10 Tips on How to Do Sh*t You Hate!
By Robin Oxford-Davis
May 6, 2015 • Fact checked by Dumb Little Man
One of the greatest challenges to getting to where you want to go and accomplishing your greater goals is having to do all the sh*t you hate along the way!
Sometimes knowing we’re going to have to do some things we hate can be a deal breaker and cause us to give up on our efforts before we really get started.
That thing for me is exercising! I don’t exactly hate it but I don’t enjoy it either. But I realize that it is a necessity if I’m going to accomplish my long term personal and professional goals.
So here’s how to get it done!
1. Have a Great Motivator (GM)!
Your “great motivator” should be that thing that you love way more than you hate the thing you have to do to get to it!
As an entrepreneur that writes, teaches and speaks on how to believe in yourself, I have to get ready. I have to prepare myself for long nights, long flights and hard work. I understand that in order to get to the level of success I aspire to, I have to be strong, healthy and look good while I’m at it! THIS is my great motivator and living long and feeling good are pretty great motivators too!
2. Take the road of the absolute least resistance!
Do the absolute least you can do and still be effective. Make sure that you are spending the least amount of money, time and effort and, still effectively meet the goal!
For example, I walk for exercise. It’s both free and effective. I have to spend a little more time at it than I really want to but I’ve figured out a way to even make that bearable, I’ll share that with you later!
The last thing I want to do is spend money to do something I hate. And besides, for me the idea of having to leave my house and go to a crowded gym and jump up and down for an hour in a hot room full of women does not a good time make!
3. Break it up in to smaller pieces.
Do less of it over shorter periods of time. It may take you longer but if you really hate it, it always feels better to do less of it at one time than more.
I commit myself to walking 10,000 steps a day. I do 5000 steps in the morning and 5000 steps in the evening. For me, this is way more bearable than walking 10,000 steps all at one time!
4. Distract yourself while you’re doing it.
If possible, distract yourself with stuff you actually like while you’re doing the sh*t you hate. You have to be careful with this one because god forbid if you mess up and have to start over!
While I’m walking I make phone calls, listen to podcasts for my business, check my email, watch the Wendy Williams Aftershow…(if you don’t know you better ask somebody!) or I catch up on my latest Netflix binge!
5. Make yourself comfortable
It’s hard enough to have to do something you hate, so why not be as comfortable as you can while doing it? From your physical environment, to the closes on your back, make sure you’re comfortable and everything you’re going to need is conveniently available. Having to deal with any additional discomfort or frustration will only serve to further irritate you and make your efforts that much more difficult.
6. Find a way to vent your frustrations.
Ok, no matter how simple or pain proof you try to make it, doing sh*t you hate is gonna suck. And this sucksation is probably going to lead to unhealthy stress or frustration, so figure out how you’re going to manage this.
Do something that allows you to exert this energy in an emotional or explosive way….safely!
This is what I do. While I’m walking, if I happen to see some young 20 year old prancing around in her tight little yoga pants pretending to have worked out all day, I silently judge her because I assume that she doesn’t have to exercise to look great and I hate on the fact that she looks like I should be looking! I know it’s wrong and childish but it helps me feel better and they’re none the wiser!
7. Reward yourself as much as possible.
Create positive and immediate gratifications in the process. If you have something favorable to look forward to, it helps to make the time go by faster and makes the event a little more bearable.
Mid way through my power walk, I reward myself with a healthy and delicious fruit & veggie smoothie! Also, at night I do a minimum amount of arm exercises, sit-ups & squats. Afterwards, I reward myself by immediately getting into my king sized bed and relaxing for the night!
8. Close your eyes, grit your teeth, go in hard and fast and just do it!
Good luck with this one!
9. Pray!
It can’t hurt! As a matter of fact, it’s necessary. Here’s one to get you started…God. Help. Me. Now!
Actually, I often say prayers of gratitude while I walk as a reminder to myself that things are better than I think. I also take the time to pray for other people. This helps to take my mind off of my own concerns which may be petty in comparison.
10. Get someone else to do it for you.
If this is actually possible, do it. The only thing is, you will miss out on everything you would have learned and experienced and unfortunately these are the things that help to make you better. So, be prepared to feel a little disappointed for punkin’out! But if you really hate it, this feeling will only last for a few minutes
11. Bonus!
Invest some time in educating yourself about this thing you say you hate and try to discover when and why you decided to hate it.
I’ve learned that if I’ve come to where I actually feel so strongly as to hate a thing, it’s probably because I have established some type of fear or lack of knowledge about it.
The truth is, I’d probably be more honest saying “I’m scared of it!” instead of “I hate it”.
I’m scared that if I try to do this thing, I am going to fail! So, it makes me feel better about myself if I put up a wall called “hate” to keep me from having to face this truth.
Because it appeared that exercising would take a lot more effort, time and commitment than I honestly wanted to give, it gave me an emotional out to just say I hated it.
But I learned that walking was an effective form of exercise that would slowly get me to where I wanted to go. And over time and now with an increased sense of confidence I’m able to include a few squats, sit ups etc.
You too will find that eliminating some of the mystery about this thing you hate will actually help to alleviate some of the hate!
You’ll then be able to get more done and feel better doing it!
Robin Oxford-Davis
Robin is a the creator of begintobelieve.com - a prayerful & practical guide to believing in yourself! She's also the author of the ebook How to Begin to Believe!