirely your fault. Easy runs the show, and the Paradox finishes the job, where you end up at my forum complaining that your “Crypto Drop-shipping Fidget Spinner” didn’t make you any money.
Deep down, you know Hard is the answer, and it’s the only thing that gives you a chance. Hard doesn’t issue guarantees, but it puts you on the pitch and near the goal.
Get off the damn tricycle.
Choose Hard and embrace it. And one day, may you Live Easy.
MJ DeMarco, Author/Entrepreneur