There’s no medals in real life. When you accomplish something significant, you may get a few pats on the back, a couple “congratulations”, or a few likes on an IG post, but the real medal is the lessons you learned and proving something to yourself.
Today I drew one last check mark on the white board to signify the end of my 75 Hard journey. I accomplished something big today and it’s a huge relief. So where’s my prize? There isn’t one. There’s no medals, no parades, no interviews, nothing. Tomorrow I will erase 75 straight lines and it’ll be like nothing ever happened. Everyone who knew I was doing this will soon forget and life will move on.
So what’s the point of doing shit like this if you don’t get some kind of recognition?
If you think like that, you’re never going to be happy or feel like you accomplish anything. The goal of challenging yourself is not to gain validation from peers, flashy trophies, or anything external. The purpose of pushing yourself is to prove your strength and resilience to yourself, to learn more about how you work, and to see what you’re capable of.
Doing hard things for external validation and rewards will only lead to your detriment. If you’re always working as a way to impress others, you’ll never win. You will always be looking for the next thing and hoping that will make you happy. When you set out to accomplish something, the main priority should be to better yourself or prove yourself to you and only you.
You will receive praise from people and it will feel nice, but it shouldn’t be the focus. You’ll quickly see how fast people move on and forget about what you’ve done, but you will always remember. This is why you should be doing hard shit for yourself and no one else.
Do it to prove you can. Be insanely disciplined to know what it feels like. Challenge yourself to learn some lessons. Try new things to discover your passions. Do hard shit to show what you’re made of. Never expect a reward. Do it for you.
November 6, 2024
