Doing Difficult Things

We’ve all done it: built something up in our heads to epic proportions until we talk ourselves out of doing whatever the thing is because we’ve convinced ourselves it will be too difficult/too challenging/too scary/too…whatever.

Whatever the difficult thing is: starting a new job or ending an unhealthy relationship or tackling a physical challenge or moving to a new place, it’s easy to want to stay in our comfort zone and not do the difficult thing. Sometimes the difficult thing is getting out of bed or getting dressed; sometimes it’s allowing ourselves to be vulnerable or challenging someone else about their behavior toward us. Sometimes it’s setting boundaries and sometimes it’s making ourselves do something we’ve never done before.

We can feel all kinds of things about doing difficult things: fear, anxiety, overwhelm, nervousness, dread, or just plain “I don’t want to!” We’ve all been there. Every single one of us.

BUT…what happens when we face the difficult task? How do we feel when we face those negative feelings and do the difficult thing anyway? Even if the outcome isn’t what we hoped for, we’re generally glad we gave it a try. And if the outcome IS what we’re hoping for? We feel pretty good about that, right?

We’re more likely to regret the things we don’t try/take a chance on than we are to regret the thing we take a chance on.

Each time we do a difficult thing, whether the outcome is what he hoped for or not, we build confidence in ourselves. We put another brick in our foundation of “I can do this”. The more bricks/the stronger our foundation, the more confidence we have that no matter what the next difficult thing is, we can do it. We can face the fear, the anxiety, the uncertainty, the overwhelm, and we CAN DO IT.

So next time you have a difficult thing looming, ask yourself what other difficult things you’ve faced in your lifetime. Check in with yourself about whether you’re glad you faced the difficult task. Ask yourself what your fear is really about, and if you have ever felt that fear before but faced it anyway. Chances are you have….and you’ve faced it head-on….and it’s worked out ok (or maybe even really well). Acknowledge the feelings you’re having, give yourself grace for having those feelings, and take a step toward doing that next difficult thing, whatever it may be.