Do Hard Things

Every business owner to be successful, must do hard things. There is nothing in life that is gained without hard work and doing hard things. Is it hard to do hard things?  Yes.

C.S. Lewis said, "It is hard; but the sort of compromise we're hankering after is harder — in fact, it is impossible.... We are like eggs at present. And we cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." In other words, we must do hard things to break through our shell or go bad from inaction. We encounter various pieces of shells as we work on our businesses and must break through them.

Jennifer Miller wrote on her blog, “We have every labor saving device known to man, and we still complain about having to do laundry or wash dishes (in machines!) We don’t walk, we drive. We don’t play sports, we watch other people play them. We don’t climb mountains, we watch the Discovery Channel. We don’t do hard things.  Instead we like to sit back and critique other people who do hard things.” What a sad state it is for those who even consider doing hard things.

Angela Duckworth, an author and psychologist, has studied what is the predictor of those that make it through hard things without quitting. She has studied West Pointe cadets, spelling bee champions, sales associates, Ivy League graduates and more only to discover that the best predictor of success through hard things is what she calls GRIT or defines as passion and perseverance. She defines passion as “consistency over time” and perseverance as “following through.”

As we do things, even hard things, on purpose, consistently, and follow through on our commitments to our customers, our employees and our families we will grow and be better than where we started.

Steve Young, during his first semester at college and on the football team wanted to quit and come home. His father told him; “You can quit…but you can’t come home because I am not going to live with a quitter.” Steve trusted his father, stayed on, did hard things and has had a great career as a result. He said of his father’s answer – “It was tough but it was loving.” While a father’s tough love started a great career for Steve, we can all learn that we are better off not quitting and seeking smart counsel from trusted partners and advisors when we want to give up. Our own determination and their encouragement can lead us to success.

Business owners, and individuals, must do hard things to grow.