Low-hanging fruit is still delicious

Which is easier, cross-country skiing or alpine skiing? (Image by Jörg Vieli)

This American Life, the long-running public radio show, had a great piece about people who didn’t realize until adulthood that they believed something that wasn’t true.

One woman, having seen “X-ING” signs on crosswalks, thought “x-ing” was a word, pronounced “zing.”

Another didn’t know that you could have variety in your meals — her family had chicken every single night.

We all have beliefs and conventions that we consider normal and correct, and we will defend them if challenged. However, it makes sense to evaluate whether our ways are still working for us.

I have been surprised to discover that my basic philosophy of building on what’s working is not shared by everyone — in fact, it is actively resisted.

“I need to know the areas where I’m weakest so I can improve.”

“Nothing worth doing ever comes easy.”

“I know I don’t really understand this, but f I take too much time reviewing, I’ll never move forward.”

“My parents told me to always do my best.”

I have come to understand that these messages come from a very different culture and upbringing than my own. I can’t recall a single time when I was told to do my best. I was the oldest of four, and I’m Gen X. It was a slow place in a slow time. Nobody cared what I did. I had no pressure on me besides that which I placed on myself. I didn’t know at the time that that’s not how everyone else lived.

I’m not saying that my way is better — it depends what kind of life you want. However, I appreciate that no one else’s voice is in my head. There is no one else to tell me that I’m not trying hard enough or doing enough.

There are times for earnest striving. There are times to push yourself and make great sacrifices in order to achieve great things. But you don’t need to do your best all the time. It’s perfectly acceptable to do things that are easy and comfortable — to seek obvious or quick wins. The apples at eye level aren’t necessarily less desirable than the ones at the top of the tree. Save your strength for when it makes a difference, and grab the apples that are right in front of you.

I may be describing a life that is terrifyingly ordinary. Honestly, that’s probably a better recipe for happiness and joy than one filled with great success. Just study the career of any rock star for proof of this. But even if you want fame and fortune, wouldn’t it be more fun to go after it with confidence and aplomb, as opposed to a desperate attempt to prove your worth?

When you don’t have a constant, nagging voice telling you that you’re not good enough and you need to try harder and do more, it’s easier to do bold and difficult things. And this ease means we’re on the right track — it doesn’t mean that we have to push even harder. We have then created that magical virtuous cycle, where we get increasingly impressive results with less effort.

Humans naturally seek growth and challenge. I believe that we can trust our natural drive to succeed without constantly pushing ourselves to go faster, do more, and stretch beyond our capability. We will still advance. We will still have a satisfying life, and arguably a much sweeter one.