Brian Johnson uses Goethe's "everything is hard before it's easy" to explain how his son learned to snap his fingers through practice. The same pattern applies to whistling, writing, and other skills: they hurt at first, then they don't. Pick what's hard in your life, decide if you'll pay the price, and start today.
Questions this video answers
January 3, 2023
Emerson
About 10 years old
Heroic +1 #1,383
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. According to Wikipedia, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theater director and critic. According to the heroic quote Art Alexander put on a refrigerator. He once said that everything is hard before it's easy. And that's what I thought of when Emerson came into my office this morning and and told me he wanted to learn how to snap his fingers. Him? How do you make a sound that click? He said when you rub your fingers together. Me? You mean this snap? Him. Yeah, me. Well, you go like this and then you do that and then boom. Him. That's really hard to do while he's trying to do it with his little fingers. Me? Of course it is. Until it's not. Remember everything is hard before it's easy. Right? Him. Yeah, me. So how are you going to get good at it? Him? Practice. Me? Exactly. Fast forward to the end of the day and him snap. And his little 10 year old version of it. The little guy's fingers were sore from practicing so much, but he could snap. Then we talked about all the other things that were super hard before they were super easy. Whistling, carving, reading, writing, not sucking his thumb. Pooping in the toilet is always a go to and well, that's today's plus one. Remember everything is hard before it's easy. Anything currently hard in your life, perfect. Whoop it and decide whether or not you are willing to pay the price to make it happen and get to work. Day one all in. Let's go.
