owe it to yourself

I’ve had a mantra ringing off in my head in the background over the last few months

Do hard things

It’s most often spoken of in fitness groups – doing any competitive event is a hard thing. It requires discipline and grit: stick to your training schedule, keep your diet in check and sacrifice other areas of your life, mainly social. The upside is you’ve tamed your mind and emotions, you’ve done something that requires the best of you. You’ve gone out there and done it. The “do hard things” is often spoken of in this fashion: a taming of oneself in order to achieve. Eliud Kipchoge captured the sentiment well when he said, “only the disciplined ones in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions”. You’ve proven to yourself you have what it takes to do the hard thing. That’s a sense of elation that is tough to beat.

I believe there is another, potentially even greater, reason to do hard things: you owe it to yourself. You see, most of the hard things in life are the things we want to do but don’t. They’re our “graveyard of dreams”. It’s starting a business, running a marathon, becoming a successful YouTuber, learning an instrument. They’re big, they’re mean and ultimately, they’re tough. But if that’s what your heart desires, then do it. You owe it to yourself to bring your desires to life and to find a sense of contentment in knowing you took the leap.