the other day i decided that i should go swimming at 5:30 in the morning.

let me first say 100% of this sounded like an awful idea. it’s dead of winter, i’m off my early morning schedule and the idea of getting up in pitch black to get into a cold pool and do cardio laps for 30 mins sounded like pure pain.

and that’s exactly why i felt i had to do it.

doing hard things let’s you know you are capable to doing hard things. that inner pride that you get from doing something hard – embracing the suck – as david goggins put it – creates confidence. confidence is like a bucket – depositing little drops in until your full of it. doing a 5am swim adds a drop, giving a presentation i dreaded doing adds a drop, having a candid convo adds a drop – all these things add up and makes me feel more capable, more confident and more able to take on bigger, harder, suckier things.

the other night i told my son he had to go into the gas station by himself to grab me some washer fluid. i thought it would be a fun little exercise to add a drop to his self esteem bucket. he didn’t want to do it at all. i didn’t give him an option but i gave him super specific advice. i gave him some cash, told him to grab the two juggies and go in there in pay.

he came out beaming. he was so proud of himself for doing something so grown up and for him, hard. turns out the girl gave him a free tim bit and a paid him a compliment that ‘he was so polite’. triple win.

so go do a hard thing. tell me about it in the comments.

also, just to note, since i know the universe has a killer sense of humour – the heater in the pool had been off and the water was a real cold 70 degrees.

i almost bailed. but i didn’t 🙂