One of the most common words that I hear used to describe work is the word “grind”.
If getting through your day is a “Grind” that sounds like a miserable way to live.
If your work is a “grind”, you’re doing something wrong.
Grind implies friction. Resistance. Pushing a rock uphill, or swimming upstream.
Grinding implies that something is very difficult and you need to keep pushing through it anyway.
I grind my teeth in my sleep. It’s a pretty uncomfortable experience. Why would I want to describe my work as a grind?!
Moreover what’s worse is that we all ENCOURAGE each other to keep doing it!
Phrases like “Keep up the grind my friend!” “Keep grinding!” and “Grind on” fill up my newsfeed and messages on a daily basis.
It’s a shame that we all encourage each other to do things that we hate doing.
Rather than being a good friend and saying “what you’re doing sounds quite unpleasant, maybe you should figure out a different way to do it”, we tell each other to stick with what is causing us resistance in life.
We encourage each other to continue spinning our tires in the mud rather than making the hard decisions we need to evaluate the unsustainable activities we should stop doing.
I prefer to describe my work as a flow.
Frictionless. Seamless. Easily moving from one thing into the next. Flowing through my day. Free from limitations and restrictions.
If your life’s a grind, you should take the time to examine what is causing it. Identify the source of friction and smooth it out so that it doesn’t prevent you from moving forwards.
This is not to say that things will always be easy. There will be moments that challenge you. BUT, you can learn how to flow through them, rather than grinding.
You can cultivate the ability to meet problems without resistance.
You can cultivate the ability to see a problem and remain non-reactive.
This is the difference between resistance and acceptance. When you accept, you flow. When you resist, you grind.
Don’t grind. Avoid grind. Cultivate flow. Live in flow.
If your life’s a grind, you’re doing something wrong. Find your flow and chase it with all of your enthusiasm.
Also published on Medium.
