Are you resisting the hard way?

I recently read this story in the Wall Street Journal, reporting that more students are getting high AP test scores. Administrators are designing the tests to be less and less challenging.

Whatever the motive they have to create easier tests, the sentiment remains the same: we’re not pushing ourselves. And we’re certainly not expecting hard work from others.

We need a Hard Way reset.

I think about this concept daily, because it’s the backbone of Spartan. 

How can we individually and collectively build a higher tolerance for doing hard stuff?

The issue is that our brain is wired to seek comfort, which helps us conserve energy and avoid stress and negative emotions.

When life circumstances get too difficult, our brain has a built-in “circuit breaker” that switches on.

The circuit breaker is responsible for “advice” like…

Don’t go out in the cold, because you might freeze to death.

Don’t wake up too early in the morning, because you’ll be tired.

Don’t run in the rain, because you’ll catch a cold.

The irony is that these are the very things we need to do!

If we can break through our circuit breaker — duct tape it from switching off — we can accomplish nearly anything.

When I was running my pool business back in Howard Beach, New York, I hired some workers from Eastern Europe.

They had left their countries during the fall of communist rule.

These guys worked harder than anyone I had ever seen. They were the first to arrive and the last to leave the job site, and I never heard one complaint.

It was impressive to me because the work was grueling, back-breaking physical labor.

When I asked their secret to their hard work, they told me that compared to the conditions they had left behind at home, the work we were doing was a breeze.

These men showed me that when life is too easy, like those AP tests, you’re not forced to improve.

If you grow up on Park Ave in silk pajamas, your circuit breaker is going to be a lot more reactive and less tolerant than someone who has survived in a war-torn country.

We need to evaluate our current level of tolerance, and intentionally stretch it.

The result? You’ll experience incredible resiliency, less quitting, more life satisfaction, and unbelievable stories to tell.

Just get out and do that hard thing. Sign up. Say yes. Don’t think about it.

What will you do to break your circuit breaker?

Email me at thehardway@spartan.com.

Here’s to The Hard Way!

Joe