PICK YOUR HARD
RIGHT KIND OF HARD
So I started the #75hard challenge 4 days ago…
And this is after a month OFF THE RAILS. And when I say, OFF THE RAILS, I mean OFF. But we’ll save that for another day.
Anyways, I am only 4 days in and have found myself completely and totally HOOKED. Like, IN LOVE with this process.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s awkward most days, gruesome, inconvenient, and not easy AND I am iiiiinnnnnnn looooooooove with it.
Why?
Because it’s making me better.
It’s making me stronger.
I can feel it.
Even in the midst of the pain, hard, inconvenience, it’s making me better and THAT, is what I want to talk to you about today.
Because how many of us admit, we want to quit when it gets hard?
How many admit, you don’t like being uncomfortable?
How many can attest to starting something only to stop it because of timing, schedule, lack of motivation, or external obstacles?
ALL OF US.
AND, I am a firm believer, everything we’re wanting is on the other side of not quitting the RIGHT hard things so today, we are going to talk about rethinking everything you thought about hard so you can get anything you want on the other side of it.
So today, if you’re feeling the pressure, you want to quit, you want to give up, maybe you’ve already given up but you feel compelled to go again… the little voice inside of you is telling you to try again, to go for it again, this is for you!!!
Lets start by rewinding 4 years ago. This was at a time in my life when Travis and I had sold everything to travel the country in an RV… with 3 kids under the age of 5. I vividly remember the moment…
I had just gotten done at the gym. I was standing near the front door of our RV, Travis was sitting down at the table, and the kids were playing outside in the dirt. It had been over a year since I had given birth to Nixon, our third child, and I was intentionally trying to put on muscle. I have always been a skinnier type, but I have never really been toned or carried much muscle mass, so I was really trying to change that. Trying being the keyword because I wasn’t proactively seeking outside help or insight. I was mainly doing it within my own knowledge base and control, which tells you exactly how most of my results were turning out. Anyhoo, after months of what I considered to be strong, intentional workouts, I finally said to my husband, “I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t feel like I am gaining as much muscle mass as I should be based upon the frequency and level of intensity in my workouts.”
Truth be told, I hadn’t changed a whole lot about how I was working out. I was just doing more of the same thing.
Side note, doing more of the same thing will never get you different results.
I continued to go on and on about everything I was doing, all the things I wasn’t doing, and was positioning the conversation as more of a “vent session” than a “give me feedback session.” I don’t think he gave it much profound thought. He might not have even looked up from what he was doing, but after I had gone on for well over ten minutes, out rolled a truth bomb I will never forget.
“Are you lifting ‘til failure?” he asked.
“Am I what?!” I thought. Am I lifting ‘til failure? What the heck does that mean? And who the heck does he think I am?
But by gosh, given ten seconds of thought, he was completely right. NO, I wasn’t lifting ‘til failure. I was lifting ‘til I was sort of uncomfortable. I was lifting ‘til I was kind of sweating. Was I “lifting ‘til failure?” NOOOOOOOOO!
How great an example does that paint for all of us? Are we lifting ‘til failure, in any area of our lives? If we’re honest, probably not. We are lifting until we are sort of, kind of, uncomfortable. We are lifting ‘til we don’t want to anymore. We are lifting ‘til we want to do something different. We are lifting ‘til it’s hard, and then we stop. We are lifting to fit our own levels of comfort, but lifting ‘til failure? No. The problem with this approach is that we are missing the entire benefit of muscle gain. You might be burning calories and staying thin, no harm, no foul there, but you are not building muscle.
Let me ask you this:
What do you do when you get uncomfortable?
What do you do when things get hard?
What do you do when things aren’t going the way that you planned or thought?
Are you letting the stress of life make you or break you?
I do NOT ask you these questions to condemn you, I ask you them to simply draw awareness to how you’re currently interpreting your hard.
Cuz let’s face it…
And this is the first principle…
PRINCIPLE #1: It’s all hard!!!
Being fit is hard, being fat is hard. Having no money is hard, having money is hard. Being single is hard. Being married is hard. It’s all hard!!!!
But what you’ve got to understand is THE IMPORTANCE OF PICKING YOUR HARD.
Instead of avoiding the hard, I want you to PICK THE HARD that will get you what you want MOST. Not the path of least resistance, I want you to pick the hard that will lead you down the path of your greatest dreams come true.
THAT is the hard you want.
Second PRINCIPLE #2: Your dreams require strength.
The true value in understanding this tool is being able to recognize that your dreams are going to require strength. Nothing worth having comes easy and not because we have a mean God who wants to make life hard but because of the character development it offers us.
We live in a fastfood world which means it’s easy to grow accustom to having what we want, when we want it. But God and your dreams are not about quick service they’re about character building.
If I could summarize this tool with one scripture it would be, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:24).
You’re going to need to gain strength along the way of manifesting, obtaining and capturing your dreams. Why? Because it’s gonna need you strong once you obtain them. The weight of the dream needs you WELL PRACTICED along the way.
And the last principle, PRINCIPLE #3: Joy is found in the right kind of hard!
Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?
Happy is cheap. Anyone can be happy when everything is good but not everyone is happy when things aren’t good. But when we stick with it and we lean in, we develop JOY that no one can take away. No amount of external obstacles, money in the bank, accolade from society. Why? Cuz you’re free!!!
THIS IS FREEDOM my friends!
Freedom isn’t found in being able to do it all, whenever you want, however you want… Freedom is found in doing the things that are right for your SOUL even when it’s hard!!! It’s building relationship with yourself, relationship with God, trust with yourself, and a stick-to-it-ness that build this inner resolve!!!
What about you? Are you “lifting ‘til failure” in any area of your life, or are you just lifting until you are sort of, kind of uncomfortable?
And is this giving you the results you want?
If not, I am going to invite you to lean in today, to dig deep, to lift ‘til failure…
If that’s you, I’m going to ask you to respond in 2 ways:
- Be a part of our text message community. This will support you in renewing your mind every week with weekly encouraging messages sent direct to your phone. Text DREAMNOW to 22999
- Sign up for a DARE TO DREAM SESSION. It’s 30 minutes, it’s totally free, and we are going to work together to identify the MAIN THING that’s stopping you and the MAIN THING that’s going to get you unstuck. Respond today – https://thejuliagentry.com/coaching/
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