Choose Your HARD: A way of thinking that can change your life!

Now that we’ve all gotten a start on our New Year’s resolutions, we’re probably realizing how challenging it is to make sustained change. It’s not that we don’t know WHAT to do, it’s that we have trouble executing our plan consistently. . .put simply,  it’s HARD.

Dr. Theresa was LIVE on YouTube on January 8, 2025 to introduce you to a way of thinking that can CHANGE YOUR LIFE and your health. . .she says “Choose your HARD.”

Watch the full recording to learn how you can use this principle to finally make the changes you need to, and see some examples below.

What does it mean?

“Choose your HARD” means that whether we make our desired change or not, both options are HARD in their own way. Though it may be hard to make time for our health and wellness now, it will ALSO be hard to deal with chronic disease later. Put another way, you can either choose the “hard” of what you’ve always done and continue to “get what you always got,” or you can choose the “hard” of doing something new.

Adopting the mindset that we get to CHOOSE which type of “hard” we want to endure can help us make better decisions in the moment.

So how can you start? By listing out the short and long term consequences of BOTH options– to change or not to change– we can better see the outcomes of NOT making the change, which are usually tough pills to swallow.

Check out Dr. T’s examples:

#1 Choose the “hard” of:  Taking action on your health

Dr. T recently had an airport conversation with an executive who travels frequently for work and thus finds it hard to get in regular exercise during the 180+ days per year that he travels. He wants to be more proactive about his health when he travels, but it’s easier to stick to the status quo.

Here’s what his options REALLY are:

• Start exercising while on the road
  • Short term consequences: Hard to schedule time in the day, Hard to work out in unfamiliar environment; Will have more energy, sleep better, experience better focus
  • Long term consequences: Hard to maintain consistency; Improved health; physical and mental longevity
• Maintain the status quo (no exercise while traveling)
  • Short term consequences: Hard on the body: muscle tension/stiffness; Less energy, worsened mood; More time to focus on work
  • Long term consequences: Chronic disease risk, declining health and muscle quality

As we can see, BOTH options are HARD. Which “hard” will he choose? Which “hard” will YOU choose?

#2. Choose the “hard” of: Being in the present

We can use this same framework to make the change toward being more present. It’s easy to get distracted by our phones, emails, social media, and our own thoughts, and it can be HARD to put our phones down and connect with others as we may experience FOMO, miss an email, feel discomfort, boredom etc.

But choosing the “hard” of being present in the short term allows us to develop stronger relationships with our family and team, gives us greater fulfillment in life, and helps us be less distracted and less anxious. It may even give us our time back to allow for the pursuit of our health goals.

More importantly, choosing to be present gives us a bigger margin for handling unexpected draws on our emotional resources. We’ve all been in a situation where a relatively small ask breaks the proverbial camel’s back…imagine your kid had a bad day at school and needs comforting at an inconvenient time when you’re stressed about something else, so you dismiss or minimize their concerns. Had we been more present, we likely would have had more resources available to dedicate to our child.

If you don’t choose the “hard” of being present, you ARE choosing the “hard” that is: unfulfilling relationships, constant distraction, a vague sense of anxiety, and time slipping away without an accompanying sense of meaning.

Choose wisely.

#3. Choose the “hard” of: Forgiveness

Forgiveness is hard, especially when we feel somebody has wronged us and has not yet atoned for their sins. But it can help to remember that the purpose of forgiveness isn’t for another person, it’s for YOU. We can choose to drop the burden of resentment that we’ve been lugging around waiting for somebody else to apologize or unload us, and instead set ourselves free.

Putting on our “choose your HARD” glasses, we can see the following choices and consequences:

• NOT Choosing Forgiveness:
  • Short term: Easier to maintain the status quo; self-righteousness feels good.
  • Long term: We experience the buildup of physical and emotional tension that can have health consequences down the line; we experience resentment; we feel like a victim waiting for an apology that may never come
• Choosing Forgiveness:
  • Short term: It feels HARD to let go; we may lose a sense of identity if we’ve carried a burden for a long time and then let it go
  • Long term: We experience greater compassion, deeper relationships, a sense of calm, and become better at forgiving ourselves.

The choices are both hard. But only one pays off in the end.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking to make a change in your life, but it’s feeling hard, consider which “hard” you are choosing….by listing out the consequences of INACTION, you may gain clarity on which choice is actually harder in the long run.

How to dive deeper?

At Movement Rx, we are in the business of creating teams that lead and work better from a place of wellbeing. Because if you don’t make time for your wellbeing now, you’ll have to make time for disease later. Let us help your team build and leverage their well-being.

Schedule a Well-Being Strategy Call.