Growth Instigators Hotline

#463 A Mirror. Easy vs Hard?

• Aaron Havens • Season 5 • Episode 463

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A windy Colorado trail, a modest five-to-ten-mile ride, and one stubborn square on a yearly bingo card—sometimes the smallest commitments teach the biggest leadership lessons. We hit record from the saddle to unpack why so many of us sprint toward hard, high-visibility goals while leaving the easy, joyful wins undone, even when they would free up energy and build trust.

I talk through the shift from traditional goal lists to a playful bingo card and why most of the boxes filled quickly—except the “fun, easy” ride from Greeley to Windsor. With winter closing in and 50–80 mph gusts on deck, the trail turned into a mirror. We explore the psychology behind chasing hard things: dopamine from big milestones, identity wrapped in struggle, and perfectionism disguised as procrastination. More importantly, we connect those patterns to leadership. When we glorify only complex, heroic efforts, we unintentionally devalue the small acts that compound into reliability: quick callbacks, tiny process fixes, and consistent follow-through.

This is a practical, reflective journey about momentum. You’ll hear a simple cadence for reclaiming easy wins—selecting three friction-reducing tasks each week, pairing them with clear triggers, celebrating completion without irony, and watching how micro-closures unlock macro-progress. We talk about how teams mirror leaders’ attention, why visible small wins strengthen culture, and how constraints like bad weather can become fuel for action rather than excuses.

Roll with us on this short ride with long echoes. If you’ve got an “easy” box collecting dust on your own list, this is your nudge to check it off and notice the lift. If the story resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs momentum today, and leave a quick review so more people can find these daily growth prompts. What’s the simple win you’ll finish before sunset?

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SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for calling Growth Instigator Hotline. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. This is message 463. I want to apologize in advance for the all the audio quality and my out-of-breathedness. Breathedness, I think that's a phrase. So I'm actually on a trail right now, riding my bike from Greeley, Colorado to Windsor, Colorado. Don't look it up, it's not impressive. It's only maybe a five to ten mile stretch. Why am I doing it this morning? Well, I made a bingo cart earlier this year. And on my bingo cart was all sorts of things I wanted to do. In previous years I've done like a word of the year or goals or things like that. But this year I thought I would try the bingo card thing. And as I looked at my bingo card, most of my squares have actually been filled. It's pretty cool. I only have a couple that are left. In fact, one of them is ride my bike from Greeley to Windsor. Now I put that on 11 months ago thinking this is gonna be the easiest one. It's just fun. A nice little stroll. Just something silly to do, an easy one to check off. However, as I've neared the end of the year, I only have two weeks left, and in Colorado, that means everything's gonna freeze. In fact, today, wind advisories are 50 to 80 miles an hour, and so I'm a race against the clock right now to accomplish this bingo card. Why am I talking about this? Well, one consistency just to do a call every day, but two, we're talking about Amir this week, leadership lessons we can learn from Amir. And as I look in the mirror, I had to ask myself, why do I run after the hardest goals in life? But yet sometimes neglect the easy, simple, fun ones. It's like I feel accomplished when I get big things done, and I don't feel as accomplished when I just have small things to get done. So I decided to jump on my bike and finish one of my bingo cards and also reflect on why I tend to take the hard road most of all the time. That's my reflection on Amir today. How about you? Hey, I don't know what the normal greeting or ending is, so I'll say this thank you for calling. If you like this call, share it with other people. It's fun watching and listening to all of you call. Make it a great day.