Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness

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Despite the title sounding somewhat like it would be talking mostly about grit, it is more of a broad-based look, that focuses on self-betterment and performance; across all endeavours. Once upon a time, he ran a mile in 4:01 in high school, at the time the 6th fastest high school mile in US history. We tell our sons and daughters to “man up” or, in much cruder terms that are heard on playing fields across the country, “stop being a pussy. However, the roadmap we were given to overcome life’s challenges and tribulations is oftentimes not grounded in reality.

With that in mind, I of course had high expectations going into this book and spoiler alert: Do Hard Things far exceeded my expectations. Being honest with yourself is what will allow you to pursue your goals relentlessly, which will improve your endurance and performance over time. Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on performance, coauthor of Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success and The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life, and the author of The Science of Running: How to Find Your Limit and Train to Maximize Your Performance.

Our definition of toughness has, unfortunately, revolved around a belief that the toughest individuals have thick skin, fear nothing, constrain emotions, and hide vulnerability.

From beloved performance expert, executive coach, and coauthor of Peak Performance Steve Magness comes a radical rethinking of how we perceive toughness and what it means to achieve our high ambitions in the face of hard things. I might be biased because as a runner and someone who works in mental health this book was somehow extremely relevant to both aspects of my life. Compounding our confusion, we’ve resorted to tying toughness to masculinity and an ethos of machismo. Surprisingly I even liked his definition of toughness: “ Real toughness is experiencing discomfort or distress, leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action. As someone who has repeatedly faced this in life, and especially so in the last few years, and as someone who used a combination of aggressive and disciplined workout regimens and mindfulness practices to take back a little bit of control of my own life, and to set in on a more sound footing despite external circumstances, I can very strongly relate with his suggestions.

He spends time reminding the reader that there are dangers in setting your expectations too low or too high. When a team of organizational psychologists studied the NBA, they found that a coach’s behavior in a single season influenced their performance for the rest of their career. It protects from physical or psychological threat, such as shielding our ego from the bruise of failing a job interview. The section on the brain and the inner voices was helpful and something new I’ve walked away with from this book. Collectively his books have sold more than a quarter-million copies in print, ebook, and audio formats.

Fueled by lessons learned over 20 years of building production code for side-projects, small businesses, and hyper growth startups.A study of elementary school students found that overconfident readers often chose books way above their level of comprehension. Perhaps you’ve pushed through physical pain only to find that the more you ignored it, the more unbearable it became. This book would be great for coaches or parents looking to find ways to foster toughness and grit in their players/kids. It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality.

If you set an unrealistic goal – say, doing a hundred push-ups a day when you’re not in shape – and you fail to meet that goal, you have to lower the bar. The title suggested that the author would be discussing both how people get resilience wrong, and the ‘surprising science’ of real toughness. I'd be happy if more coaches (and teachers and parents) read this one, and I'm likely to go back through at least my highlights if not a full re-read, especially of the first 3/4 or so. Do Hard Things' by Steve Magness is a motivational book that challenges the notion of settling for mediocrity.Author Steve Magness is a world-renowned expert on performance, coauthor of Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, and The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, and the author of The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance.