We can do hard things.
This has been my quiet mantra for nearly a decade. Long before it became a viral phrase, a hashtag, or something inked onto skin, it was simply how I kept moving forward.
I’ve done hard things.
Raced Ironman while raising three busy kids.
Navigated divorce. Then more Ironman.
Sent my girls off to college.
Faced breast cancer.
Supported aging parents through health challenges.
None of that is shared for drama or comparison. It’s shared because it’s real. And because most women reading this have their own long list, spoken or silent.
We’re often sold the idea that if we can just get through this hard season, life will finally soften. That ease is waiting on the other side. That one day things will simply…stay calm.
But life doesn’t work that way.
There may be moments of ease. Brief stretches of calm. A week where things feel lighter. And then, another hard thing arrives. This doesn’t happen as a result of failure or lack of desire. It happens because this is part of being alive.
So at some point, we get to choose.
Do we keep showing up?
Or do we let life happen to us?
“We can do hard things” isn’t a motivational quote to me. It’s a decision. A way of living. A refusal to opt out when things get uncomfortable.
The women I admire most aren’t the ones who avoided hardship. They’re the ones who stood in the middle of it and said Okay, I’m still here.
Hard looks different for everyone.
Sometimes it’s rehabbing an injury when you’d rather be training.
Sometimes it’s waking up early and walking into a cold pool in the middle of winter.
Sometimes it’s pushing through a long trainer ride when quitting would be easier or staying honest in Zone 2 when your ego wants more.
Sometimes it’s those final FTP intervals when your legs are burning and your mind is begging you to stop.
And sometimes, hard has nothing to do with sport at all.
Sometimes it’s showing up for a chemo appointment.
Having a hard conversation.
Holding it together for your family when you feel anything but strong.
We’re not comparing battle scars here. Hard is hard. Period.
What matters is that you don’t have to do it alone.
What “Doing Hard Things” Looks Like Here
At Team Element, We Can Do Hard Things isn’t about toughness for the sake of toughness. It’s about support. It’s about choosing to stay in the work together. It’s about knowing that on the days you feel strong, you might carry someone else. And on the days you don’t, the team carries you.
So if today’s hard is one more interval, one more lap, one more honest effort,
I see you.
If today’s hard has nothing to do with training at all,
I see you too.
We can do hard things.
Not because they’re easy.
Not because we enjoy them.
But because we choose to keep showing up.
And together?
We’re stronger than we think.
Join Team Element - Book a call with Jenn!
What We Learned from the Experts
In this inspiring interview, Sue Reynolds shares her journey from having no exposure to sport to discovering triathlon later in life and reaching the world stage. It’s a powerful conversation about identity, perseverance, and what’s possible when you choose to begin where you are.
What you will learn:
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How a shift in motivation can transform your relationship with movement and with yourself
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Why it’s never too late to discover the athlete within
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How early life experiences shape our beliefs about who “gets” to be an athlete
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The role of purpose, community, and courage in pushing beyond perceived limits
Watch the video now! ⬇︎
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