How to do hard things

I am immediately skeptical of any framework for getting something done. Individuals often use these elaborate processes to procrastinate, and in organizations they have a tendency to become bloated risk avoidance mechanisms. I see the former danger in David Maciver’s strategy for doing hard things, but it did remind me of my own, so I want to take a minute to share my approach here.

In short, just do the hard thing. When you don’t feel like working out, go anyway. When you don’t feel like writing, write anyway. The more something scares you, the more important it is that you get aggressive, charge into it, and crush that thing until it holds no power over you. You might need a twelve step process to conquer that hard thing, but just like in weightlifting, give hard work a try first.