Doing Hard Things

277 words, < 2 minutes

Why do we choose to do hard things? Because a little challenge makes everything more interesting. Easy things are ephemeral. If we can do something anytime, it quietly fades away and loses meaning. Our favorite memories and stories come from doing hard things. It is a reminder of what we are capable of.

Hard things create friction. Friction slows us down, but it’s also what keeps us going. It’s physics. Pushing against something makes our wheels, feet, paddles, boards, skis, and lives go in new directions.

There is a point when friction becomes unreasonable, and difficulty has diminishing returns. Just like price and value aren’t always equal. When something is difficult, it isn’t always more valuable. Many hard things simply suck, especially when we have no choice or control. Being stuck doesn’t get us anywhere.

Hard things have value when the purpose is more meaningful than the difficulty. The value of friction, resistance, and doing hard things is obvious when we think about fitness. Learning works pretty much the same way. Progress only happens when we stretch beyond what is comfortable. We think we want easy, but really we want the reward to match the struggle.

The spirit of adventure is finding joy in being uncomfortable and working through friction to push beyond the status quo. After all, friction is how we float on powder days and how wings fly. What slows us down on the surface can also lift us up.

Choosing adventure is choosing to do hard things. If it is easy, it probably isn’t an adventure. The space between easy and impossible is where opportunity exists, and that’s where and why we do hard things.