High up on a wall in my neighborhood gym, there’s a sign that reads:

“What Doesn’t CHALLENGE You Won’t CHANGE You.”

It’s the only permanent sign inside the gym, so you’d guess its message is important. It’s one whose wisdom the gym owners want stamped into people’s minds. And it’s painted in giant letters.

Which makes what comes next even stranger.

Gym-goers walk past that sign all day long without noticing it. Trust me, I’ve asked. Of the ten people I’ve quizzed, seven didn’t realize a sign was there at all, and the other three couldn’t recall what it said. (One did say, “It’s something about challenging yourself.”)

How could such a big sign be so invisible?

The sentence is loaded up with the negatives “doesn’t” and “won’t,” which slows comprehension down. The real problem isn’t the negatives themselves. It’s that the sentence has to be mentally flipped into a positive before it makes sense. That’s asking way too much.

What could the sign have said that would’ve been easy to absorb while you’re panting between sets? Here are a few that wouldn’t need conceptual translating:

No challenge, no change.

Struggle builds strength.

This is supposed to be hard.

Discomfort’s the point.

This is how folk wisdom catches on. Not because it’s smarter, but because it’s sayable. Everyone knows the idea behind “What you focus on grows.” But imagine if it had arrived as, “What you do not focus your attention on will not meaningfully improve for you.” Same idea. Dead on arrival. Wisdom spreads when it can be carried easily, especially by tired, distracted people. If it needs translating, it doesn’t travel.

There’s a reason slogans are simple. Nike didn’t say, “Consider the possibility of action.” They said Just Do It. Apple didn’t say, “We value creativity and nonconformity.” They said Think Different. Mel Robbins didn’t say, “What you don’t need to control in others won’t ultimately affect your well-being.” She said, Let Them.

Simple language sticks. If the message matters, make it impossible to miss – especially if your reader has just done five sets of box jumps.