Do The Hard Thing

[Listen to an audio version of this blog HERE.]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the benefit of doing hard things, and my half-baked conclusion is that we should all do more hard things. Why? You’ll be happier for it. You’ll gain a sense of pride. Pride boosts self-esteem, which is currently (thanks to our current pandemic) skyrocketing downward. There is no guidebook to doing the hard thing, either. No motivational video to get you up everyday and keep you grinding away. If you do the hard thing often enough, you won’t find it so hard anymore. And you might feel confused by the preponderance of people shying away from hard things. There is a subtle but stark divide between these two populations: those who do hard things and those who don’t. One is not inherently better than the other, but I’d argue that the former is happier.

When I was still in high school, my guidance counselor asked me what I’m scared of. “Being normal,” I answered. “Being complacent.” There is no satisfaction in complacency. It is comfortable sure, but it’s comfortable in the way a warm sweater is comfortable in a room that starts out frigid and slowly increases in temperature. First, you are cozy. Then a little uncomfortable, but nothing too noticeable. Before you know it though, you’re suffocating and you’re not sure how you got there, or why you even wanted the sweater in the first place, or (more…