Easy Choices, Hard Life. Hard Choices, Easy Life.

Are you stuck in a loop of feeling unfulfilled but unsure how to break free? In this episode, we explore the tension between hard choices and easy decisions, delving into how these choices shape our lives. The discussion emphasizes the importance of accountability and self-honesty in decision-making.

• Hard choices lead to long-term growth and fulfillment 
• Easy choices create immediate comfort but lead to future struggles 
• Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire our brains for tougher decisions 

This episode isn't just about choice; it's about empowerment and taking responsibility for your happiness. If this episode hit home for you, be sure to share it with someone who needs it. 

Chapters

• 1:02 Exploring Tough Decisions
• 38:35 The Impact of Easy Choices
• 10:29:34 Embracing Hard Choices for Growth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

Hello and welcome to the Cameo Show. I'm your host, cameo. Today we are cutting through the noise and we're getting real about the decisions that shape our lives. I want to dig into one of my favorite adages hard choices as I feel resistance in my own life, as well as raising two teens and attempting to help them learn how to make choices that are in alignment with who they are or who they want to become. This idea is simple but super powerful. Decisions that are tough in the moment often lead to a better life, while the choices that are easy or easier tend to create struggle in the long run. And if you're not sure which path you're on, just take a look around.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Hard choices require discipline, dedication, discomfort and sometimes sacrifice. They force us to grow and they don't always feel good. In fact, they're sometimes the choices that we just do not want to make. We hold our ground, sometimes as long as we can to shy away from these uncomfortable decisions. Things like saying no to instant gratification, so skipping happy hour to make sure that you can wake up for that morning workout, or turning down a quick fix diet trend to stay on the path of nutritional wellness and wellbeing for long-term health. Other things like having uncomfortable conversations, whether it's setting boundaries with people that you're in relationships with family members, children or telling the truth when it's easy to stay quiet, or sometimes stay quiet when you really want to express your opinion. It can also look like leaving a job that drains you, even though it provides a steady paycheck, or walking away from habits or people who no longer serve you and are no longer in alignment with where you are. Maybe you've just grown in different directions, and that can be extremely painful. So being able to do that, even when it's painful, these choices suck in the moment. There's no sugarcoating it. I'm not trying to act like it's not a big deal. It's huge and it's very difficult. They're heavy choices, but making them means that you're choosing short-term discomfort for long-term ease. Now think about the people around you, the ones who seem grounded, confident, free. It's easy to look at them from the outside and think they've got lucky, or maybe they had it handed to them, but the chances are they didn't just stumble into that. They made tough choices along the way, choices that lots of people avoid, choices that can be painful, not can be. They usually are choices that are painful and require patience and persistence, require you to keep your blinders up and focused on further down the road than right now, in this moment, than right now, in this moment.

Speaker 1: 3:53

Now we'll flip over to the easy choices that make life harder, the ones that feel good right now and help you avoid that uneasy, difficult moment, but lead to struggle later that lead to, maybe, a repeat destination that you keep going back to by making the same choice over and over and over again because it's easy. But you find yourself questioning why am I here again? I don't want to be here, choosing seemingly small things like hitting the snooze button instead of going to the gym, over and over and over again until you're frustrated with your body or your energy levels or your overall health is suffering. Or avoiding conflict to keep the peace, resulting in resentment that just bubbles and bubbles and bubbles and ruins your relationships. Or staying in a job that you hate because change is scary, the unknown is scary. So you wake up miserable every day after sometimes going to bed feeling physically ill or using food or alcohol or drugs or some other coping mechanism to numb your emotions rather than work through them and address them head on. And if you look around, you'll see these patterns in others too, people who constantly feel stuck, overwhelmed, victimized, unfulfilled, unlucky. Sometimes they've just made easy choices for too long.

Speaker 1: 5:29

And I say that with no judgment, because we all do it at times. We all take the path of least resistance. It's a constant battle to show up in the moment and make a harder choice to see the bigger picture. But at some point we have to get real with ourselves. We have to take responsibility for the choices we make, because no one is coming to make them for us. Here's the good news You're not stuck, because your brain is constantly rewiring itself about what you do and what you think. This is called neuroplasticity your brain's ability to form new connections and habits over time, different synapses. So if you've spent years making easy choices, your brain is wired for comfort. But, just like training any other muscle, you can rewire it to choose the harder, better path.

Speaker 1: 6:16

The more you push through discomfort, the more you expose yourself to uncomfortable situations, the more your brain adapts. You don't have to just take my word for it that these experiences become easier. It's literally science and I know you've all experienced that too. That first workout brutal, but after a month of consistency it's routine. The first awkward conversation, uncomfortable AF If people still say that. You shake, you get breathy, you're nervous, you stutter. But the more you do it, the more confident you become in your ability to speak up. The first time you say no to something that you've done your whole life, the first time you feel like you have to explain why you're saying no against the grain, against the norm scary as hell. But it gets easier over time. Your brain learns what you teach it.

Speaker 1: 7:21

The more you practice making hard choices, the more natural they become. And I got to be honest sometimes they're so challenging that it's almost like a personal mission to be strong enough to take it head on. And in my experience, sometimes the gap between the decision I'm faced with and making the hard choice is, like, really small, because I've practiced and I'm not perfect, but I'm definitely better at it now than I was five years ago, ten years ago, six months ago. Sheesh, it's constant.

Speaker 1: 8:01

So how do you start making hard choices when everything in you wants to take the easy route? Well, you're going to have to get honest with yourself, and that's the hard truth. You're going to have to ask yourself what does my future self need from me today? What choices will they be thankful for. What different choices do I need to make right now that are hard but will lead me down a different path toward where I want to go, versus down the same path that, though it may be comfortable and familiar, is going to give me the same result? The same loop.

Speaker 1: 8:40

And start small. Pick one hard choice and commit to it. Maybe it's a hard conversation you've been avoiding. Maybe it's putting on your tennis shoes and going out for a walk every day. Maybe it's drinking water instead of diet soda. Start small. There's a ripple effect to the confidence that you build when you tackle something hard. Even if it's small, even if it's seemingly inconsequential, it impacts the next decision and the next decision and the next decision. And embrace it, because if you keep reminding yourself that this hard choice makes things easier, later you will continue to grow and look at the people you admire, not with jealousy, not with the assumption that life just worked out for them, but with curiosity. What choices did they make that you've been avoiding? Not comparison, curiosity, don't get it twisted. They're very different things and, above all, take full ownership.

Speaker 1: 9:36

This part stings, it sucks. Sometimes it comes with like what feels like a punch to the gut that you gave yourself, but it's very empowering. No one's responsible for your happiness, your fulfillment, your success just you. And that means no more waiting, no more blaming, no more excuses, just making the next right choice and sometimes that right choice is different than what feels right in the moment and remembering that every choice you make is a vote for the kind of life you want to live. The hard choices they're not fun, they stretch you, they're painful, but they also set you up for a life of confidence, freedom and ease, a life you truly love. It is possible. The easy choices they keep you comfortable, they avoid that icky feeling in the moment of facing them. They also keep you stuck Stuck where you are, stuck in a loop, and you don't have to be there.

Speaker 1: 10:51

So I challenge you, as I often do when I'm on a podcast, solo, speaking directly to you look around, look within and ask yourself what's one choice you've been avoiding and make it. Know that it's going to be hard and it's going to suck. It's probably going to suck really bad. It just does at first, no matter what it is big or small, you alone or involving other people, but do it anyway. Trust that your brain will adapt. Every time you do it, it's creating new pathways, and know that your future self will be grateful.

Speaker 1: 11:28

And one last thing believe that you deserve it, that you deserve it and that you can. I'm rooting for you. I've been there, I am there sometimes and I can attest that it really is true in my experience. So I'm not telling you what decisions to make. I'm just kind of providing an idea for how, and hopefully it will impact you in the same way it has me. Thanks for listening to the cameo show. There are new episodes every Wednesday. You can check us out at the cameo show podcast on Instagram or at my website, cameo Elise brauncom for more, including the links to the YouTube channel or the podcast, where you can subscribe and follow along so you don't miss a beat. If this episode hit home for you, be sure to share it with someone who needs it until next time.