Woohoo! Hard things get easier

Hey Reader,

Something funny happened on one of my runs last week.

I went out on Friday for a 20-mile long run, and it was raining the whole time.

For anyone who doesn’t run, that’s about 32 kilometres, more than three-quarters of a marathon.

It was one of those warm rains, so no jacket needed and no danger of freezing like back in the UK

At some point, I caught myself thinking, “It’s just a 20-miler, no big deal.”

I actually laughed at myself.

I’ve had my fair share of runs where that distance felt hard.

I’ve been deep into hundred-mile races where everything hurt, and I was thinking, ‘I’m not even halfway. This is absurd. How is this even possible?’”

And here I was on a rainy Friday, calling 20 miles “just” a run.

🧠 It wasn’t always this easy

Most of us have done hard things that we don’t even think of as hard anymore.

Things you spent days, weeks, months, or even years preparing for, and you still didn’t feel ready.

But you showed up and did it anyway.

Then you did it again and again.

Each time, you could tell it got a little less scary and a little more normal.

Looking back now, you’ve become so much better at it.

It’s interesting how you can go from “This is really hard” to “Not a big deal, I can do that.”

Sometimes, we don’t really notice how much we’ve evolved.

We just get on with it and move on to the next thing.

But there’s so much growth going on.

And it’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

❤️ Bring that trust with you

What you’re working towards now probably feels really hard.

I really like this idea that confidence and belief come from knowing you’ve done the work.

All the great, crazy things you’ve achieved are the result of a lot of work, training, experience, and exposure.

It’s evidence that you can do much more.

The magical moment is when you not only believe you can achieve this present goal, but you know you can do it and expect you’ll do it.

If you can then release the NEED to do it, a lot of the pressure goes with it: the panic about not having done it yet and the fear of failing.

Whatever happens on the day happens on the day.

You might even start to enjoy the challenge a little more.

You trust that the work is already in you.

And when you get to the other side of this one, you’ll be so proud of yourself.

So what’s the hard thing in front of you right now?

What’s making it feel so big?

What would change if you trusted yourself with it the way you trust yourself with the old stuff?

It won’t stay this hard forever.

Give it a few more goes, and it won’t feel like such a big deal anymore.

You’ve got this.

On this week’s pod, we talked about building confidence from the work you’ve done as you get ready for a big goal.

I also shared a vision quest I’m headed off to for a few days, and loads more great stuff.

Catch the conversation here:

Ep 30. Is Alice set for Chic...

Oct 13 · Two Average Runners

59:25

With appreciation

Huw

P.S. On Thursday, October 22, from 2 to 3pm ET (7 to 8pm UK time), I’m wearing my Talentism coaching hat and sitting down with Scott DePetris on Zoom to talk about private equity.

Scott is a serial entrepreneur who’s been through five successful PE-backed exits.

We’ll be having an honest chat about what private equity really looks like from the operating side, and how it changes the way leaders lead and teams work day to day.