Sign in Subscribe
members-only post 2 min read Newsletter

What would it be like if this were easy?

I bring this question to almost every troubleshooting session. The Friday afternoon I aimed it at who I'm becoming now, and the answer rewrote itself.
Marissa Brassfield

by Marissa Brassfield

A wide open road stretching into the horizon with nothing behind
audio-thumbnail
The Simplicity Protocol Newsletter What Would It Be Like If This Were Easy
0:00
/148.77102

What would it be like if this were easy?

Greg McKeown asks it in Effortless, and the hardback has lived on my desk for years. This spring, I aimed it at myself.

I'd ghostwritten three books for other people. Every line by hand. Painstaking, invisible work. By the third book, I'd made a private decision: I'm never writing a book again.

And then I watched my friends publish books.

I kept thinking: I'm the writer. Why don't I have one?

I didn't have a good answer. “I don't want to” felt true, and also hollow, because I kind of did.

That's the contradiction the question landed on.

This post is for subscribers only

Subscribe to continue reading


You might also like

May 19

What do we talk about now?

When the logistics handled themselves, the first thing that showed up was an awkward silence.
3 min read
May 12

I'm not performing for the algorithm

The pull and the pressure show up together. Your body knows the difference.
3 min read
May 05

13 no's in 2 weeks

Saying no to good things requires a muscle nobody teaches you to build.
3 min read
Apr 28

The threshold you just crossed (and didn't notice)

You already crossed a threshold you didn't notice. What that invisible crossing means for your next chapter.
2 min read
Apr 21

What 36 months of less work taught me about enough

What 36 months of working 3.5-day weeks taught me about energy, ambition, and conventional schedules.
3 min read