A tale of the monk and the 4-hour work week

The 4-hour work week asks the question 'what would this look like if it was easy'? - Tim Ferriss

I used to think about this question and be like, my life would be amazing; I could focus on what matters, spend more time doing this and that. In reality, that works for some—this idea of efficiency, streamlining your work and/or life, taking away the clutter and mundanity of it all, and only doing the real work, the important work, the work we love. This is true, so too. But I also remember the story about a monk and a bucket of water. I can't remember where I heard the story, but here is my interpretation of it.

There was a monk who would draw water from the well every day, all by hand with a bucket tied to a bit of a long rope. A young man came along and saw the monk struggling to pull up this bucket of water. For the monk, it took a considerable amount of time and effort; the monk would place hand over hand as he pulled, bent over, sweat falling from his brow. The young man, seeing this monk struggle, offered a solution to solve the monk's hardship. Here, as he offered him a pulley system, a series of ropes and levers to distribute the weight and make pulling up the bucket of water far easier and quicker. The monk declined. The young man was perplexed. Why would the monk decline his help? It would save so much time and effort. The Monk said, 'What would I do with that extra time? When I pull up the bucket, I have time to think with each movement I make, to contemplate, to reflect, to be. And if pulling up the bucket were easier, I would lose my strength and no longer be able. So the monk declines and continues to pull the bucket of water one inch at a time, struggling, sweating, and breathing heavily in contentment.

The moral of the story is that hardship, doing the hard work, makes us who we are. If not us, then who? If I outsourced my writing, then my words would no longer hold my voice. If a video creator outsources their editing, then they can no longer edit and tell their story through the envisioned thought video. Sometimes we have to do the hard work because it's who we are that makes the work meaningful.

Sure, there are areas of work or tasks that don't require our soul, our spirit, our insights, and voice. Those I say definitely outsource. Throw them to the wind, and I even ask you why you are doing them in the first place. These are perfect examples of 'what would this look like if it was easy?' But I give caution to someone scaling for the sake of it. Are you outsourcing because it will make your life easier and your work more meaningful, or is it just because.

'What would this look like if it was easy?' If you could solely focus on your endeavors, what would that look like? For myself, I would still be writing, editing, getting up at 5 am and working out and going for an hour-long walk and reading every day. Those things cannot, in my mind, be outsourced to someone else. If money wasn't an issue, I would still do those same things. I like the challenge, the strength I get from doing the work. If I didn't do it, that skill would atrophy, like the monk if he used the pulley system. I prefer to struggle and earn the sweat on my brow when it comes to these tasks.

The question is 'what would this look like if it was easy'? The reflection needed upon this question is, should I make this easier?