Book Review: Do Hard Things

Do Hard Things is about raising expectations of what teens can accomplish. Several great stories of teens rising above the expectations of parents, society, and themselves are contained between the covers. Yet, I could not help but wonder about how many of these stories were exceptions.
The value in this book was the small closing section called The Story Waiting to Be Told. The section is an outline of some recurring themes in the many stories of teens who took first steps to make practical changes on the way to doing hard things.

1. Get honest about yourself.
2. End negative patterns.
3. Connect with those who can help.
4. Identify a few key action steps.
5. Acknowledge the need for God’s help.
6. Expect success.

Sounds simple, right? No matter how I think about it I can see places where I get stuck at the first step (or I need to repeat it over and over) and places where I’ve conquered the first step. Same with the remaining steps…sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. On the whole, though, I hope I’m gaining more than losing. I’d like to think this gaining-losing process, this tug-o-war, is normal. The point is that we’re on the path to doing the hard things of life rather than running away from them.

“Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man’s face and changes its hard appearance” (Ecclesiastes 8:1).