Daily Inspiration: Personal Growth – “Do the hard things”

“Do the hard things” – Futurist Jim Carroll

How many times do you say to yourself, “I’ll do the easy things first!”

And then you just keep doing the easy things over and over again, always avoiding the hard stuff.

And you never make any progress – because at some point or other, you have to do the hard things.

What if you did the hard things first?

What if you put in the work? Took the effort? Invested your time in difficult things?

Developed your true grit?

Someone commented to me about ‘doing the hard work‘ in the context of my post the other day about ‘proving them wrong’ and stopping making decisions based on denial.

They commented that neither of these things will work – unless you put in the hard work. That’s true!

Moving forward is all about taking responsibility – I’ve written a lot about the fact that to successfully move forward into tomorrow, you need to stop making excuses and start taking responsibility for your actions and decisions.

This means confronting difficult situations head-on and acknowledging that you are the one who has the power to change your circumstances. That involves hard work because you are manufacturing solutions rather than dwelling on problems – and it’s not always easy to do that. The starting point, of course, is to make the decisions that lead you into action.

Doing the hard work involves being bold, daring, and taking risks – that old ‘comfort zone‘ thing. That means you need to be courageous – because you aren’t playing it safe – you’re pursuing ambitious goals, even if they seem daunting. Doing the hard work means taking the big risks.

It involves learning because doing hard things often involves learning new skills, adapting to new situations, and growing, both personally and professionally. That’s all about confronting that ‘old dog new tricks‘ excuse that you constantly make – which is another way of avoiding doing the hard things. You’ll never learn the new tricks or develop the new knowledge you need to do the hard things if you don’t set out to learn the hard things.

And it means you are focused on the long-term future, not short-term stuff. If you take on the hard work, you’re not getting bogged down by short-term challenges – you’re confronting your long-term realities.

The fact is, doing the hard things often means going against the grain, defying expectations, and pushing your boundaries. And it means doing it now. Too many people wait for perfect conditions before they start doing the hard things – but too often, perfection never comes about.

Stop making excuses – start taking action!