Ideally, you would be testing yourself in your field of expertise or your passion. You want to grow, don’t you? You want to get better, right? This is what you do. Small, consistent daily steps that stretch you.
The idea of one hard thing every day is to force you to step away from routine and, in the process, develop a mindset of pursuing challenge.
We may dread it in the moment, but as time goes on, we are grateful we did it.
That is the wisdom of hindsight.
From my experience, if it frustrates me, gives me sleepless nights, or makes me question my motives, then the payoff is always worth it.
Even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
I’m blessed to be a writer because you can be assured that every time I put pen to paper, I’m tested. I’m not talented enough to be able to produce creative work without blood, sweat and tears. I must challenge myself every step of the way to create great work.
Okay, so those are the big rocks in life.
Doing hard things every day needn’t be associated with your overarching destiny. It can be the smaller pebbles of life. Making your bed, going to the gym, doing that extra set of reps, preparing your own meals when you feel like fast food, running, walking when you don’t feel like it or having that hard conversation with family, friends or employees. It all adds up.
Why would I want to grow anyway?
Because you want to live on purpose. That's why.
Purposeful living is the idea that your life should be driven by a greater purpose than just being alive.
What kind of existence would you have if your entire life was on automatic? You’re like a leaf being taken downstream by the current.
Control has been given to someone or something else.
Living purposefully means living with intention and not just blindly going through the motions each day without thinking about what it means for your life or how you want to grow or evolve as a person.
I’m not saying that we have complete control over our lives. Some situations are beyond our control. What we do have is the ability to interpret what happens to us as a lesson for growth or an excuse to give up.
Growth requires challenge, and just like building muscle, effort is necessary.
Doing the hard thing daily can be tough, especially when you are surrounded by distracting voices telling you to take it easy. Why do the difficult stuff when there’s an easy way out?
You Gentle Reader will have a smile on your face when you get asked that because you know the truth.
The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is an opportunity for growth.
Let’s grow.
