It’s Not That Hard, I think?

 

 

Last Tuesday I started the 1st phase of 75 Hard. I completed the initial 75 Hard in December. I love this challenge kind of. The initial phase is as follows:

 

For 75 days I had to do these things everyday:

 

  1. 45 minute workout
  2. 45 minute outdoor workout
  3. Take a progress picture
  4. 10 pages of reading (non-fiction)
  5. Drink a gallon of water
  6. Follow a diet
  7. No cheat meals or alcohol

 

If I miss any of these steps the challenge starts at the beginning. It’s work and the hardest part is not the challenge steps. It's the mental grind. It is finding the grit to do an outside workout in the rain. Living in Washington there were a lot of those. When I finished, I was so excited. I had never completed something like this before. I have always struggled with consistency. Once I become bored with something, then I really struggle. Seventy-five days of this was hard, but man, the level of confidence I walked away with was life changing. I would say this blog was a result of me completing this challenge. I found myself more confident and less negative towards myself. It was awesome! On day 75 I hit the completed button on the app. What popped up next crushed me. 

 

“Congrats on completing Step 1 of 75 Hard '' Wait there's more I thought to myself? Three additional phases, each thirty days long, to be completed over the course of the whole year to follow. 

 

Right away I knew I was not done. There is more and I had no idea. I mentally was not ready for that message. I was ready for the validation from friends and family for my success. I was ready for a party like I had done something great. It took me a couple hours to work though it and reset a bit. Cameron Hanes has a saying that I love, “Nobody cares, Work harder”. This was a perfect fit for the moment. Completed the challenge? Cool for you, nobody cares, work harder. It may seem mean or heartless, but really what it is about is not being satisfied. If I want to get stronger, change my physique, get a promotion, complete a challenge, or whatever goal I have, it has to be based on my drive and push to succeed. Pull up the boots and get after it. 

 

I started phase 1 last Tuesday and made it six days. I woke up Monday morning and I had forgotten to log everything from the previous day. The first phase adds more steps as well.  In addition to the seven above I also must:

 

  1. Take 5-minute cold shower
  2. Spend 10 minutes in dedicated visualization
  3. Complete 3 power tasks

 

I failed to complete my picture and the cold shower. Got busy and lost track of things. It would seem this is when Grit is built. What a way to start. I think the saying is not how you start but it’s how you finish. I am excited to start again, to do better with my time and effort. I will call week one failure a warm up.  The question is, was it hard? Yes, it is challenging. What is the point of doing something easy? I want to grow in life and the only way to do that is fail and learn from it. 

 

Next week I will go into detail of the new week one and how things are going so far…

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