Choose Your Hard: The Battle Between Now and Later

“These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.” – Glennon Doyle Melton

Thought of the Day

Do you want to choose easy now and hard later, or hard now and easy later? The easy button or path is always there. You can take a shortcut, grab the fast meal option, ignore the exercises that will help you elevate, and even listen to bad advice that lets you off the hook. But doing this only delays the hard part for later and doesn’t help you become the person you need to be to overcome the next challenge.

To take it out of fitness for a second—being a critic is very easy. You can sit on the outside with no skin in the game, judging those around you. But what’s harder is trying to execute your own ideas and putting yourself out there to be judged. You will make mistakes. You may look silly along the way. But at the end of the day, choosing this hard will help you grow.

The question that always comes to mind is:
“Do you want to look like the thing or be the thing?”

Many people choose to overinflate their ability while staying safely in the shadows. It’s one way to live with the appearance of success, but deep down, you’ll always know you’re not living in alignment with who you truly want to become. It becomes hard to progress when you avoid the mistakes necessary to grow. What would it look like if you chose to put yourself out there instead of always hitting the easy button?

CrossFit training is hard in a way that most training is not. In many arenas, you can hide and do things that make you look like a superstar. But with constantly varied movements—especially in the beginning—you’ll often look and feel silly. Still, if you have the right mindset, this kind of training can become the path forward.

Back in 2019, I had a really hard time, I was recovering from heart surgery and a torn hamstring from a jiu-jitsu match. But by training appropriately at empower, I was able to rehab my body, get back on the mats, and keep improving my fitness. In the low moments, it’s hard to keep showing up—but would you rather face that challenge now, or a worse one down the line?

If you’re an athlete struggling to stay in your sport, in the game of life, or maintain a sustainable fitness practice—we’re here. Your setback right now might be the very path that helps you overcome something even bigger. You just have to be willing to choose the harder thing now, and we can help you move forward.

The easy path is always an option.
We can take shortcuts, skip the workouts, or follow bad advice.
But there will be challenges on every path.

Do you want to deal with the challenge now—or save it for later?

Tuesday

Warm up

2 rnds (in teams of 3)

Row

Side plank (L/R)

alt back lunges

Tech

SDHP

Push Press

Back Squat

Wod

4 rnds

10 SDHP

10 Push Press

20 Back squats

65/95#

Or

4 rnds  (kettlebell version)

10 odd rnds SDHP and Even rnds lawnmower high pull

10/10 Shoulder press

20 goblet squats

Cool down