Doing Hard Things Is the Shortcut Everyone Misses
Week 01: Holiday Walking Challenge. Stop seeing resistance as punishment! Learn how to use "hard" as a strategy not a stress.
Today marks the start of the Holiday Walking Challenge.
And honestly? I had a feeling it wasn’t going to start off easy. The Midwest got dumped on with one of the largest snowstorms we’ve had in a while. And no, I don’t own a treadmill or a walking pad (although that might become today’s research project).
Snow certainly adds a whole new layer to this challenge. Snow is similar to walking in sand — every step takes more effort than you expect. It’s slower, heavier, and simply harder than normal. But that’s exactly why today brings up such a good lesson. In fact, it’s basically the entire point of the challenge…
Hard isn’t something to avoid. It’s something we can use. And in time, hard becomes easy.
I don’t mean we should purposely make life difficult. I mean, when something is already hard — like winter weather, holiday schedules, or literally the first step of any new action— we don’t have to wait for it to magically get easier before we begin. Showing up when it’s hard is exactly what will make it easy.
And this isn’t just about snow.
Starting almost anything in life is hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because beginnings require energy, attention, and a shift in how you operate. That’s why learning to “befriend hard” is essential if you want to grow into the life you’re designed to live.
Anything different, even good different, will always come with a layer of hard.
Today’s lesson is on befriending hard (and not in the way you might assume).
But first, I need to tell you why I love walking (and why you should join the challenge)!
Truthfully, I don’t always love, love walking. A day like today, in 12 inches of snow on the ground, with more falling, and 15-degree air temperature still requires a pep talk to myself before I find the motivation to head outside.
Walking often requires convincing. But the part that matters is this: the convincing doesn’t come from guilt. It comes from desire.
And that’s a critical distinction because your motivation changes your biological response.
Walking out of guilt does not produce the same benefits in your body that walking out of desire or joy does. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it’s true. The story you tell yourself about why you’re walking literally shifts how your body responds to the walk.
Honestly, I might bring the podcast back just to talk about this plot twist — the one that changes how your biology responds to movement — because it’s huge.
But for now, one of the easiest ways to shift into desire is to actually understand why walking is so beneficial.
Besides being one of the most healing natural remedies, more potent and powerful than most prescription drugs on the market, is because walking is also one of the best ways to implement the mindset shifts you’re having.
Far too many people who want to live healthy… don’t.
Not because they can’t. Not because their body is broken. But because they keep all their knowledge locked up in their head instead of letting it move into their body.
This is the infamous body war. You want to live healthy, but it feels like your body is revolting against you. And most of the time, it’s not for the reasons you think.
More often than not, it’s because you haven’t created the experience of the change you’re trying to make. You haven’t given your body the physical reps of what you’re learning. You haven’t put the new mindset into motion (literally).
So you keep gathering information, consuming more, confusing yourself with it, and then repeating the same old patterns because your body has nothing new to work with.
I’m not blaming you. You don’t know what you don’t know.
But what I am giving you is the actual fuel for change.
The actual fuel for change is…
The actual fuel for change is ALWAYS physical action. It’s the embodiment of information. The part where your body finally experiences what your mind has been trying to understand.
Walking is the simplest, safest, and most approachable way to do that.
It gives your body a new story. And when your body has a new story, it stops fighting you.
Which brings us right back to today’s lesson on hard.
Because embodiment will almost always feel hard at first. Not because it’s wrong, but because it’s new. New means your brain and your body are adjusting to a different way of operating, and that can feel hard.
Hard is simply the transition phase between who you were and who you’re becoming.
This is why befriending hard matters. If you run from the discomfort of the beginning, you never stay in it long enough to let the easy part arrive.
NOTE: If you haven’t signed up for the Holiday Walking Club, this is your cue to do it so you can keep reading and get the full lessons each day. I know you may have a lot of excuses running through your head right now, but they don’t have to win.
This challenge isn’t about meeting a number I set for you. It’s about choosing your own goal and showing up for yourself to meet it. Your daily steps might be 12,000.
Or it might be 3,000. Both count. Both matter. Both move you forward.
I’m simply here to encourage you, guide you, and give you the tools to live what you already know. Because that’s the only way real health (and real joy) is created.
Join here (just $10) to get included in the Holiday Walking Club, get the full daily lessons, enter weekly prize giveaways, and most importantly, start practicing the mindset of embodiment — turning knowledge into action and action into change.