Stop telling yourself that life has an easy level

Some things might be easier for others, but they still have difficulties that you can’t see

Photo by Kristaps Ungurs on Unsplash

I used to think that there was a magic level where people started getting things handed to them, and life became easy. It’s an excuse I’ve used countless times: this thing that is hard for me is easy for that person, because they can hire people to do it/have an assistant/get that thing for free.

And then, I won the career lottery and jumped ahead a few levels. I wrote my first book in obscurity, and my second book with Chip Heath, the coauthor of 4 New York Times bestsellers (you may have heard of Made to Stick or Switch).

I learned a hard truth: the easy level does not exist. Instead, there are just new challenges.

• “They probably have someone to do their social media.” Maybe! But hiring and managing people is a time-intensive task. When you make enough money to outsource them, you still have to find someone they entrust with content and passwords (!). You’re still entirely responsible for the content.
• “They know people; they have connections.” There is no magic grab bag of contacts you get for reaching a certain level, and connections only get you so far.
• “He’s a professional…