Do Hard Things

People avoid suffering. No one naturally likes being in pain or extreme stress. People want to be comfortable. Society has evolved to the point where you have the ability to live a life where you don’t have to put any physical strain, or severe mental strain, to survive. You can exist in the comfort you relish if you opt to. Your life and how you live is your choice. A life of comfort is not only the desirable choice, it’s the easy choice. But a life of comfort doesn’t bring growth, it doesn’t open doors in your mind and soul you never knew existed, and it doesn’t turn you into the person you want to be. A life of comfort is a life of simple existence where evolution stalls. Forget the easy choice. Forget the comfort. Opt to do the “hard” thing. Opt to put yourself in a position to be under the stress of a challenge. Opt to change your life by enduring the fire that something difficult ignites your mind, body, and soul.

Doing hard things offers you the opportunity to grow and better yourself after you finish. Hard things also offer you the opportunity to completely change your mindset during the act itself. Instead of wallowing in your suffering and instead of caving into self-pity, you can flip your perspective and realize how lucky you are. You are lucky to be able to challenge yourself and fight your inner weakness. You are lucky to have the drive, determination, and ability to willingly put yourself into scenarios that prompt immediate discomfort. You are lucky to live a life where the comfortable and easy path isn’t the only path you know. You are lucky to do the hard things.

Carry a dumbbell over your head up a hill. Reach the top and then repeat. As you suffer on your journey up the hill, embrace the reality that you can walk and carry something heavy. Embrace how hard this act is.

Step outside on a cold, rainy morning and go for a run. Enjoy the sound of your feet on the wet pavement. As your legs are burning and your heart rate is elevated, embrace how the path looks different with puddles all around, and embrace how lucky you are that you went outside instead of going back to bed. Embrace how hard this act is.

Have a hard conversation with an estranged friend. Enjoy the thought of the memories you have shared and the desire to have new ones. As you are breathing heavily, unsure of what to say, embrace how lucky you are to have both the time, and the means to communicate, in order to fix what was broken. Embrace how hard this act is.

Put your phone in the other room and don’t leave your laptop until the project is done. Enjoy the feeling of starting something and seeing it to the end in one sitting. As boredom fills your mind and you desire to reach for your phone, embrace your ability to focus and stay committed to the task at hand. Embrace how hard this act is.

The hard thing to do can apply to any area of life. You will grow through the trials and tribulations of doing hard things repeatedly. You will be better than you were before. It just takes a commitment to putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation. It takes a commitment to doing the hard thing. Opt to do the hard thing. Once you opt for the hard thing, the decision has been made and the chase begins.

Chase the payoff you feel when you’re done. Chase the satisfaction in knowing you went to the dark place and emerged as a better version of yourself. Chase the idea that the “hard” thing you do will change from being the “hard” decision to being a part of who you are. Chase the personal sense of pride you get knowing you gave your full effort at something. Chase the hard thing and do it.