Do More Hard Things
Since the world shutdown in 2020, I\u2019ve heard more people talk of anxiety. I\u2019ve heard that word more in the last 2 years than in the 41 years prior. I\u2019m not sure if there are actually more cases of anxiety or if it has just become a catchword people use to describe not wanting to feel uncomfortable. Still, either way, it doesn\u2019t change the fact that people are avoiding difficult things.
It\u2019s Important
Doing difficult things makes us better and doing difficult things. It even crosses boundaries and silos in life. Showing up to the gym to do a tough workout that makes you want to stay home will make you more capable of having that tough conversation at work.
No matter what area of life your difficult things lie, doing them is a skill. Talking yourself into showing up and taking action is a vital life skill, and as with all skills, it gets better with practice. Without this skill, you\u2019ll be limiting your potential for growth and joy in life.
I know it can be uncomfortable or scary for some of you, but the only way to get past that is to do it.
It Doesn\u2019t Get Easier, and You Don\u2019t Want It To
We have a saying, \u201cCrossFit never gets easier; you just get fitter. But we wouldn\u2019t want it to anyway.\u201d The fitter we get, the more challenging exercises we can perform, the heavier we can lift, or the faster we can push ourselves to complete a workout. We love our workouts because of the results they get us, and we don\u2019t want those results to stop.
We also value the mental challenge they give us. If the workouts got easier at some point, then we\u2019d be missing that mental challenge. This is how doing difficult things works. The more of them you do, the better you get, and you\u2019ll be able to take on more difficult things in the future. What scares you now won\u2019t scare you in the future because you\u2019ve proved to yourself you can do it.
Don\u2019t be looking for things to get easier. Instead, do what is necessary to handle the task in front of you.
Be Proactive
Here\u2019s the trick. Stop waiting to find the courage to do difficult things. Instead, shift your mindset into that of a conquerer. Actively look for something challenging to do every day. This might be showing up to a workout you don\u2019t want to do. It might be telling someone \u201cno\u201d that you always say \u201cyes\u201d to. It might be starting your own business. It might be asking for a raise or promotion. It might be shutting your phone off in the evenings.
Be on the lookout. How can you practice the skill of doing difficult things today?
It\u2019s How Growth is Done
When we opened our gym in 2015, I knew nothing about running a business. I thought we\u2019d open our doors and that there were going to be hundreds of people wanting to do CrossFit but without the uber-competitive atmosphere. We were wrong. I had to learn how to run a business. I had to learn a bunch of new skills and make a lot of difficult choices.
At one point, we had to double our rates because we\u2019d set them so low that we couldn\u2019t keep our doors open; even if we had 100 members, the rates wouldn\u2019t provide enough revenue to cover the rent on a building large enough to have 100 members. I knew that it was going to make a lot of people upset and that we\u2019d lose about half of our members. It made me sick. I was afraid that everyone be mad and talk badly about us. We had to do it, or we\u2019d have to close our doors.
We did it; we lost about half our membership, but only a couple were mad. Most couldn\u2019t afford the new rate and moved on. It hurt, but membership grew over time, and our business improved. There have been dozens of similar situations that have played out over the life of our business, and things that were difficult to do 7 years ago are easy to do now. I\u2019ve grown as a person and business owner because I choose to do difficult things.
You can do hard things. You can learn to seek them out. You can not be ruled by fear and anxiety.
Take action today. Do something difficult.