A Love Letter to Those Who Are Ready for More

Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom. Each week(ish), I share some insights and lessons learned from my business-building journey, allowing me to RV more often. The goal? To offer breadcrumbs of my successes and failures so we can all rise together.

I recently started a new training program after realizing how good I was at making excuses not to put in the work for my health.

The problem wasn’t what it seemed, though. I am motivated. I love feeling healthy. I really love looking at pictures of myself and not feeling like I look like a sausage in my black pants on stage. And, for a less vain reason, I want to be strong enough to move heavy things with my husband when he needs help. 

The real reason I was making excuses is because the work stopped being fun. 

Last week, I was telling my husband about the next run on my 10 weeks to 10k training plan as we jetted down the highway to deliver inventory to a shop. Being the competitor he is, he asked, “How fast are you going to go? 10:00 mile? You can do it if you push yourself!” While he might be right, I surprised myself with my kneejerk response:

I’m going to push myself as hard as I need to so I enjoy it enough to keep going with this training program.

As soon as I said it, I realized that’s how I want everything to feel. Fitness. Business. Pressure canning (a new love of mine). Drawing. Camping. Everything.

The truth is, I love it when things feel hard. I love pushing my upper limits. I love pursuing new goals and meeting them. I love the thrill of the wins and know that winning requires work.

I also love feeling really good about the journey toward the end goal. The training needs to feel as fun as reaching the destination, or you won’t get those microbursts of endorphins along the way. 

While on that next training run, I reflected on the comment and realized a few things about this crazy adventure we call life. The health. The professional element. The memories we’re making. Here’s what came to mind:

The idea of pushing yourself isn’t an all-or-nothing approach. Committing to success doesn’t require you to suck all the joy out of the journey.

You get to choose your hard. 

That phrase seems to be circulating in many fitness circles lately. I also talked about it in a recent Instagram post. I love the concept of choice.

In a world where everything feels more divisive (pineapple on pizza, anyone?), the idea that we get to choose what feels hard AND how hard we want it to feel is refreshing. Hard for me will be to say no to an extra round of Super Bowl snacks this weekend. Hard for the Olympic athlete gearing up for the Paris 2024 Olympics might be relentlessly tracking macros and getting enough protein in their diet. 

Yes, we get to choose what feels hard. Unhealthy vs. healthy. Successful business vs. not putting yourself out there. Both are hard. But it’s not quite as cut and dry as it might seem. 

The hard we choose falls on a spectrum, and we also get the ability to choose where on that spectrum we want to live. We get the chance to push ourselves further toward the goal methodically rather than abruptly, giving us more room to enjoy the process toward success.

If you’re new here, you might have missed the reinvention of my career I kickstarted last year. I’m even writing a book on the journey into and out of online coaching (it’s already in the works behind the scenes) because that journey is intense.

It requires big, stomach-turning conversations.

It requires vulnerability and honesty with yourself and with the world.

It requires healthy ego-checking at the next door as you step into another unknown and reshape how people think of you.

If you’re going through your transformation process, or if you’re dreaming about transforming your business, your health, or any part of your life’s journey, know this — you have the power to pursue that next big thing inside of you.

That’s a cliche statement (and, ugh, how I hate those), but it’s such an important reminder. 

When you notice yourself only giving about 40% of your best toward the big thing you’re pursuing, it’s time for something to change. You’re better than that and worth more than letting all that power brewing naturally inside you go to waste. 

If you’re not in love with what you’re doing, you have the strength to change it. Sure, it can feel insanely hard (ask me, I know), but that hard is worth the energy to make the big shifts so that you can come out on the other side proud of what you’re doing and proud of what you’ve created.

That brings me to the last thing that rolled through my mind on that training run…

This is a phrase I often say to my kids when they push back on trying something new. It’s also a phrase I’ve started muttering when I feel the friction. 

The feeling of hard isn’t something negative. It’s a gut check that keeps us moving on our path. The things that feel difficult but enticing are the things we should be pursuing. Ignore the things that feel scary, and like you’ll lay on your deathbed with zero regrets for never trying (that’s skydiving for me). 

When you feel friction on your path toward your goal, let it be a welcome gut check where you ask yourself, “Is this going to get me closer to the end goal?” That gut check stops you and lets you recalibrate your stance toward your big, lofty vision. 

Then, when you see that the hard thing standing in your way is the very thing you must do to reach your goal, it’s easier to say with conviction, “I can do hard things,” as you keep moving on your journey.

Suddenly, the hard feels good. 

Suddenly, the journey becomes more exciting.

Suddenly, you’re in a mindset where you’re having fun with the challenge and embracing the burning in your lungs as you keep putting one foot in front of the other toward that big, lofty goal…

… because what’s more challenging than pushing your upper limits is standing still in the silence of not pursuing big things simply because it feels hard while the world continues to move forward without you.