Sometimes, we set ourselves challenging goals, such as learning a new language or acquiring a new skill. On other occasions, we are presented with a difficult task that we must accomplish. While what we consider difficult may vary, we all have tasks that we find challenging. However, the principles that help us succeed at challenging tasks remain the same. Accomplishing difficult things is crucial for success and fulfilment in life. The world recognizes and rewards people who excel at challenging tasks. Your challenging task may differ from mine, but I believe the principles that helped me will also assist you in succeeding at your challenging task.

It’s hard as a whole but simple in bits

The magic in hard things isn’t in the whole but in the smallest part. To master anything, the first step is to break it into smaller parts and understand the foundation, brick by brick. Isn’t this how we learn the alphabet when learning a new language? Everything that seems hard becomes more complex when we look at it as a whole, but when we break it down, it becomes easier to understand. This doesn’t make it easy, but it makes it possible to understand.

It requires time and practice

After breaking it into smaller parts, what comes next is time and practice. Just like a tree cannot grow overnight, even with the best conditions, it may take time to achieve your goals. Time is a significant factor in learning and problem-solving. While estimating how much time is needed may be difficult, breaking a task into smaller parts can help. By focusing on small pieces, we can learn faster and with more ease. Practice is also important as it helps us remember what we learned yesterday while building on today’s knowledge.

It’s been done before

People with fewer resources than we have today sent men to the moon, and built the pyramids, and the great walls in Benin and China. The world is filled with stories of women and men who had little time and resources but solved great and complex problems and learned multiple skills and languages. Doing hard things didn’t start in 2024; it’s been done since man was created. It’s how ancestors faced wild animals and survived. It’s how we found solutions to starvation and cures for diseases. It’s in our DNA. We have all it takes to do hard things. Civilisation is proof.

It needs a strong why

Learning a second language may be the key to unlocking a higher-paying job. Learning a new skill may be the door to a better job with work-life balance. Finding the cure to a deadly disease may be the fulfilment of your lifelong goal. Making life more meaningful and easy for humans with your product or service may be the answer to your dream of financial security as well as your goal of making an impact. Advocating for the underprivileged may be the fulfilment of your self-given destiny. Whatever your why is, if it moves humanity forward and inspires you to act, it’s big enough to face the many challenges you will face when doing hard things. The beauty of challenges is they are temporary if we stay long enough to find the solution.

You need to test and document

While many people may not enjoy taking tests, assessing oneself and taking third-party tests can be beneficial for evaluating one’s learning methods and performance. In problem-solving, testing one’s solutions as progress is made can aid in monitoring overall progress towards the solution. If one is coding for a large project, neglecting to test the code before completion can result in frustration when errors are discovered. Running tests can help identify issues early on and provide insight into the effectiveness of one’s work. Additionally, documenting one’s progress or solutions can assist with understanding the reasoning behind each step when reviewing the project as a whole.

Collaborate

Best efforts applied alone can keep us blind to other ways to solve a problem or learn a skill. Sometimes you need a partner or a new teacher. When it gets hard and you can’t find a way after best effort, collaborate and learn from others. Tap into the genius of others to make your dream a reality.