Sept. 25, 2026
My usual glib reply is, “Yes, it is easier for me to say…That’s why I am the one who’s saying it.”
(I picked up this quip from Peter Block years ago.)
I know this response can be frustrating to hear, because it sounds dismissive. But I think you can find a valuable lesson if you unpack it…
When someone says, “That’s easy for you to say,” they are implicitly conveying that they would like to be able to say or do whatever is being advised, but they don’t have the leverage / status / freedom / funding / whatever.
Okay. Let’s start from there…
How do you reverse-engineer ability to say it yourself?
- How do you get enough leverage?
- Where does higher status come from?
- Where could you find more funding?
The speaker’s natural inclination will be to frame the situation as being beyond the span of their control. (And they’re not completely wrong, of course!)
But throwing up their hands and giving up is not the only option available to them.
Another option is to reframe the situation in terms of what is within the span of their control.
What would you have to do to make it easy for you to say too?
