[00:00:00] [00:00:05] Welcome to the Influential Personal Brand [00:00:10] podcast. This is the place where we help mission-driven messengers, just like you [00:00:15] learn how to build and monetize your personal brand. My name is Rory Vaden [00:00:20] and I’m the co-founder of Brand Builders Group, a hall of Fame speaker, and New York Times [00:00:25] bestselling author. [00:00:25] And this show is to help experts learn how to become more [00:00:30] wealthy and well-known. I know you’re gonna love it. Thanks for being here. Let’s get started. [00:00:35] We all have a hard. We all have hard things in our life, and some of [00:00:40] us get simple things, but the point is, is no matter what our choices are, we have the [00:00:45] ability to choose. [00:00:46] That was one of the great gifts that God gave to human beings. [00:00:50] He gave us the power and authority to choose. Now, sometimes, [00:00:55] uh, our choices lead to hard things. Sometimes they lead to easier things [00:01:00] and good things, but often the hard choices now are what lead to the [00:01:05] simpler, easier, better things later. But the point being is [00:01:10] that all of our choices can be hard. [00:01:12] And hard isn’t a bad thing. [00:01:15] Uh, think about it like this. You get to choose your hard, [00:01:20] but think about the feeling that you have after you choose the [00:01:25] hard thing. Great example. Over the weekend, I have two choices. [00:01:30] Do I want to lay on the couch and binge the [00:01:35] house of David, which is awesome, or do I want to [00:01:40] go on a intense nature hike with my kids? [00:01:44] Right? [00:01:45] Either one of those are not necessarily bad things. It’s how am I going to [00:01:50] feel at the end of those things? And often when we choose the more [00:01:55] challenging or the harder road, the harder path, we feel a greater sense of [00:02:00] satisfaction at its end. Not saying that I don’t love a good ending to an [00:02:05] episode of the House of David, but I’ll also tell you that the natural endorphins.[00:02:10] [00:02:10] And being in nature and enjoying time with my kids, although it was seemingly the [00:02:15] harder choice in the moment to get my hiking shoes on, put my jacket on, [00:02:20] rally my two young kids get out in nature and and hustle. Seemingly that’s [00:02:25] hard, but the feeling that I get after completing the hard is. So much better [00:02:30] than completing the easy, right? [00:02:32] Anytime that I do something exceptionally hard, [00:02:35] physically, mentally, emotionally, the, the depth of the [00:02:40] satisfaction is always greater than when I made the seemingly [00:02:45] easier, simpler choice in the beginning. Now we all have a hard to choose, [00:02:50] right? It’s hard to lack money. It’s hard to have too [00:02:55] much money, right? [00:02:55] It’s hard to be overweight. It’s hard to be too thin, right? It’s [00:03:00] hard to be single. It can be hard to be married. It’s hard having kids. It’s [00:03:05] hard not having kids if you don’t have them, right? It’s hard to stay fit. [00:03:10] It’s hard if you’re not fit right? No matter what we do, there is a hard and we get to [00:03:15] choose it. [00:03:16] I’m just encouraging and challenging that the [00:03:20] satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment is greater when we choose to do the hard [00:03:25] things. Not for the sake of doing hard things, but typically the hard [00:03:30] things is where we see growth. I. It’s where we get to experience a [00:03:35] change in our bodies and our minds and our souls and our spirits, right? [00:03:39] Having a hard [00:03:40] conversation lends itself to stronger relationships. Not having the hard [00:03:45] conversation deteriorates existing relationships. It might [00:03:50] feel easier to just avoid it and to bury it deep down, but. That harbors [00:03:55] resentment and bitterness and it creates a divide in relationships. Yeah. It’s [00:04:00] harder to have hard conversations that are emotional and you’re gonna have hurt feelings, and they’re [00:04:05] gonna have hurt feelings, but by having hard conversations, you can restore what’s [00:04:10] broken. [00:04:10] That is harder, but it is more satisfying to do it. I feel [00:04:15] the same way after. Choosing to eat healthy, which is hard. [00:04:20] In a world where everything is fast and convenient and packaged, it is hard [00:04:25] to go, no, I’m going to make fresh food and take the time. Not only [00:04:30] is it hard, it’s expensive, right? But it takes more time. [00:04:32] It’s harder to do it, but the way that I [00:04:35] feel after a healthy meal versus a grab and go right [00:04:40] fast food meal is. Astronomically different, not even in [00:04:45] comparison, right? It is choosing the hard to go, it’s gonna take more time, it’s [00:04:50] gonna be a little bit more expensive. Uh, this is a commitment I’m making that is hard.[00:04:55] [00:04:55] Choosing to eat on the go in your car with no rest and a bunch of fast processed food [00:05:00] that’s also hard on your body, and that’ll catch up at some point. The point to [00:05:05] all of this is there’s always choices to make, and it’s hard either way. [00:05:10] Right? Uh, that, that is the challenge of the, this side of heaven, the world that we live in [00:05:15] today. [00:05:15] Like things are hard, but they’re also good, right? Good comes from [00:05:20] doing the hard thing, like it’s hard to plant and harvest. There is [00:05:25] good crop, good fruit that comes from hard work. And that’s not just an [00:05:30] agricultural farming analogy, that’s a life analogy. There is good fruit that [00:05:35] comes from hard work. [00:05:36] So as you’re heading into your day, I’m just [00:05:40] encouraging you to choose your hard ’cause. It can be hard either way. You get to choose. Are [00:05:45] you gonna choose the good hard? Are you gonna choose the hard? That just continues to be hard [00:05:50] over the course of time? Choose your hard. You get to [00:05:55] [00:06:00] choose.