Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness

Very well written book that analyses very well and in depth what is real toughness. Not army toughness, not sport team toughness. Or not just that toughness. It teaches how to gain Polar star, and how to follow that no matter what.

There’s a lot more to resilience and toughness than just gritting it out; true resilience is a system of mental and physical strategies that leverage characteristics of our minds to steer us forward without either hobbling up prematurely, or overestimating our capabilities and falling short. Steve derives lessons from his personal background (as an OCD sufferer) and professional background as a cross country running coach to help readers understand and develop those strategies, which include accurate self perception and interpreting those feelings effectively, modes of focusing thought, and separating thought from action. He presents some interesting exercises to help readers develop toughness whether in a physical or intellectual domain. I had hoped there would be more material about intellectual discipline, but there’s plenty to get going here.

This book found me when I was feeling despondent. I was feeling helpless against forces larger than myself and hopeless in a world that seems to be making strange choices that will inflict more harm than good. How to continue to battle, to grit it out, was looking insurmountable. Steve Magness provides a great counterpoint to the American idea of Toughness; one that promotes empathy, embracing reality, and reframing our situations in a grounded, realistic way that is encouraging and ultimately more rewarding than the old thoughts of Toughness that focused on suppression and grinding ourselves into the ground. This is a great book to read if you're looking for perspective and to slow things down in a world that continues to expect more and more from an individual, at a faster pace, and to no conceivable end. Slow down, take your time, and enjoy the read.

This is seriously such a good gift for someone going through a hard time. Do you ever have a friend or family member have a difficult time and you just tell them, “well if there’s anything I can do please let me know.” Instead of not taking action, this is a beautiful thing to do for someone. This book reinforces the beauty you can find in hard times. It’s not cheesy but rather gives practical examples to anyone as a reminder that hard times can help your character and perseverance in so many ways. I highly recommend as a thoughtful gift.

I appreciate the concepts, examples, and ideas presented in this book. Steve does a great job of explaining the difference between real grit and fake toughness. I love the insights shared and am putting them into practice. I highly recommend this book!

The author tries to redefine the word “tough” when in reality what he is actually describing throughout the book is more self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Everything he says that is bad about the current ideology of “toughness” just seems like an excuse coming from someone who isn’t in fact tough. Sure, we have an idea of what tough means and it can be negative a lot of the time. But tough is tough. I don’t care what the “studies” show. Still a good book though.

There is a ton of good information in the book. I did find some of the reasoning to be contradictory. I didn't agree with some of his focused vs big picture analogies. It was hard to follow in that section of the book and I think his point was not made clear.

I expected that this book would help me be a tough guy, I guess. To stop being whiny and wimpy. But the focus is different, the focus is much more honest and valuable. There is genuine value in reading this book. There is a lot of research quoted and pointed out, and there is a lot of excellent explanation. Highly recommended.

Very detailed and very well written. An amazing book.

I really enjoyed reading Do Hard Things by Steve Magness. I've been a fan of The Growth Equation Podcast for a few years now, and i'm a big fan of Steve Magness and Brad Stulbergs work. I really appreciate their no BS mentality towards self improvement and how there are no silver bullets for success. Do Hard Things presents easy to understand material, along with practical solutions the reader can utilize to persevere and surpass the 'grind culture' by focusing on longevity, attainable tasks, and realistic achievement. This book had helped me immensely as of recently with my athletic endeavours, as well as my academic endeavours, in a time where motivation was low, and the end goal seemed out of reach. I would highly recommend this book to all walks of life, be it academic, athletic, business, or pleasure.

Impresionante, le veo útil para deportistas, padres, trabajadores que gestionan a gente... Una obra de arte

Wissenschaftliche Untermalungen unterscheidet das Buch erfreulicherweise von den ganzen Erfolgs- und Motivations"profis".

The best book from Steve Magness, in my opinion. I recomend it to everyone who wants to grow as an athlete and as a person.