I Can Do Hard Things

This phrase came up a couple of times last week for me.  It initially popped up as an empowering statement in the first grader that I babysit’s online school.  Then, I came across it again in the most recent book I am reading (Untamed by Glennon Doyle).  I find it so simple and easy to tell myself which is why it has become my new daily mantra.

Life is Hard

First step is to accept this fact that life is hard.  I’m sure I am not the only one bombarded with ads for products and ‘solutions’ to making life easier.  I am going to be blunt and say that I find half of that to be unnessary and a waste of money.  Don’t get me wrong, some things make parts of life easier.  But anything promising to make life itself easier is setting you up for failure.

Because like I said, life is hard!  School is hard.  Relationships are hard.  Family is hard.  Why feel the need to fight that fact?  Once we accept that life is hard, we can hone into our confident resiliance and fully tackle the hard things.  Because we can do hard things!

How I Use It

Mountain biking is one of the scariest things I have ever tried.  Is that saying something about how I live my life?  Either way, I don’t care because there is something terrifying about it.  I also find it fun and challenging (even though I have been a total of three times and one was indoors).

My third time on a mountain bike was yesterday when Eric wanted to do somethng different.  And guess what?  It was still terrifying.  How did I get through it?  By telling myself I can do hard things.  This helped the most when when I was mentally and physically tired from an hour of riding on rocky, hilly trails.  Unknowingly to me, we can spent that hour making our way to the bottom of the ski resort that we were biking at.

Can you imagine my surprise when Eric looked up the ski hill and told me that we needed to bike straight up it?!  Well, I was indeed surprised and quickly realized my exhaustion (and secretly scolded myself for not eating a bigger breakfast).  With a little help from my new daily mantra, I took a deep breath and made my way up the hill.  It wasn’t a fast or pretty journey to the top, but I made it – proving to myself that I CAN DO HARD THINGS!

How YOU Can Use It

Seriously, instead of frantically trying to make your life easier, use your precious energy to embrace the hard parts of life.  Tackle them with grit and determination all while telling yourself:

“I can do hard things”

So whether you need this extra boost to continue/finish paying off your debt, challenge yourself physically, or get through an emotionally tough season, I hope it has served as a reminder.  A reminder that you are rocking it.  You CAN do hard things and there is greatness in that!

Curious on what to read for personal development?

Check out my recommended reading list