It’s natural for us to maintain a state of equilibrium. To set ourselves down on a certain level.

And stay there.

Until something outside of us shocks us.

And then we strive to find a level once again to call home.

While we are in a certain level, if we so choose to get to the next level, it’s really hard to identify what the next level looks like. Plus, it takes a whole lot of energy to get there. Like an electron trying to get to a higher orbit, it requires a ton of energy on our part to get to the next level in life.

But before we identify what that next level might look like, let’s answer the question of why.

Why bother?

Things are good. Let’s not shake the boat. Let’s not fix what isn’t broken.

That might be the predominate thought process going on.

But here’s what most people fail to realize.

The higher you go, the easier it gets.

It doesn’t sound true at all.

But it is.

Yes, it takes work to traverse to the higher levels, but once you are IN that higher level and you’re in “orbit” there, things are a heck of a lot easier there.

And because it’s easy, it’s easy to keep on staying there, hence the double edged sword.

Most people see the work involved and don’t want to muster up the gusto to get to the next level because their focus is on the work. They don’t see how easier it is up there. But once you know that it’s easier up there, that will give you the drive to do the work to get there.

That being said, now that we know the benefits of getting to the next level, where exactly is that next level?

How can you break through when you can’t identify what to break through in the first place?

The answer is simple and I think deep down inside, we all know what it is.

You don’t want to do this “something” BUT if you know you did it, it would really, really, REALLY make a BIG difference.

I mean, if you strip everything down to the basics, it’s this.

You keep on doing what you’re currently doing, you’re going to always get what you’re getting right now.

Nothing will ever change.

So logically, you MUST DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT OR NEW to get different results.

That “something” is that thing you hate to tackle, that something that gives you pause, that something that makes you rationalize like hell against it in order to avoid doing it.

But despite all those walls we build around it, we know if we really took that action, it would make a huge difference.

For example, let’s say you own a business. You’re doing OK. Making a living. But if you know if you started tracking things down to the very minute details, make reports, analyze them, it’ll take your business to the next level.

But you hate details. You hate reports. You hate bars and graphs.

But you know if you did it, it would do wonders.

That’s your next level.

That’s what’s really going to make it easier for you in the future.

Maybe for another person, it’s to socialize more. You’re fine by yourself. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go out a bit more frequently. Maybe that will take you to the next level in terms of getting to know people who can make your career life easier by letting you know of opportunities in the hidden job market.

Maybe it’s to stop controlling everything. Just let go a little bit. Trust. Not be so OCD all the time and just let life happen. Maybe that will take you to the next level in terms of letting other people help you instead of doing everything yourself and burning yourself out.

Maybe it’s to finally hit the gym and lose those pounds. You’re fine the way you are. But you knew if you hit the weights and the treadmill, you’d have more energy to do what you really want to do instead of feel tired all the time.

All of us know on some level, what our next level is.

But we don’t want to admit it.

We rationalize like hell against it.

But in the end, if we can really make peace with ourselves and acknowledge that we know deep down inside, what our next level is and focus on the benefits, of how easier life gets once we get there, we’ll put in the work to do it.

And we inevitably find that we regret not doing it sooner.