My 75 Hard Journey + BEST SELF CHOICES
In this post we’ll chat thru…
① WHAT 75 Hard is + WHY I decided to take on the challenge
② What I LEARNED from 75 Hard
③ How to make BEST SELF CHOICES for yourself + Q’s to ask yourself
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I feel like this blog is a LONG TIME COMING…
About a year ago I finished my first round of 75 Hard. And about a month ago I finished Phase One of the program. Both challenges where transformative and some of the BEST YES’S I’ve made in seasons when I needed the discipline most. But before I go into all of that…I wanna start by explaining what 75 Hard is and why it intrigued me in the first place.
WHAT IS 75 HARD?!
75 Hard was created in 2019 by Andy Frisella, a public speaker, podcaster, and the CEO of 1st Phorm. 75 Hard is described as a “transformational mental toughness program” that’s like “an Ironman for your brain.” The promise is that by completing the 75-day challenge you can improve confidence, self-worth, fortitude, grittiness, and discipline.
75 Hard combines daily nutrition, fitness, and self-improvement tasks with the goal of transforming your entire life…from the inside out. It includes rules (“critical daily tasks”) regarding nutrition, how many workouts to do + for how long, how much water to drink, how much to read each day in a self-improvement book, and taking daily pictures of yourself to track your progress as well. You must complete each of these rules every day for 75 days straight. And if you slip up and forget or miss a component you must restart the 75 days.
WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL DAILY TASKS for 75 HARD?!
Follow any nutrition plan designed for your goals, with zero alcohol and no cheat meals.
Complete two 45-minute workouts every day, one of which must be outside (rain or shine).
Drink a gallon of water every day.
Read 10 pages of an educational or self-improvement non-fiction book every day (audio books + podcasts do not count).
Take a progress picture every day.
The Phase One program can be done following completion of 75 Hard and includes a couple more critical tasks and is 30 days long:
Complete the entire list above + add on…
5 min cold shower (which I turned into a cold plunge in my pool)
Complete 8 critical power list tasks
10 minutes of visualization
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?!
Most people who followed along on my journey really loved my physical results + reached out interested to try 75 Hard based on that. And while the physical results were amazing…I felt like I was doing people a disservice bc the challenge and purpose IS NOT FOR PHYSICAL RESULTS. Those are a bi-product bc of the actions you’re taking and the consistency behind them. The true purpose of 75 Hard is to strengthen your MINDSET.
The purpose, for me, was because I felt stuck. I started 2022 feeling depressed and anxious and like I was spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. I needed a challenge…something to MOVE ME out of my rut. I drew a line in the sand and decided that I was worth the effort + discipline it took to level up in my life.
And the same can be true for you. When you hit a plateau. When you feel stuck. Do what most people won’t do. Willingly say YES to struggle. Lean in and take FORWARD MOTION vs staying stuck.
Because here’s the way I saw it…
I was ALREADY struggling. We can either struggle and stay stuck. Or we can struggle and level the freak up. I chose the latter.
And. Fast forward. The reason for me starting PHASE ONE in February of 2023 was similar. I was heading into a season of NEW and breaking out of another rut in my life. I decided to start my own business and take a giant leap of faith. I knew in the launching phase of this new endeavor I wanted to be UBER disciplined. Face down. Blinders on. Focused on what God was calling me to do and act as my best self in the process. So it seemed fitting to take on this challenge.
LEFT: Start of 75 Hard in 2022 | RIGHT: End of 75 Hard in 2022
WHAT I LEARNED IN 75 HARD…
I have to start by saying that I resisted the 75 Hard challenge for almost a year. And then almost another year of resisting to start Phase One. Stuck in my own fear…I was watching. Wishing. Waiting. Taking myself out of the running bc I refused to even try.
And how often do we do that?! Watch others doing what we wish we could do and then wait to start living our own story. More often than not, I've found that those three words are dream killers and essentially I was letting fear of failure prevent me from ever getting started.
So what {actually} held me back?! Full transparency my biggest fear for 75 Hard was the alcohol portion. Mostly bc I kept thinking about events like birthday parties, trips, holidays…etc that made it seem like I wouldn’t be able to be successful. And the fear that kept me from trying Phase One for so long was the Cold Therapy component. For a year I told myself I couldn’t do that until one day I was like…but what if I just TRY?!
Bc here’s the way I saw it…
Even if I started and made it only a few days or weeks…I’d be that much farther along than if I never even given myself the chance to TRY in the first place. So with both…I went all in and just STARTED. And what’s crazy is the things that stopped me turned into the things that make me feel SO amazing. Proof that your best YES might be on the other side of your BIGGEST FEAR.
What I gained was EVERYTHING. I conquered things like walking in snowstorms, lugging my spin bike out in the ice to accomplish my outdoor workout, realizing I didn’t “have to” drink to celebrate my birthday, Valentine’s Day, OR while on trips to Punta Cana + Florida, getting (+ staying) in 36 degree pool temps while there was snow on the ground, and showing up when no one was watching nor cared.
Learning how to do it for ME.
Both of these challenges became a lifestyle of movement, fresh air, hydration, growth, tracking, visualization + meditation, keeping promises to myself.
And thru it all I REINFORCED two POWERFUL REMINDERS: 👇🏼
✨Confidence that I’m capable of hard things in the most unideal of circumstances.
✨And. The belief that I have within me everything I need to achieve whatever I set my mind to.
Oh and ✨BONUS✨…I learned the power of making small CHOICES that serve my BEST + HIGHEST SELF.
But here’s the REAL TALK + DISCLAIMER if you’re already fist bumping and planning your day one…
I don’t actually love or believe in 75 Hard for the long haul, mainly bc of the toll the fitness aspect plays on your body + the “diet” mentality the nutrition aspect demands. It’s not healthy and it’s not sustainable. Two 45 minute workouts EVERY DAY is not sustainable. Saying I CAN’T HAVE SOMETHING is not sustainable. So I don’t believe in 75 Hard for the long haul bc it’s really extreme. I just don’t thrive for the long term like that and I would never encourage anyone else to, either.
That said…I DO like to dive into challenges every now and again to AWAKEN my spirit and remind myself that I DO HARD THINGS, but just know that these are not my norm. I live life in the middle zone. Where I ask myself if things are worth it. Where I consider what the healthiest me would do in a given moment. Where sometimes I workout hard and eat super clean and read all the growth books. And also…where I enjoy life and make memories with a glass of wine by the fire after taking a full rest day. It can be both ya’ll.
Challenges. AND rest. Living life in the middle.
LEFT: Feb 14th 2023 - START of 75 Hard PHASE ONE | RIGHT: March 15th 2023 - END of 75 Hard PHASE ONE (down 9 lbs + gained so. much. confidence.)
SO LET’S TALK BEST SELF CHOICES…
One of the things that 75 Hard + Phase One have helped me hone in on are what I like to call “BEST SELF CHOICES.” If you’ve hung out around here (or me) long enough…you know I’m all about small things…done consistently…over time…to make the magical happen. That’s where the RESULTS come, ya’ll. And during Phase One I realized that these small things, done often are what I’m now coining “BEST SELF CHOICES.”
Best self choices are the small choices we make every day (or week) that lead us closer to where we want to go. They often look super simple + really small. Easy to do. Easy to not do. But the magic (read: results) comes when we actually DO them.
Here’s a few of my personal “BEST SELF CHOICES:”
not hitting snooze
hitting my water goals
moving my body in meaningful ways (currently strength 2 x’s per week, spin class 2 x’s per week, and then yoga class + amply rest days)
tidying my home daily (aka the dishes don’t pile up + things go back where they belong)
reading a book / listening to a podcast that helps me grow
cold therapy
journaling (my fave is this one)
getting outside for dog walks
grocery haul + sticking to my meal plan
taking my meds / vitamins / supplements
weekly laundry + {actually} putting it away (please tell me you get this 😩)
church on sundays
time blocking my days
unplugging once per week
date nights with my husband + making intentional memories together
When I do these things on this list above…I FEEL MY BEST. It’s simple, but SO transformative bc I’m taking my ACTIONS and turning them into my RESULTS.
BEST SELF CHOICES are so powerful in my day to day + week to week bc they are SMALL and SEEM INSIGNIFICANT in the moment…but they are my SUPER POWER over time. And the same is true for you too, sis. Darren Hardy in his book, The Compound Effect says “It's not the big things that add up in the end; it's the hundreds, thousands, or millions of little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
BEST SELF CHOICES are simply that. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Of LITTLE THINGS that add up to make something extraordinary. It involves being AWARE of your choices and then making them according to the direction you desire. Maybe not perfectly (like 75 Hard demands of you) but with PROGRESS as the forefront of your journey.
Q’s TO ASK TO PICK BEST SELF CHOICES:
• What can you control in your life/day to day?
• What actions help support you feeling + behaving as your best self?
• If your choose {fill in the blank with an action} over and over again…what would change a year from now?
• What areas of your life are stressing you out? Health? Environment? Relationships? Work? What small choices are within your control?
• How will you feel AFTER you choose {insert choice}? Do it for the AFTER feelings vs the “not feeling like it” before feeling.
NEED MORE HELP?!
I get it and I’ve got you. 😉 BEST SELF CHOICES stick when I repeat them over time. And tracking my habits daily (whether it’s water, how I show up in my mornings, or even tracking the various ways I’m caring for me + others day in and day out) makes a difference. I’ve put together my FAVE self care habit trackers in a ✨FREE✨ bundle just for you. #you’rewelcome
Be sure to tag me on social so I can celebrate your efforts + cheer you on!
