You should not choose the least resistance path
Doing so takes you closer to a meaningless life. Trust me on this one.
The Theory
The path of least resistance is the physical or metaphorical pathway that provides the least resistance to forward motion by a given object or entity, among a set of alternative paths. The concept is often used to describe why an object or entity takes a given path.
Of course, as with anything in life, when making a point or studying a subject, the context in which said subject is studied is as important as the subject itself.
That being said, a definition like this falls short in the context of personal and professional development.
In The Right Context
At some point in our lives, any one of us has being tempted enough to walk down the so called “path of least resistance”, and for some others this might have come a definitive and traditional path to follow.
Those who go on with their lives always striving for the minimum effort, avoiding hills and ups and downs, motivated by internal or external fears, end up relying on societies standard-meaning-providers to satisfy the sooner-or-later arrival of the need of purpose and existence. Yes, I said it, purpose and existence within the same phrase.
Societies standard meaning providers can vary from coffee shops, cafeterias, bars, alcohol, watching netflix for hours on end and fast-food to any means of cheap pleasure and temporal excitement; in other words, short-lived dopamine shots.
DISCLAIMER: The above items are just a few examples. This is no medical advice. The way and means you decide on how to burn your schedule is your own responsability. The keyword that I’d like to recover from all the above is the frequency in which we feel the need to recur to these “meaning providers”.
For those who have gone through scenarios like these and want or try or aspire or need to go deeper in their souls, minds and surrounding personal lives, meaning is achieved through sacrifice, pain and choosing the hard thing to do or the not-so-comfortable one.
For example:
Deciding on some time alone away from all the known things & traditions that keep us mentally, physically and emotionally safe.
Choosing to adapt to new circumstances from time to time.
Making deliberately small changes within any routine just to feel a little bit more alive than yesterday.
The Reason Behind It
That reason is something that can vary a lot across people.
In my own experience (or life-long-experiment, as I like to refer to it) and the ones of people I’ve talked and collaborated with for over a decade: this reason usually doesn’t present itself “out of the blue”.
This reason becomes evident to us after weeks, months or even years of being in the pursuit (voluntarily or without realising it) of meaning.
This pursuit is assembled by trying many different things in our lives while going through life itself, with everything that entails:
several moments of extreme emotions (joy or sadness)
important events in our professional lives (getting the job we wanted or being fired)
important landmarks in our personal lives (finding the love of our life or losing a relative)
Once we understand life will pass either way, wether we like it or not, this will free lots of space in our minds to give enough time for us to re-discover ourselves.
How Much Time Do I Need?
Also an important point on our journey.
The time some people can endure being uncomfortable is a key aspect on how frequently they can put themselves back out there to find new situations, people, limits and knowledge.
As with everything in life, balance is the keyword here.
Too much time under pressure or stress can end up generating negative effects.
Learning on how to relax, taking breaks between tasks and avoiding multitasking when possible; are one of many resources we have to avoid reaching a point of frustration within our lives that might lead us to abandon our pursuit of meaning and going back to the very apparent sources of meaning we are trying to avoid in the first place.
Final Thoughts
This quest inevitably, sooner rather than lather, leads to new meanings, conclusions, questions and new knowledge of our own limitations we didn’t consider before.
This is how we raise the bar in our personal and professional lives.
Give this experiment a try and after a few weeks I can assure you the results will start to show in your mind, your body, your mood, the kind of people you surround yourself with and even in areas of your life you didn’t expect it.
As always, keep collaborating, keep writing, keep learning and building something you're proud of.
Stay safe,
Juan.