Tag: studying

the hard thing is different depending on who you are. for some people, the hard thing is getting out of bed in the morning and not hitting snooze, or maybe it’s starting that school project, or even going to the grocery store, doing the dishes, washing your clothes, folding the laundry, cooking meals, etc. whatever it is for you, the hard thing is no stranger to any of us. it’s the thing we dread doing and we know it’s not going to be easy.

however, there’s a key different between once person’s hard thing and another’s, and it isn’t in the difficulty of the task, but it’s in the apprehension of the individual. my question for you: why is it more difficult for some of us to do the hard thing?

some people can just look at the hard thing and tackle it head-on, and that’s extremely impressive. but other people procrastinate; they have the hard thing in front of them while they watch netflix, pretending they’ve been productive when they’ve just been distracting themselves.

in case you didn’t guess, i tend to be the second kind of person: focusing is really difficult! for example, i’m choosing to write this post instead of study for my upcoming exam, or i’ve been binge watching Stan Against Evil, or reading about Lady Gaga and listening to the new A Star Is Born soundtrack. (she kills it, per the norm.)

shameless plug: if you have Hulu, try out Stan Against Evil! it has short enough episodes where i feel okay only watching one for a break, it features John C. McGinley (AKA: Dr. Cox from Scrubs), and it’s juuuuust scary enough where I get a little spooked, but always laughable where I don’t end up with nightmares. #StanAgainstEvil

so anyway, i think the key to getting past the hard thing is to basically throw yourself in front of it like you’re a deer and it’s a car. it’s gonna hurt and be really difficult and hard and you’re probably gonna want to quit, which is me right now, but once you’ve been hit by a car, it’s a little easier to do everything else. (haha)

starting is the hardest part. dedicating myself to trying the hard thing for 5 minutes is awful, and it takes more willpower than it does to keep going and finish it, or at least get past the 5 minute mark. it takes more willpower to start the hard thing than it would for me to get distracted and do everything else i don’t want to do. but in the end, i have to do the hard thing. that’s the catch: the hard thing is never optional; it’s mandatory.

i’m going to throw myself in front of the car that is my hard thing now. maybe i’ll get frustrated by minute 5 and stop, but at least i’ll have made a dent in the hood.

[FYI: i am not going to pitch myself in front of a real car. just figure that’s an important tidbit.]