You Can Do Hard Things

Last month I did a two-day solo hike.  A friend was going to join me, but she had a family emergency.  I had already carved out the time on my calendar, so I decided to venture out.  I learned a lot of lessons in those two grueling days by myself.  I am working on applying those lessons to my personal and professional life.  They might work for you too.  Each week in October I will share with you one of those lessons.

My first lesson is that I CAN DO HARD THINGS.  It was very tempting to just not do the hike.  I could easily justify it and no one would blame me if I bailed.  Honestly, I was nervous about the hike for a number of reasons.  First, it’s not safe to hike by yourself.  Bears are often sighted in the area I was hiking.  Also, if you get hurt there is no one to seek help on your behalf.  Not to mention, I was a single female hiking long stretches without seeing another soul.  Secondly, the hike was 16 miles round-trip on technical terrain.  Need I say more?

Nevertheless, here are a couple of benefits that came from doing the hard thing:

It expanded my comfort zone:  What I know to be true is that growth does not happen in the comfort zone, but it can be so challenging to push beyond your known limits.  I am trying out some new ideas in my business and it is scary because they might fail.  I am investing time, resources, and my reputation in something with an uncertain outcome.  My heart is just racing writing about it.  I keep reminding myself that I just did a hard thing and it increased my self-confidence and self-esteem and I can do this hard thing too. 

It gave me a sense of pride:  As intimidating as the long, solo hike was beforehand, the feeling of satisfaction after completing the hike was wwwwaaaayyyyy better.  I have been riding on my improved mental well-being for over a month from that one experience. 

Inquiry Question: What is something you would like to do but it seems a little scary?  What can you do to move yourself forward?  What could be the benefits for your personal or professional life?

Hiking all those miles with a backpack made my back achy, much like the achiness from leaning over my computer all day. This week’s stretch video is focused on relieving the discomfort in the upper body from hunching over a keyboard for long periods of time. Click here.

 If you are finding value in these posts, please share them with family, friends, and colleagues. 

Kindly,

Anita