3 Strategies For Doing Hard Things

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been forced to keep my knee immobilized, which has limited the scope and range of my workouts.

As you might imagine, for someone who relies on exercise and hasn’t missed a workout in over 11 years, it’s not been an ideal situation.

The ski erg has become my daily companion. Mostly I’ve been doing upper body exercises, with some single leg work mixed in. I haven’t taken a CrossFit class in over 3 weeks.

My routine has become a bit rote and boring, not to mention frustrating.

Today, seeing that my friend was the only one in an early morning class, I decided to join him. The workout was fairly simple and easy enough for me to find adequate variations, even if it wasn’t exactly the same stimulus.

It was the first time in 3 weeks that I did a workout that was a sustained amount of high intensity cardio. Although it wasn’t a crazy intense workout, the build-up of volume did get challenging.

At the end I felt good: invigorated and energized, the way I like to feel after a workout.

Movement truly is medicine — not just for the body, but for the soul.

I could have done the same thing on my own, but the reality is that I wouldn’t have done it with the same intensity. Without the constraints of the clock, I wouldn’t have pushed myself with the same urgency. Without the presence of other people doing the workout with me I wouldn’t have felt the same motivation to push myself. I would have taken more time.

The experience reminded me of 3 important tips for doing hard things — whether in or out of the gym:

(1) Environment is more powerful than willpower.

Motivation comes from within: it’s your motive for doing something.

But no matter how self-motivated you are, it can be hard to kick your own butt into gear sometimes. Putting yourself in an environment that is conducive to the task can help you get started and sustain your pace.

If you want to tackle a hard task, put yourself in an environment and structure that will support your agenda.

The structure of class helps me start without excessive delays and warm-ups, and it keeps me moving on the clock.

(2) It’s easier to do hard things when other people are doing it with you.

Our culture mythologizes the solopreneur, the intrepid independent traveler, and the “self-starter,” but the truth is that it’s human nature to gravitate towards community.

We survive in tribes.

And when we set out to do hard things, there’s no substitute for doing them with other people.

(3) It helps to have other people to push us out of our normal rhythms.

It’s important to know your natural rhythm and pace. Most of the time, it’s important to honor that rhythm. But it’s also important to get out of your rhythm sometimes.

Life requires dynamics: knowing when to slow down and when to speed up; when to go eay and when to push hard.

Within the marathon of life, it’s useful to also practice sprints.

With the right environment and people we can do this in a way that feels supportive rather than traumatic.

Beyond the Gym

Think of something in your life or work that you want to do, but perhaps struggle to initiate or sustain a pace. How can you apply these principles to that endeavor?