I find that sometimes the most challenging things are not as challenging as we make them out to be. That being said, I feel that the more challenging a task is, the more satisfying the reward.

I recently encountered a situation where this philosophy stands. A few months ago I wrote a song called Home. It was a song about new beginnings and discovering new things, embarking on new journeys. I recently found the time to record and produce this song, a feat I never imagined i’d be facing.

This summer I finally got around to doing it. I tracked everything from guitar and vocals to backup vocals, piano, and strings. I expected it to take way more time than it did, taking about 4 or 5 highly involved and busy days. There was a lot of frustration because of my fair inexperience, but the outcome was much better than i’d imagined. When you record a song, when you write a song and record it and it comes out exceptionally, there is such a sense of pride you get because that’s something you did. In my case that feeling was heightened because I did it all on my own.

Sure it was difficult, I wanted to give up on multiple occasions. My inexperience in recording lended itself to that, but I was dedicated enough to bring it to a good place. The best part of it (apart from getting it done and the pride associated with that) was when I sent it to the person I wrote it for. She had heard the rough draft in the earliest stages and it felt good to finally come through on the promise i’d made to her that i’d make a good (or better, at least) recording of the song.

To me the relation seems to be a cause and effect sort of situation. The harder the task you're trying to achieve is, the more rewarding the outcome. This is especially true in situations where the task can be completed only with a specialized set of skills, such as writing and recording songs. Reward always happens to be what people look forward to after doing something. Reward is the answer to the infamous “what’s in it for me” question. Reward is an incentive to do well and to push the boundaries of what people think they can do. So do it. Conquer the challenge and reap the reward, and if you ever doubt yourself, keep in mind that it’ll be worth it in the end.