Doing Difficult Things
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Doing Difficult Things
I have a heuristic that seems to (roughly) align with the data we have available on such things that says, in essence, the more you lean into difficult things, the more capable you are of both leaning into and accomplishing difficult things in the future.
That accomplishment is determined in large part by one's ability to consistently and habitually apply oneself to difficult things, but it's also the consequence of honing one's craft in more frictionful (and thus, learning-encouraging) contexts, and of becoming more confident in one's ability to achieve agreeable outcomes (which in turn makes it more likely one will stick around until a suitable end-goal has been achieved, rather than quitting when things get rough).
Here's an article on how our brains might actually be wired to pursue this sort of path, even if we might train ourselves (or become trained) to opt for simpler paths throughout our lives, building habits around avoiding difficulty: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/09/29/train-brain-for-hard-things/
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