#DoHardStuff

Jesse Iztler strikes again! For my second workout from the #2017ofEverything April Challenge (get caught up here) I got to do hard stuff. Like 50 squat jacks. WTF is a squat jack???? As I’m looking at the list of drills, it sounds like it might be a squat/jumping jack hybrid. Sounds awkward…

A Google search later and I see that yes, for this white boy who can’t jump or dance, that my coordination might be tested to the tune of 50 of these suckers and… wait, broad jumps and multiple rounds of regular squats too with a side of plank. Hmmm… you see, since we’re taking on these workouts to break limits and push through barriers, Do Hard Stuff, for me actually will be hard stuff. I hate squatting. Love jumping jacks though so that’s a plus but I’m not a fan of the squat. Not one bit. It’s a necessary evil that I do not like to do.

Actually Doing #DoHardStuff

And there in lies the opportunity and the victory. I finished and finished as quickly as possible. 16 minutes and 10 seconds. And considering that the suck factor for me was pretty high, I felt like the only way to celebrate was to go for a 43 minute run through my neighborhood tackling VERY steep hills and long incline grades that further add insult to injury. Why? Because we do hard stuff. Because as Bogie put it in The Maltese Falcon, “When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it.” I kept trying to talk myself out of it but the little David Goggins on my shoulder kept pushing me to finish what I ordered up when it looked easy. On my other shoulder is Captain America reminding me that I can do this all day.

This is a huge part of life. You have a goal. You start after that goal. The finish line looks sweet. However, it will NOT all be sunshine and roses along the road to success and you will have to do hard stuff, you’ll have to do things you don’t want to do. You’re going to want to quit or shortcut or take the easy way out. There’s no easy way out. Robert Tepper said so! And look, you are obligated to finish if for no other reason than the mere fact that you started. Otherwise you won’t get any better. If you want an immediate boost to your self-esteem, go finish some sh*t you started and then shelved or quit on. Go finish it now and see if you don’t feel better about yourself.

This is how you become a better human.

By doing the hard stuff. When you’re finishing what you started. By pushing yourself everyday to be and do and have better. Bottom line, you can not solve your problems. You can only outgrow them. So DO the hard stuff, do the stuff you don’t like or want to do and outgrow your self and your problems. That’s what this is all about really isn’t it? Because when you finish this life, and we all will, looking back, how did it go?