A phrase I often hear is: “If it were easy everybody would do it”. You have probably heard it and even said it, I know I did. I no longer say it. Here’s why.

I disagree and I believe it doesn’t serve us. Not everyone would do it if it were easy.

It is not because something is easy that everyone will do it. I first came across this idea when reading The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson.

From what I understand this sentence is often used to imply it’s opposite, that is: “If it is hard not everybody will do it”. We say this to explain why so few people do the hard things. Many motivational speakers employ this phrase.

But we don’t say it directly. Rather we prefer to use it’s opposite, implying the direct version, without ever stopping to consider if what we are saying is even true.

If something is easy to do it is often also easy not to do, if not easier.

To be sure we’re on the same page, the definition for easy that I am using is that something is easy if it requires little effort to do.

If it is easy to clean your dish when you put it in the sink, it is also easy to leave that dish in the sink, go do something else and let the dishes accumulate.

Inaction is often easier than action. Even if that action is easy to perform. It is easy to eat an apple for a snack. But how many of us actually do it? Thus, saying that if it were easy everybody would do it, is totally false and underlines at worst a lack of thought as to what one says and a lack of understanding of human nature and at best a mere repetition of some phrase we heard somewhere without thinking about what it meant and decided to repeat it, further increasing the chance we’d hear it again.

So now, understanding the nuance, I feel an obligation to say what I mean. The power of words must not be underestimated. The ordering in a sentence, the syntax, is also important. We all know that “The dog bit Johnny” and “Johnny bit the dog” don’t mean the same thing, especially for Johnny, despite there being the same exact words in the two sentences.

Saying that if it were easy everyone would do it, though initially  intended to show the recipient of this phrase that what is hard is not done by everyone and that it takes work to achieve what is hard, ends up misleading people.

If I start believing that everyone will do something if it is easy, then when I don’t do something that is considered easy or that I find easy I will feel bad. Or inadequate. I could beat myself up over the fact that I can’t do something easy.

All this of course is non-sense because the initial proposition that generated this is incorrect. We neglect to address the fact that easy things are also easy not to do. Meaning that many people will actually prefer not to do it because it is easier not to than to do it.

 

We could benefit from keeping this in mind more often. And recognising that there are no single big moment that lead to success, but only an accumulation of little disciplines and choices. Many of which are easy to do and easy not to do. The choices you make repeatedly over time are the ones that will determine your outcome. Being aware of this is a first step to getting where you want.