The authors are Christian and their vision for teens is built upon the premise that God has a plan for your life and will help you to accomplish it. But this plan, they assure you, involves doing hard things. Magness has served as a consultant on mental skills development for professional sports teams, including some of the top teams in the NBA. He has also coached numerous professional athletes to the Olympics and world championship level. He has coached seven athletes to top Top-15 finishes at a World Championship, twelve athletes to births on the World Championship or Olympic teams, and guided more than twenty-five Olympic Trials Qualifiers. He helped guide Roberta Groner, a forty-one-year-old full-time nurse, to 6th place in the marathon at the 2019 World Championships. As I said, it has a good premise. Who doesn't think that teenagers need to work harder and have more expectations of themselves. I'll be the first to admit that most of the time, I don't really expect anything of my kids other than they just exist. But, these guys were just over-the-top and so full of themselves and their accomplishments. Some of the descriptions just went on and on. If I had been reading the book at least I could have skipped ahead and not gotten so impatient with all of their superior explanations. Acting tough and being tough are two different things. Moving away from flawed notions of toughness and instead listening to your body, your emotions, and your inner voice will allow you to develop the lasting resilience to overcome even the most daunting challenges.

In the following book summary, you’ll learn how the science of toughness can help you do hard things. That is only the beginning of what this book challenges us to do with our teen years. There are countless stories of other teens who were scared or didn't know what to do, but they decided to persevere and they accomplished great things and grew as people. There is nothing more fulfilling in life than growth. Expanding your knowledge of your community, yourself, the people around you and the world are ways to grow as a person. This could mean trying a new restaurant in town, even if the food is from a culture you’ve never heard of. This could mean traveling to a new country, even if you go through a tour company, you’ll still be experiencing different cultures. Allow yourself to be accepting of people, places, and things that are outside your norm. 2. You Will Become A Better Person Sorry for the rant. As I said, I like the idea of this book and would love to see teens (and even adults) be challenged to do "hard things" and be pushed out of their comfort zone, but these two holier than thou types aren't going to inspire any self respecting adolescents to do anything.If you are interested in self-betterment, and/or high performance - then this one needs to be on your to-read list. If you don't want a book that sits on your shoulder and whispers "do hard things" every time you are faced with a difficult challenge or situation, then I suggest you don't read this book. It will do it. I promise you. Every day, the crewman – whose name was Steven Callahan – begged the captain to give him more than his ration of water. Every day, the captain held firm. Thanks to the captain, Steven Callahan survived the ordeal. And the captain? Well, he survived too. Because he was also Steven Callahan. However, surrounded as we are by a culture that expects teens to be irresponsible, disrespectful, and lazy, we've fallen prey to those misconceptions. We've lost a true understanding of what the teen years are all about, and we fit like perfect puzzle pieces into the picture of modern teen apathy.

As I’ve said, we often procrastinate when something is hard because we want to avoid pain. In a way, procrastination is a defense mechanism. But what if what we think is hard isn’t actually hard?! What if our brains are just assuming something is hard because it doesn’t want to risk the pain?! In one of my classes, we read an old prayer each week. It has unfamiliar words that can be odd and hard to say. Few people ever volunteer to read it. Last week, this book kept nagging me to just do it and read the prayer. I was nervous but when the teacher asked for a volunteer, I immediately raised my hand. It went well and I am glad I did it, but had it not been for this book, I never would have read that prayer to the class.

6. You Will Be More Productive

This book is amazing. It changes your whole way of thinking. I believe that every single teen needs to buy a copy of this book. Thanks, Alex and Brett for challenging us!"

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. Collectively his books have sold more than a quarter-million copies in print, ebook, and audio formats. Many times people avoiding helping or doing the task that nobody wants to do. Not being this person, and instead being the one who chooses to take on the project, or do the task, will help you stand out. For example, if you take on a difficult client at work and succeed, you will be noticed by your boss for your efforts. The next time a promotion comes up, you’ll most likely be on the top of the list to get one. 4. You Will Be HealthierDeadline Bad Robot Adapting Glennon Doyle’s Memoir ‘Untamed’ For TV With ‘Little Voice’ Showrunner Jessie Nelson In a world dominated by social media and the appearance of connection, rather than actual relationships, the need for genuine connection is even more paramount They don't shy away from the less popular aspects of living as a Christian, such as having unpopular opinions on pre-marital sex, homosexuality, abortion and R-rated movies. Somewhat ironically, teaching, parenting, or coaching for this version of “toughness” creates fragile and dependent individuals. What does a child who was taught to follow the rules unquestioningly out of fear do when a parent isn’t there to dictate his behavior? What does an adult who was taught to rely on fear for motivation do when left to her own devices in the real world? What does a football player who learns to push himself only when a coach is screaming in his face do when it’s him alone on the field?"

So what’s the caveat? You should listen to your inner voices. Don’t ignore the negative or destructive voices in your head. That will only make them louder. But don’t just stop there. Listen to the voices that are giving you good advice and authentic support. They’re there if you let yourself hear them. Once you’re tuned into your voices and are listening to what they’re saying – instead of ignoring them in an attempt to feel tough – it’s easy to make sure the right voice is talking at the right time. Learn to respond instead of simply reacting. Do Hard Things is the Harris twins' revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential. IV. it looks at it on all levels. when we talk about world changing we think about people raising millions of dollars to help folks in africa right? well look at that these guys talk about it too. BUT NOT ONLY THAT. they remember the excellence in small things which is so vital and for that I love them. Every challenging and worthwhile endeavor brings a heavy dose of discomfort. When discomfort strikes, the amygdala – a small region in the brain that scientists call the body’s alarm system – is activated. People who burnout have an overactivated amygdala they cannot calm down. How Tough are the best performers in the world? I collected measures of grit on some of the top performers in history. Are they all bastions of toughness, or are they actually more like the rest of us? See for yourself as I walk you through the data to understand toughness.Alex and Brett think that it's time for teens - specifically Christian teens - to get with it. Together, this gifted brother and brother-duo challenges us to transform the way we think about the teen years through Scripture, statistics, engaging real-life stories, examples from history, and scenarios from modern day teens who are choosing to do hard things...for the glory of God. On Purpose with Jay Shetty How To Stop Asking For Permission & Listening To Other People’s Opinions Shute, Nancy (August 25, 2008). "Note to Teens: Do Hard Things". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009 . Retrieved January 20, 2009.