Doing the hard things are well, hard. Not that doing them is difficult; it could be simple to do, yet hard to do at the same time. Like this, explaining something in circles.
Doing the hard thing could be saying no to something you want to do but know you shouldn’t do. Like eating a cupcake is easy and choosing not to is hard. At least for me it is. But if I want to have the energy to get through my day and honestly, be able to button up my jeans, I need to do the hard thing and walk away from the cupcake.
Yesterday, I had to film a short video for a work promotion. I didn’t want to do it. I am not an “in front of the camera” kind of person. Staring at myself on my phone, I just couldn’t press the record button. This wasn’t a live promo; I was recording it. And I was frozen.
I started filming and stumbled over my words. Turned it off. Watched my three second snippet and decided I looked like I had no eyelashes. And what was wrong with my hair? Maybe I need bangs?
So, I put on another coat of mascara, fluffed my hair, and sat back down.
With my finger pointed at the record button, I just couldn’t press record. This isn’t hard. It is simple—press record. Talk for a couple of minutes—press stop.
Yet, I sat frozen in front of the screen. I was frozen for so long, my phone reminded me it was time to stand up!
This was supposed to be a short video. Why was this so hard? How come other people seem to do it so effortlessly?
I finally hit record. Then promptly hit stop. Took a breath, started again—hit stop. Finally, after more hours than I care to admit, I hit record. Said what I wanted to say. I stammered a bit. It was awkward. The captions caught every uh, um, and so I said. I used them often. It was hard, but I did it. And then, I hit publish.
I am still embarrassed by the video. But the truth is, this hard thing I did, which was honestly quite simple, brought in two new members. Two people who would not have signed up had I not hit record and then publish.
I needed to do the hard thing to get to where I want to be.
Yes, it was hard. No, the video isn’t perfect. In fact, it isn’t very good. However, it did what months of posting pictures failed to do, it told the story people needed to hear to join.
Doing the hard thing is hard. Yet, not doing the hard things does not give you the results you want.
Today, do something hard you don’t want to do. And when you are done, don’t judge it. Give it some space. Then do it again, a little better. Then do it again.
I’m going to practice in front of the camera a bit. Hoping I get a little less awkward. What are you going to be doing?
Blessings –
Catherine
PS – No I am not including a link to my embarrassing video!