Don’t Let the Hard Days Win

Hey team. Here we are, coming to the very end of the month. What an interesting month it has been. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some hard things, some stuff that has gone on this month. It’s been a little tough. But I had this quote that came across my desk, and it said, “To whom it may concern: Don’t let the hard days win.” It hit me—our core value of resolve. It hit me hard. Don’t let the hard days win. Have resolve. Fight through. Don’t focus on the hard. When we focus on the hard, the hard wins.

If your life is wrapped around what’s going on personally right now, and you’re saying, “You have no idea how hard it is,” think back to all the different hard things you’ve accomplished. Each hard thing builds to the next thing. When you started as a child, you had to learn to walk—that was hard. You had to learn to ride a bike—that was hard. You had to learn to swim—that was hard. If, at any time, you refused to take on those challenges or didn’t have people in your life holding you accountable and helping you through the hard things, then you may never have learned to walk, ride a bike, or swim.

At the very end of 2024, on the last day, I got to take JT up and watch him learn how to ski. It was hard. I saw him and the other little kids in his group, all about the same age. Some were a little younger, but most were about the same age as Jonathan. I saw their faces. The instructor, after showing them a bunch of things for the first 30 or 40 minutes—teaching them how to put the skis on and all that kind of stuff—took them to a tiny little hill and had them try to ski down it. Almost every one of them fell and failed. Almost every single one, including Jonathan.

But they helped him up. They showed him a couple more little things about how to use their skis. Within another 20 minutes, I was watching Jonathan and all these little boys and girls learning to ski, taking the little elevator ramp and moving through. They didn’t let the hard days win. Don’t let the hard days win.

Some of you might be saying, “You don’t understand how hard my life is right now. You don’t know what I’m going through.” And you’re right—I don’t. I could say the same thing back to you: You don’t know what my life is like. You don’t know how hard it is. But here’s the thing: Everybody looks at someone else and thinks their life is better, and that’s usually a misconception.

Look at how many celebrities commit suicide. Almost all of us could look at their lives and say, “They had so much money; they were so successful.” But we don’t understand the pressures that go along with that. We don’t know what it’s like to walk into a restaurant and have dozens of people wanting your autograph when all you want is to sit down and have a meal after a long, hard day. We don’t know their pressures, and they don’t know ours. What I do know is this: If I have the resolve not to let the hard days win, I can learn from my mistakes, get wiser, and accomplish more. But if I let the hard days win, I’ll shrink back, isolate myself, and stop making progress.

Whatever you’re going through, remember that there are tools to help you not let the hard days win. Find people who hold you accountable. Take inventory of your mistakes, own up to them, and grow. If you’re making excuses, blaming others for your problems, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If I lived like that, Karen and I wouldn’t be celebrating 31 years of marriage. We’ve had hard days. Sometimes, I’ve been the hard in Karen’s day, and she’s been the hard in mine. But we don’t let the hard days win.

Karen and I have learned that we’re opposites in so many ways. What I’m strong in, she’s not. What she’s strong in, I’m not. Together, we make a holistic team. But weaving all that together isn’t easy. It takes listening, asking questions, and being intentional. It’s not something we’ve mastered, but we’re getting better because we don’t let the hard days win.

As you move through the rest of this month and this year, keep fighting. Keep learning. Keep growing. Don’t make excuses. It’s you versus your excuses, not you versus someone else. If you don’t learn here, the same issues will follow you wherever you go.

Dwell on that. Don’t let the hard days win. I believe in you. I believe in us. God bless you all. Have a wonderful, awesome week. Be valuable. Nothing less. Let’s do this together. Don’t let the hard days win.

God bless. See you soon.