On New Year’s morning we went on a sunrise hike with a friend.
It was… beautiful.
Some people, but not many.
A bit of traffic, but nothing overwhelming.
Plenty of space. Plenty of quiet. Plenty of beauty for all of us to enjoy.
Later that day she sent me an Instagram video.
Same place.
Sunset hike. (New Year's Eve)
Traffic was intolerable.
Cars stuck for miles.
People watching the sunset from inside their cars because they couldn’t leave them.
Not here. Not quite there. Just… stuck.
And I had an insight.
In life.
In business.
In almost any pursuit.
Harder things have shorter lines.
Waking up at 4AM on New Year’s Day.
Doing the thing before it’s popular.
Choosing effort over convenience.
If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy crowded competition, there’s a simple strategy:
Choose what most people FIND hard and do more of it.
But that’s not even the most important part.
What’s more interesting is this:
I’d choose that 4AM hike every time.
Not everything that’s hard for most people is hard for YOU.
And one of the most underused strategies for winning is choosing challenges where your effort-to-reward ratio is unfairly good.
For me, that looks like:
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Waking up early
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Long stretches of solo work
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Studying, learning, figuring things out
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Being in uncertainty most of the time
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Technology and new skills
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Consistency over time
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Discomfort
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Trying things that might not work
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Producing a lot of ideas and content
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Talking to strangers
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Seeing patterns
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Creating frameworks
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Being a bit (or a lot) of a non-conformist
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...
None of that bothers me much.
Most of it, I actually enjoy.
So as part of “winning” 2026, the question I’m asking myself and you, dear reader:
What do people consider hard but I find relatively easy?
And how can I double down on that to win?
If you look closely at people who accomplish a lot, you’ll notice a pattern.
They’re almost always leaning into what the world calls “hard” but what they experience as a challenge they thrive on.
Over to you, dear reader,
What are your strengths?
Your quiet superpowers?
The extra mile is never crowded.
What’s the mile you’ll gladly walk?
