Blog Tour: Do Hard Things

I recently finished reading Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. Don't let the short length or easy-to-read conversational writing fool you, there's a lot of meat packed into these pages.

This book begins with the story of how Alex and Brett were challenged by their father to do hard things and how they heeded that call and the results of their efforts. It then goes on to discuss what they mean by hard things (and offers suggestions of what the five primary types of hard things are) and how teens today - individually and as groups - can set out to change the world by doing hard things on small and large scales.

The underlying premise of the book is simple: don't waste your teen years doing what it takes to just get by - push yourself and make a difference. It's a message that so many people (not just teens) need to hear and heed - with recent research showing that, on average, people are beginning to extend their adolescence into their 30s (the consequences of which we haven't even begun to understand.)

In addition to recommending this as reading for any Christian teen you know, I would recommend this to anyone who works with teens. It would be great to see youth groups begin to embrace the notion that they can and should be doing hard things. Beyond that, I would encourage 20-somethings (and heck, 30-somethings) who are wondering if this is all there is to life to give it a read and try to catch a vision for what the future will hold if we all move past "good enough" and begin to do hard things.