Choose Your Hard

For everyone, life will be hard in one moment or another.

Death, heartbreak, disappointment, disaster, sickness, and a level of trauma will be experienced for every person. 

In these life altering situations, we don’t necessarily have a “choice”.

For example, I didn’t “choose” for my mom to have stage 4 breast cancer and die just five days after her 68th birthday.

My son will never truly know his grandma, me and my sisters’ relationship will never be the same, and the “Mom” contact in my phone won’t illuminate my phone after coaching a soccer game ever again.

It requires resilience and mental fortitude to get through these events, but while in the trenches I didn’t necessarily “choose” this path.

In these scenarios, I would encourage anyone to lean into the frustration, sadness, grief, and anger that may come up for you.

There is great value in naming and actually feeling the lowest of low feelings - this contributes to the duality of life.

The lowest of lows makes the highest of highs more vibrant. 

Although I feel that training your mind can help get you through these life situations, I would be amiss if I didn’t highlight how in these situations there really isn’t a choice.

You don’t always get to choose your hard, and in these scenarios it is a privilege if you were to have a choice.

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BUT - when we are talking about performance on the field, court, pool, or in the boardroom - this is where we can have the choice to choose our hard! 

These are the scenarios I encourage you to use this blog post as a resource to conquer those challenges:

It is hard to be out of shape / it is hard to run hill sprints. 

It is hard to be unhealthy / it is hard to eat clean.

It is hard being weak / it is hard lifting weights.

It is hard staying silent / it is hard to have a tough conversation.

It is hard to feel regret / it is hard to be disciplined.

It is hard to be hurt / it is hard to heal yourself. 

It is hard to be in chaos / it is hard to step up as a leader.

It is hard dealing with conflict / it is hard building a culture.

It is hard being indecisive / it is hard to trust yourself. 

It is hard to be lost / it is hard to ask for help.

In all of these scenarios, you have a choice of which “hard” you will suffer. 

Working to be the best version of yourself comes at a cost. 

You will sacrifice something (time, money, pain, etc.) to become better, but I can promise it will be worth it. 

The quest to be the best is an ongoing journey.

It is not a destination, but more of a state of mind and lifestyle choice to be committed to a mission.

There will be days when you won’t feel like it, where it feels you don’t have the time, and when you feel discouraged.

Welcome these obstacles as a challenge to overcome and unlock another level of yourself.  

Accept the invitation to become stronger, more agile, and more equipped for the future.

You have a choice to which hard you allow in your life.

Which hard do you choose?