My late father-in-law was an avid antique collector and restorer. He would often go to markets and antique shows in search of specific items he found most interesting. One of those items was the large copper boiler. This was a large oblong pot with a tin lid that often had a black wooden handle and a copper bottom. Whenever he would stumble upon one of these that was in relatively good shape, he would bargain to get it for a reasonable price and then hurriedly whisk it home to see if he could bring it back to its original shape and luster.

Interestingly, he would always begin by cleaning out the residue and "gunk" from the insides of the pot, and then he would begin to meticulously start hammering and gently tapping the dents out; from the inside. As I watched him "remodel" one of these prized finds, I was struck by the fact that he always started on the inside. That was by far, the area where he would spend most of his time, energy and attention. When I asked him why he started on the inside, he said because he knew if he was able to clean and smooth things out from the inside, he would only have to put the finishing touches on the outside to make it look almost new.  It was not uncommon for him to spend 5 to 6 times more energy and attention on the inside. When he finally moved to the outside, most of the hard work was already completed.

Do you focus more time, effort and attention doing work on what's going on inside of yourself, or do you tend to avoid the harder and often uncomfortable inside work?