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We avoid effort even though it can improve our well-being

Understanding the “effort paradox” can help you reshape your relationship to exertion so that you commit to those hard but truly meaningful activities

Particularly hard to grasp is that their love of running marathons or cycling up mountains isn’t in spite of those efforts being so gruelling. We also seem to value effort after the fact, taking unreasonable pride in a poorly constructed piece of flat-pack furniture, say, because it was a struggle to assemble. What they are finding is offering fresh insights not only into how you can get off the couch and into your running shoes, but also how you can learn more effectively, better empathise with others and even cultivate a more meaningful life.

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