When you stop doing the hard stuff, life actually feels harder. It’s not always easy to do the things you need to do to live the life that you want. But if you skip out on the hard stuff, the rest of your life is only going to get that much more difficult. Doing it may be the hard part, but the reward makes life easier.

There are a couple of psychological tricks to help you face a challenging day. One is to block out the impact of how hard it’s going to be and instead focus on how it’s going to feel on the other side. You can also choose to feel grateful for everything you have in your life — including the things afforded by those hard things.

You also need to acknowledge the season of life that you are in. Sometimes what you desire is on the other end of doing something you don’t want to do. If you enjoy personal space, but you have a goal that requires you to momentarily give that up, acknowledge it upfront so that you know that this is only temporary and that it will be worth it.

Life is going to get hard. That’s unavoidable. But it’s up to you whether the hard things you do in life lead to a more comfortable life on the other side. Pick the hard you want in life, and don’t let the drive to live easy lead to frustration.