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Motivation

Are you finding things hard?

By October 11, 201714 Comments

Hey champ,

You know what people don’t really talk about that much? That working to improve yourself is HARD.
But you know what’s hard too? Staying where you are.

Yes, working to lose weight or start a business is hard work. No one’s gonna deny that. It’s bloody hard work.
But not having energy to play with your kids or turning up everyday to a job you hate? Well, that’s hard too.

The thing about working hard towards something you want – like losing weight, paying off debt or hitting a new milestone in your business – is that it is always worth it. Because it challenges you. It stretches you. And it gets you to a place that is better than where you are now.

So today, I thought I’d share my daily ritual for leaning into the hard stuff.

You ready?

I start my day with the absolute worst and hardest thing on my To Do list. It seems counterintuitive, but hear me out.

If there’s a really difficult email I need to send to an employee or client, I do it first thing in my work day. If I have to have an awkward conversation with someone, I’ll call them first thing in the morning. Back in my Ironman training days, if I had an intense training session, I would wake up, make a coffee and just get it done.

I call it doing the worst first.

It’s a strategy I learned after the fire. In hospital, and for months afterwards, I had to change my bandages every day.

It was excruciating painful, and it would take hours and hours.

I’d lie awake at night dreading it, and, every morning, I could actually hear the screams of other patients who had their dressings changed first.

Obviously, I didn’t really cope with it all.

Then one day, one of my favourite nurses gave me some advice. She said “Turia, I know this is unbelievably hard, but if you don’t take control of the situation, you’re going to leave here a broken woman” (Yep, she’s a legend!).

So, to take back some control, I volunteered to go first. On top of that, I asked them to start with the most painful areas first.

By getting the hardest thing over and done with, it made the rest of my day easier and easier. It gave me a mental boost that made me feel like I was in control again.

So, whatever it is you’re trying to achieve, pick the biggest challenge on your list and do it, like, right now. Just get it done. Make that difficult phone call, start that major project, send that email you’ve been putting off.

By doing the worst first, you’ll get a mental boost which will feed into more task-smashing productivity throughout your day.

Let me know how doing the worst first makes you feel in the comments below.

And remember, working to improve yourself is HARD but nothing worth having comes easy.Tweet it!

Turia xx

PS – I reckon the sooner kids and teens learn this stuff the better. I’ve got a whole chapter dedicated to smashing epic goals, with stacks of tips and tools for kids and teens inside my eBook, Good Selfie. If you know someone who could benefit from that, check out Good Selfie!

14 Comments

  • Turia I love to read your stuff. Another thought provoking post and I love it. It makes so much sense! And of course if you do the crap task you have been dreading first up, then the rest of your day goes swimmingly!
    I am sure you will not remember me, but I worked up at Argyle mine when you and Michael were there. I left just before you had your accident and I was horrified when I heard about what happened. You are an amazing young woman and all of the things that you have done since never cease to amaze me.
    I too am a nurse and although I still work in nursing my passion is teaching and mentoring women to realise their real estate dreams in renovating houses for a profit. I’m finding the whole business thing a heap harder than I imagined and FB ads do my head in but I am determined to get on top of all of this and make a difference – just like you do every day.
    If you are ever over in the West let me know, I would love to chat to you, and perhaps one day work on some projects that make a difference in the lives of young women. You just never know!
    Keep well, stay safe
    Cheers
    Julie

  • Jenny says:

    Turia, you’re a legend! (I know you’ve heard that heaps before!) This is great advice. I always feel so much better having done that scary thing on my tick list because what’s always worse than doing it is always the anticipation… and the longer you spend worrying about it the longer you’re giving yourself a hard time about it. As soon as it’s done you feel better! Even if you’re worried about the outcome of doing something (asking someone out… asking for a payrise… making that phone call…) at least once you know the outcome then you can move forward from there – if it’s a positive outcome, great, but even if it’s negative you can then take your next step towards making a positive move.

  • Cadence says:

    Thanks Turia, that really does inspire me to work hard and do things, even we may not want to. It makes me want to get out there and DO something. To keep growing stronger.

    Best of luck, Cadence

  • Cadence says:

    Thanks Turia, that really does inspire me to work hard and do things, even we may not want to. It makes me want to get out there and DO something. To keep growing stronger.

    Best of luck, Cadence

  • Andrea says:

    I love this and I think I pretty much do it. There are mornings I wake up and think I am too tired to go training but the 4am alarm goes off and I lie there for 5 minutes then I say to myself “get up you lazy b@;ch and go”. Once up and at the gym everything changes and I give it all I’ve got and feel amazing for doing it. GET IT DONE!!!!

  • Sarah says:

    I really needed this. I am doing my driving test (again!) in the morning and I am incredibly nervous. Nerves are my main problem in the test but your words help. This is a driving test, I am not dealing with burns in a hospital. Thank you.

  • Alana Morris says:

    Hi … wow I just admire you ! Every day I wake up with anxiety. Heart stressed pulputations , worried ! I’m my own worse enermy. Then I see your post your pics and realise I’m being god damm selfish with my thoughts . I was married to a a1 narrastic still to this day it consumes me because he manipulates everything. 7 years after being divorced! I just want to be able to send all his shot on his way and be a great mum to our son…. he is a great maniputor to our son knowledge of the real truth

  • Charlotte de Klerk says:

    When I attend to the unpleasant things first thing in the morning, I feel that whatever follows can only be better and should another unpleasant thing come my way during the course of the day, I feel that I have already dealt with a negative, so what the heck, I can deal with another one!!

  • Liz says:

    Wow, didn’t even know I needed to hear this, thank you! It is end of the year, but I just made big choices to make changes in my life… aka taking control of my goals. It is big and scary and exciting. Now that the choice is done, the hard part of taking action is here. Thank you for this boost! Also, I remember my time as a patient in a burn unit, thank you for always sharing bits of this. I wish I would have had your nurse, she sounds like a total legend! Much love to you and thank you for the work you do, it makes a difference!

  • Yep, that’s the same advice my mom gave me, and it is excellent advice. Procrastinating makes everything worse, because you spend a lot of time dreading whatever difficult thing awaits you. Addressing whatever issue you face head on with determination is liberating. Thanks Turia, for more inspiring advice.

  • Nikki says:

    I always tell my kids if they have to do a speech at school to be the first one, get it done, then you can sit back and relax and listen to everyone else’s speech. Otherwise the anxiety just builds.

  • Tracey Foster says:

    Love reading your posts, in the past 12 months we have lost a son, you probably knew him.. Ryan Foster, my husband has Huntingtons Disease, with all of this, I thought, how can I best deal with this… SO, I quit my job at NRMA … I took on a part time job at our local real estate with my best friend and I learnt how to SUP surf… I am now totally addicted to the ocean, I threw all of my energy in to this sport which I LOVE….. So, next challenge is to learn to (prone Surf).. My husband was an amazing surfer, and gets so much joy out of watching me learn and being my surf coach!. All those voices in my head saying “why, do you want to?, You are already in the water, You can already SUP surf, You will never be able to do, it’s too hard! ” Not listening to it…. I want this! So I am up to my 3rd time in the water, and not yet standing, but Never, Never Give up. ! Thanks for the inspo Turia! You are a true Legend! x

  • renato says:

    Thanks Turia.

  • Milena says:

    Turia: He estado pasando por cosas díficiles en todo sentido, mi empresa, mi esposo, mi salud… pero si he decidido hacer lo difícil, gracias!