If You Don’t Want To Grow, Please Don't Do Anything Hard.

I’m a big fan of the saying “How you do the small things is how you do the big things”.

It explains that nothing is ever truly “small” enough that it grants you permission to slack off, and that if you don’t stay consistent with who you want to be, regardless of how small it is, you’re only adding evidence as to why you're not them.

But, how about this: “Observing yourself when doing smaller, voluntary, difficult things allows you to see the parts of yourself that are holding you back”.

Okay, that’s not exactly as punchy, but here’s what I mean.

When you’re staring at the cold tub of water, when you’ve just woken up to that early alarm, when you’re lacing up your shoes to go for a run or putting yourself through any other voluntary discomfort, you’re going to get a front row seat to the ugliest parts of yourself.

I’m referring to what's often called the “Inner Bitch”, which essentially is the voice that’s always trying to convince you to stay within your comfort zone, wrapped up warm and cosy and dry.

“Come on, James, you’ve already trained so hard this week, what harm will one day off do? You probably need the recovery anyway,” he says, trying his hardest to get me to stay in bed.

Observing this voice, seeing it for what it is, and practising the art of ignoring and pushing past it is exactly why I absolutely adore purposefully putting myself through hard things. 

It’s why I know when I’m on mile 20 of the marathon I haven’t done yet, my legs are in agony, I feel as though I have nothing left, maybe I’ve broken an ankle, it still won’t be enough to stop me finishing the race.

I know this because I understand that the only thing that can ever hold you back in life is yourself.

Unfortunately, this lesson can never be taught. It’s learned through experience and experience only.

You do something hard. You pay attention. You fail. You learn. You try again. You win.

When you learn to beat the only person that is ever going to truly hold you back, what’s left but to see how far you can go?