Doing Hard Things

Last year, as I was approaching my 53rd birthday, I decided to do something difficult.? I wanted to do something that I had never done before, something that would challenge me physically and mentally.

I recruited three other guys, and we hiked 12 miles up to the 14,115 ft summit of Pikes Peak!

None of us had ever hiked a mountain before.? It was an amazing experience with lots of different emotional swings from euphoric to downright brutal.? When it was over, we all agreed that this was a ‘one-and-done’ event!

Fear & Failure

Achieving great heights is hard work.? Let’s face it, most of us want predictability and certainty.? Stepping out into unknown places and doing things we have never tried can be scary.

Nobody wants to fail.? The fear of failure is a powerful force that can keep a person immobile.? Fear will not just slow you down, it can have a paralyzing effect.

Many dreams never even get started because of fear.? As Paulo Coelho said, “there is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

Trying & Trusting

Whenever we ‘go for it,’ we build trust in our abilities and our instincts.? No matter if we succeed or fail, we can learn from all experiences and build upon them.? I heard it said that your past failure is just R&D for future success!?

Often when we pursue these difficult ventures, we do it in the company, and with the efforts of others.? Trust with, and in others is built through experiences, and goes into overdrive when you do hard things together.??

In my hiking journeys, I listened to the stories of my team, and we built a bond of trust and supported one another physically and mentally during the rough patches.

Stretch & Strength

Whenever you stretch yourself to go beyond what you think you are capable of, you gain strength for the next one.? It turned out for me, that we were not one-and-done.? The following year we decided to climb Pikes Peak for a second time!?

It was a different experience with new players, but for me – it was easier than the previous year.? Although I had some trepidation, I was confident that if I did it the previous year, I could do it again.

I was a year older, but I felt stronger.

Risk & Reward

When you risk things like pride and comfortability to take on new ventures and experiences, you come away with many benefits that can be measured. ?However, perhaps the most important reward you will experience is an intangible one.

The greatest reward is a new mindset!? A mindset to try other hard things or perhaps not so hard things that are new and different.? A new mindset creates a transferable strength into many other facets of your life that are not necessarily related.

Whenever I have faced difficult challenges, I remind myself ‘of course I can do this, I climbed a mountain!’

Final Thoughts

The reality of life is that we will face hard things whether we want to or not.? Life does not wait until we are ready.? Matters of work, health, relationships and many other things will interrupt our world with massive challenges and difficulties.

Doing hard things - on purpose, builds fortitude for unexpected moments and seasons of heavy burdens.? The opposite is also true.? When we don’t do hard things, or default to easy things, we tend to lose resiliency for the next hard thing.

Doing the daily small things that require commitment is our training ground that help to set us up for the larger more arduous events that follow. If we can just keep going, we will have great fulfilment and accomplishments.?

Yes, there will always be distractions and feelings of apathy that we are challenged with.? At times you may feel like the great Charlie Brown once said, “my ‘get-and-go’ just got up and went!”

Fighting to stay active and focused is the key.? When we stop moving, we stop moving!?

So keep moving and trying new things.? In doing so, you will live out your life to the fullest potential -without regret!