Why expecting something to be difficult will make you more successful.

I have followed the former editor of Men’s Health, B.J. Gaddour, for a few years. I wanted the secrets to how he stays lean, strong, and flexible. Finally, he released his own paid site, The Daily BJ (oh yeah, he has a sense of humor too).

Aside from the fact that everything he offers has helped me get in shape, the most motivating part is the masthead. It reads:

Being fit is hard. Suck it up.

After reading that, I realized that all of the excuses I had been making were stupid and lame. Of course it’s hard. If it were easy, we’d all have six pack abs.

But, it’s not easy. However, those people who have abs are making sacrifices to get what they want. They prioritize working out and eating healthy over other things in their life.

Once I accepted that this journey wouldn’t be easy, I was able to find motivation to work around my laziness and internal struggles. I started searching for ways around my excuses to accomplish my goal.

It carried over to other parts of my life too. Because this statement applies to everything.

You want to be a successful entrepreneur? It’s hard. If you want to do it, suck it up. You may have to skip drinks on a Tuesday to do more work.

Suck it up.

You don’t have time to write that novel, because you work a full-time job?

Yes you do. Stop watching Netflix. Suck it up.

I think you get the point. It gets back to one of my favorite Gary Vaynerchuk quotes:

Credit to Gary Vaynerchuk

In his videos, Gary talks about the sacrifices he made and still makes to be successful. He talks about not spending a lot of time with his family during the week. How could he? He’s in meetings at 10 PM on a Wednesday. All because he needs to own the New York Jets.

In anything, you don’t reach the top without putting in the work.

So, if you truly want to do something, accept the fact that you will have to make sacrifices to do it. Accept that the journey won’t be easy, but decide that you’re going to push through it and beat the odds.

Making sacrifices won’t be fun, but if it matters to you, it’ll be worth it.

Otherwise, you’ll have to accept the fact that maybe your goal isn’t as important to you as you thought. This realization can be a relief. Then, you can forget about that dream and move on to something that truly matters to you. Something that you’re willing to make sacrifices to obtain.