This question comes from the Tim Ferriss podcast. He regularly asks his guests this question as part of the rapid-fire Q&A at the end of the show.

I'm not likely to be a guest on the show, but I thought I would answer the question anyway.

I believe a lot of things. Some are beliefs shared by many people. Some are shared by only a few people.

If I could pick one thing I believe that most people don't, I would say it would be achieving most things takes less effort than people think.

When I think of effort, I think of huge amounts of stress and energy. Fighting against the wind. Pushing boulders up a hill. Those are the images that come into my mind when I think about effort.

Often, people think of any new adventure or endeavor in terms of all the effort it will take to become successful. Images of wind and boulders stop them from starting. Starting is where the effort really happens, but it only requires a short burst of energy to get started.

Once you've started, you simply keep going. Step after step, day after day. Keep going and don't stop and you'll find the effort required to keep going is a lot less than you expected.

We can do so much more than we think if we just start. And just starting can be easier than we think if we don't picture all the days after Day One. If we just think about the first, smallest thing that has to happen, it's less daunting.

After the first step, just think about the next step. After that, the next step. And so on.

Over time, that thing you wanted to do, the one that seemed so impossible to accomplish, comes easily and you'll be amazed at how far you have come.