At some point when I was in college, I came up with the mantra, “Do the hard thing FIRST!” I put it up on signs, which solicited many giggles – we were all frisky teenagers, after all. 🙂
For me it was never about tackling the hardest project first. Rather, it was about making the phone call that I was scared of; it was about saying no when I was afraid to; it was about laying things to rest so I wouldn’t have to think about them anymore.
Back then I realized that I’d cause myself a lot less stress by facing my fears up front, rather than sitting around and worrying about them without doing anything.
It’s a lesson that I forget and remember periodically. Apparently this week I needed reminding.
The other day, my car was parked next to my mom’s. I was struggling to get a large package into the back seat of my car and the door swung open further than I thought it would. The two cars were the perfect distance from each other so that my door just scraped against hers. It didn’t leave a dent or scratch the paint, but there’s a smudge mark.
My mom likes to keep nice things nice. If there’s one thing in the world I wouldn’t want to do, it’s mess up her car. Seriously.
I started rubbing the smudge mark furiously, hoping that it would buff out with my finger, but no such luck.
As I walked back into the apartment, I debated what to do – I could tell her up front or I could keep it to myself and hope that she didn’t notice.
Thankfully, the mantra popped into my head: “Do the hard thing FIRST.”
I knew that if I didn’t tell her, I’d be terrified every time I talked to her. I’d be waiting for her to tell me that she’d found a mark on her car. And if she did say it, I’d be faced with two equally bad options – not saying anything and pretending I knew nothing, or saying, “Oh, I forgot to tell you…”, which would be a lie.
I walked in the room and immediately told her what had happened. I was nervous about her reaction, but I was far MORE nervous about my own state of mind if I didn’t say anything.
Mom’s reaction surprised me. She wasn’t upset at all! In fact, she even laughed and said, “If anyone is going to make a mark on my car, I’m glad it was you and not me!”
What a relief!!!!! I had four minutes of stress rather than four weeks or four months – and all because the voice of my college-self piped up to say, “Do the hard thing FIRST!”
And in the end it’s all okay, because the smudge came right out when the proper cloth was applied. 🙂
Image found here.
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