When’s the last time you tried doing something that was hard?  No, really hard.   No, even harder than that.  Think you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me hard.

Maybe it’s readingWar and Peace (or anything from Tolstoy).

Maybe it’s intentionally depriving yourself of something for a week (you’ll very quickly discover how much power it does or doesn’t have).

For me it was running a marathon.

A year before I was 35 pounds heavier, a product of running cross-country in middle school then taking a 25-year water break.  Now, it was 2009 and I had finished my first half-marathon, reveling in the joy that only a finish line can bring.  And then it flashed through my mind ever so briefly.  “Why not try a ‘full’ next time?”  Chalking it up to sodium deficiency or dehydration, I dismissed it.  For a day.  Then just decided to do it.

Now the cool thing would be to say accomplishing my new goal was one blissful stride after another, full of smiles, motivation, and athletic ease.  It’d also be a lie.  Training was tough. Really tough.  A body rebelling against being pushed.  Solo running.  Cold.  Rain.  Not to mention Mile 23 in the actual race that following April.  But on that spring afternoon, in a little town north of Lancaster, PA, I accomplished something hard.

Set goals.  But be sure to include something difficult.  Then get after it.  If your determination wanes, find it again, and keep going.  If you stumble, here’s a secret trick.  Get back up.  And run on.

Easy is, well, easy.  Hard stuff.  That’s worth going after.