Deep Work Does Not Need To Be Hard Work

Deep work does not need to feel like hard work.
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Too often we implicitly accustom ourselves to the feeling of toil. We swallow the cultural standards of effort without chewing them up and seeing if they sit well with us.
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It always surprises me how much progress I make with something simple like an Awareness Through Movement lesson. Within an hour I’ll find that I increase easy range of motion 2...3...4 times over.
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And afterwards I wonder:
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Would it be possible to see this sort of change in other areas? The love I feel in my relationships? The money I make in my business? The creativity I bring to my research?
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Why not much more progress with much less effort?
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It feels guilty a lot of the time.
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I’m well acquainted with the creeping, anxious feeling that “the other shoe is gonna drop.”
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“It can’t be this simple.”
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“It won’t last.”
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On and on.
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I just talked through this experience with a Heroic Mind client who’s feeling the same. She got back from a trip to Israel where she was dreading the inevitable tension with her mom.
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And she told me that it was the best experience she’s ever had.
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She felt a level of connection she never expected, a sense of ease, an ability to enjoy the time she had with her family. And now that she’s back, she has a teacher training filled, activities planned with her kids, and then some.
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Two weeks into the process, and she says it’s the best investment of her life...
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She’s having a good fucking time : )
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And yet a part of her was wondering, “When is the other shoe going to drop?”
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This vague dread about the future is a funny feature of our mental process.
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The same ability that gives us the ability to enjoy past memories, plan for future contingencies, and make deliberate choices also gives us the capacity for anxiety.
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And yet in many ways that’s a wonderful thing.
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It speaks to a struggle taking place within ourselves, one in which we mobilize new aspects of our being. We grow into more of ourselves by taking one courageous step at a time forward in the face of that anxiety.

When we’re receptive toward that experience, able to maintain our composure in the midst of it, holding onto our ability to choose...
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We expand our sense of self.
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Make no mistake...
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The more creative a person is, the more of this anxiety they’ll experience.
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It’s the itch of unknown possibilities.
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It’s the vulnerable, potentially exposed feeling that comes from shedding the grip of old habits.
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When you tap into that sense of ease and possibility within yourself, you’re better able to bring it to life in the world around you.
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It is deep work, but it does not need to be hard work.
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When do you think you learned that toil was the only way forward? And what do you think is possible for you if you learned another way?