Let the Hard be Hard and the Easy be Easy

This essay originally appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 3/13/23.

I don’t know if there’s any science to back this up, but I feel like ideas resonate with me more when I’m moving my body.

Whether it’s listening to a podcast while I’m running, an audiobook as I’m walking, or to an instructor says during a group fitness class, ideas/phrases/stories I hear just hit deeper.

It happened to me recently, when I was taking a Peloton class from one of my favorite instructors, Ally Love.

During a rigorous part of the class, Ally said, “let the hard be hard and the easy be easy.”

It’s sounds simple, but it really resonated with me at that moment.

Let the hard be hard and the easy be easy.

When she said it, she was referring to the sprint we were in. Yes, it was hard. So, let it be hard. Soon will be the recovery. Let that recovery be easy.

Let the hard be hard and easy be easy.

Even after the class, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

While I love the sentiment of it for workouts, the idea has really helped in terms of thinking about work for the past couple of weeks.

A project I was working on had a big milestone last week and I knew the two weeks leading up to it were going to be tough. The team was prepared as possible, but the fact of the matter is that it was just going to be a busy and intense two weeks. Because of the nature of my work, I’ve been in this situation before. But this time, I didn’t fight it. I let the hard be hard. I leaned into it, knowing that I was in a sprint and that there would be a recovery on the other side. I managed my expectations.

What I also love about this idea is that it made me think about what things I could “let be easy,” for the two weeks. I outsourced cleaning and grocery shopping. I made decisions in advance – from workouts to outfits – and did not think twice about it (let it be easy). For those two weeks, I found things I could “let be easy,” knowing I needed my “let it be hard” reserves for work.

Now, this mantra isn’t a pass for all hard things. Just like in the Peloton ride, the hard thing (the sprint) was contained – there was a defined end in sight (the recovery). My two weeks leading up to the milestone for my project were hard, but I knew there was a reprieve coming. Some hard things don’t have that end in sight, and I think that’s a completely different conversation (and an important one).

But for smaller-scale things in our everyday life, I do think this idea is a gamechanger, helping us to manage expectations and identify what’s hard/ what’s easy.  

Let the hard be hard and easy be easy.

What needs to be hard this week and – just as importantly – what can be easy?