What I learned doing the 75 hard challenge

• By candidasullivan
• January 25, 2023
• No Comments

God put this challenge on my heart to do about a year before I did it. I started it a year ago but didn’t fully understand the rules. Then when I understood them, I wasn’t willing to do what it took to do the challenge. It seemed ridiculous to me. 

But it kept nudging me. Whenever someone else posted about it or started it, I felt the tap on my heart to do it. One day God proposed a simple question that changed everything for me. 

What if everything you want and pray for is on the other side of this challenge? Could you do it then? 

As I nodded, I knew I would have to do the challenge. I resisted it so much. The first few days were brutal. Drinking a gallon of water was the most challenging part for me. My pelvis is twisted, and having a full bladder is uncomfortable. 

Walking is one of the hardest things for me. It challenges my ankle since I don’t have the big toe to stabilize my foot. The program required two 45-minute workouts daily: indoor and outdoor. I was used to working out for an hour a day, five days a week, but with two workouts, no rest days, and 75 days of walking, I knew I would struggle. 

But I also knew that I was going all in. I would crawl if I had to, but I wouldn’t give up. Then, God showed me the purpose of it all. 

Overcoming challenges has always been part of my life. While I can overcome hard things, I don’t know how I do it. I just do it. So God slowed me down and took me through this challenge to show me the process. I journaled about it and started writing my book about developing the mindset of an overcomer. 

Things I learned or remembered along the way. 

1. Strength comes from doing hard things. We can’t get stronger when things are easy. 
2. You don’t have to know how to do something to be able to start. Start and figure it out along the way.
3. Planning is essential for a good life. 
4. Why we do things gives us the incentive to do them. 
5. Journaling is a beautiful way to help us focus on something.
6. We don’t change things that we don’t measure or focus on. 
7. We find the time for things that are important to us. 
8. God wouldn’t put it on our hearts if we couldn’t do it. 
9. We can create energy through movement and emotion. It is possible to do things that we don’t want to do. 
10. Our thoughts can cause us to stumble or break through. 

When we push through the pain, then we become stronger. My ankle hurt during the first few weeks. Every day I would ask God what I should do for my outdoor workout, and He would encourage me to walk. So I trusted the process, and the pain went away. I also completed a strength training program that had injured me previously. 

Holding hands with God through our challenges and seeking His guidance is the greatest thing we can do. So often, I want to stop right before I have the breakthrough. But if we keep going and trust Him to do what is best for us, God will show us how to overcome every struggle. 

I am so thankful that I trusted God and went all in on this program. It reminded me how wonderful it is to make progress, work hard, challenge myself, and overcome it all. 

Have a beautiful day! 

Candida