Once upon a time in life, I was a victim. Hard things happened to me. I was in abusive relationships, I almost died from a very strange infection that affects about one in a billion, I found myself in a heap of debt and in a horrible depression. I remember thinking no one would believe all of the crazy things I had been through.

Until I met a man who lost his son to Cancer.

Then I realized that everything I had been through was A) Largely my own fault, and B) nothing compared to what he had been through. Then I heard the story of Yeonmi Park, who escaped North Korea at 13 years old with her mother only to be sold into sex slavery in China and then to escape again across a frozen desert. You can read more of her story here. After hearing her story I felt like I was a big crybaby and I needed to grow up.

Since then I have learned two things.

First – Life is hard for everyone, and I can’t control what happens to me and I can’t control other people, I can only control my reaction. I get to be okay no matter what life throws at me. That is my CHOICE.

Second – Is the fact that I CAN DO HARD THINGS, and I am FINE. In fact, I’m more than fine – I’m GREAT! Seriously, I live in a country with plumbing and landscaping and all the food I can eat at my fingertips. And yet I thought of myself as a victim? Holy moly, I had some work to do.

Now that doesn’t mean that any of those things are okay or that I don’t have the right to get down sometimes. It just means that I need to get my ass back up, put one foot in front of the other, and take a step toward better. It’s a CHOICE.

Every. Damn. Day.

And – just as I find myself seeking out new and interesting challenges in life to test my fortitude – one of my clients, Fox And Friends’ own Will Cain, seems to have wrangled me into doing a challenge called 75HARD. It’s hard. I mean, I’m pretty darn regimented getting up at 4:30 am and following my nutrition and exercising regularly, but this is adding a new layer of suck to it all. And the truth is – it’s not even suck – it’s just flat out Mental Toughness. It’s a 75-day GRIND to prove to yourself that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. And that is something that I think we ALL need to know right now.

Here’s the thing: Life is hard. For everyone. What can you DO to know that you are Fine? Or even Great?

So I am committing myself to this 75 Hard Challenge starting February 1st. And yeah, it might kinda suck. But I will be stronger and healthier and it will get me ready to climb Kilimanjaro in September – and most of all I will own the fact that I can do hard things.

If you or your loved ones would like to join in on the fun – send me a text or a DM and Let’s GO!