Rule #2: Prefer hard actions

Rule 2: Prefer action over inaction and hard things over easy things

When making a decision, inaction is the default. And people rarely change the default. Inaction is easy, comfortable, and risk-free. Action means taking responsibility and exerting energy.

There are good reasons to do nothing. But our minds are overly and heavily biased towards inaction and easy paths. We fear, irrationally, taking a leap or speaking up.

And choosing inaction is a surreptitious pain because we never know what would have happened if we just took the leap. We will never understand the consequences of an action that never happened. And so it is hard to compare and hard to regret.

Action leaves us with knowledge and skills we can use for the rest of our lives. Action expands our comfort zones which makes us more capable people. Few people chose difficult paths leaving little competition along the route. Being able and willing to do difficult things produces rarer and so more valuable knowledge and skills. Nothing, though, tends to produce more nothing.

So even considering action over inaction and something difficult over something easy is notable. Despite all our heavy bias not to, if you still would consider doing something difficult, then you should. The cost is probably overestimated, but the benefits could be real. Just take the leap.