The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

The US Navy SEALs have a saying they use when training. They say, “the only easy day was yesterday.” It signifies that each day presents new and increasingly difficult obstacles. Instead of hoping for the workload to ease up, they embrace the growing challenges.

It can be a great motivational tool to get through those difficult days when inspiration is absent. It reminds us to focus on doing the work, not expecting everything to be handed to us. It shatters the entitlement mindset that holds us in place. It keeps us aspiring to reach new levels of success.

Today it seems that most people are concerned more with what they feel they deserve. They feel entitled for the blessings in life, not grateful. They scoff at new challenges, feeling as though they already did enough to warrant the rewards they desire.

To me, this is the opposite side of the spectrum. The best approach is probably somewhere in between. Pushing and pushing can help us grow but it can also burn us out and tear us down.

We should learn to feel grateful. We must be willing to keep working hard. We need to realize challenge is part of life. Instead of looking at the next plateau as the ledge that will allow us to live carefree, we should always be looking to improve.

This can turn into a content mindset. We feel we don’t need more to be happy. Everything we need we have. The challenges make us stronger. The rewards and acknowledgements weaken us if we let them.

Despite feeling contentment, we don’t become complacent. We don’t get too lax. We keep pushing. We keep bettering ourselves through hard work.

Even if we are perfectly content without complacency, we will still feel the pressure and frustration that comes from the natural challenges in life. There will still be disappointment and tragedy.

When things get unbearable, remember the motto from the SEALs. They push harder than almost anyone on the planet to achieve their goals. They suffer incredible pain and refuse to give up.

If we can take a tenth of that motivation and determination, we can get through those unavoidable hardships that will always find their way to us.

We can use that to push ourselves to be better. It becomes less about wanting more. It becomes about growth and improvement. We want to get better and are willing to do what is necessary. We make the sacrifices and accept the challenges.

Learning to be resilient in the face of obstacles is an important lesson in life. We don’t have to join the military or push to extremes, but we must be accepting of the challenges in life. We need to be able to push through and come out better by having met the challenges head on. Using the SEALs motto of the only easy day was yesterday can be a tool to remind us to face the challenges head on and embrace them, not run from them.