The life we live today is very different to that of our elders. The lives they are able to lead is also very different to that of their elders, and so on. But there are a substantial number of factors in this generational change which are eroding our natural ability to overcome difficulties and endure a little bit of ‘pain’ in order to achieve some kind of gain in the future.

I’m not talking about overcoming illnesses or mental issues that can have a serious effect on how we live our daily lives here. This is different, very serious in many cases and can have a fundamental effect on every aspect of someone’s life. I’m talking about some basic things that you can do to avoid the ‘quick fix’ route and improve your life in a number of ways.

We have become hooked on quick fixes. We are more sedentary than ever before, stuck at desks sitting for long periods. The ready meal category has grown up around our desire to feed ourselves quickly, whatever long term damage the meal itself can do to us based on its ingredients. We get ‘stressed’ very quickly and see this as a negative thing that is purely destructive. We drive everywhere and rarely take a healthier option. We spend money, sometimes borrowed at crazy interest rates, on ‘looking good’ and everything that that entails. And we are online so much that we can have stronger online relationships than real ‘face-to-face’ ones. Today, we put more value on ‘chillin’ out’ than we do on achieving anything, learning something new or improving ourselves and the lives of those around us.

So, what else can we do? How else can we approach life in order to improve it?

Take on some stress and use it to fuel your drive to achieve more. Get out of your comfort zone and look for opportunities to push yourself – really, push yourself hard – into places where the good stuff happens. I think we quite often feel we are really doing everything we can to make changes or improve ourselves, but we haven’t tried as hard as we can if we are being honest with ourselves. We would have done those exercises every morning, or we would have made those calls or joined that group. We would have fully committed.

Nothing comes easy and it all requires hours and hours of effort. Don’t give up – be persistent and make a simple choice in every decision: stick where you are now or improve. Good things will happen as long as you stick at it and change can take a long time but it is definitely worth it.

I have a couple of examples that spur me on and maybe they can also help you. One is my friend Richard who runs marathons – check out the photo on his Twitter bio here and you will see why he is an inspiration to me and many. It can never be said that he has taken the easy route in life and his successes will always stand out. The Spartan way of life and the way they trained and educated their young is also worthy of some further research and their mentality has been adopted into everything from feature films to adventure races. But whatever you do or whatever you research, be sure to then act on it and make the changes in your own life that will have the biggest and best effect. You won’t regret it.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.