Contrast beats balance.

What 75 days of doing the boring stuff taught me about running a company.

I have a knack for doing difficult stuff.
But usually, I quit when the going gets tough.

I can start a 10km run, and around 5km I’ll think: “why not just quit now?” I like to call that my little ADHD voice. The one that needs novelty.As soon as that novelty is gone, I want something else. As soon as I’ve told everyone about my challenge, the novelty is gone.

So when no one is around to applaud what I’m doing, does it even matter? That question is why I started doing 75 Hard.

The rules

For 75 days straight, you will:

• Workout twice a day, for at least 45 minutes. One of them has to be outside.

• Drink a gallon of water.

• Follow a strict diet of your own choice, that aligns with your goals.

• Read 10 pages in a book.

• Take a progress picture.

Miss one? Day 1. Back to zero, the very beginning. These rules are set in stone. But the hard part is what’s NOT in the rules. You can’t drink alcohol. Why? Because that’s doing the hard thing. You won’t stay up past your bedtime. Why? Because that’s doing the hard thing.

And this challenge starts easy. It’s easy to show up for yourself in the beginning. But after a while, it gets tough. Because no one understands why you do this. And after a while, you start looking for a break. You want to release, you want to do easy stuff.

The negotiation table

Here’s what happens at 6am on a treadmill when you have ADHD and 10km ahead of you. Your brain cannot hold “10km” as a concept. It’s too far. Too boring. So it starts negotiating.

- “5km is good enough, right?”
- “This is really going to take a while.”
- “We’re only at 5 minutes?!”

Every fiber wants to quit. Negotiation table: left corner, myself. Right corner, also myself. So I start doing fraction math. I’m at 1/8 of the distance. How many minutes is 1/8? Ok. I’ll run to the next 1/8. Nothing more than that. Then the next one. And the next. And eventually, numb from calculating, I hit 10km before I realize it.

If you run a company, you know this voice. It’s the same negotiation. The annual plan is too big. The hard conversation keeps getting pushed. The price increase you’ve been “thinking about” since Q1 is still sitting there in Q3. Your brain isn’t resisting because it’s hard. It’s resisting because it’s boring, uncomfortable, and there’s always something more urgent to hide behind.

Contrast over balance

I’m not looking for big lessons with 75 Hard. But I am looking to toughen my mind. To teach myself that quitting this challenge means quitting is always an option. And to teach myself that consistency will ALWAYS outperform discipline.

This challenge, for me, is doing the boring stuff consistently. But there’s another reason I keep coming back to it: balance. I’m very bad at it. And that usually goes in my favor. I’m a hell yeah or hell no type of person. Either all in or all out. That also means I can get very strict with myself. It starts small, by not going out for a drink to catch that workout. Then it turns into not doing anything, out of fear to miss any workout.

And then the other side of the coin: one evening of “having fun” turns into a summer of taking it easy. Of being nice to myself, and not putting in the work needed to grow. And then I end up missing the goals I’ve set for myself. But that feels fine, because “I can take it easy sometimes.”

Balance feels like a fast-clicking metronome. Stressed out because it always needs to tick in the middle. That uses up a LOT of mental energy. I’ve chosen contrast over balance. Bigger swings. More time on each side. But the average of the swinging is still the middle.

Three months of Spartan living. Then comes release. A month of taking it easier. Not too easy, but easier. Want to have a drink with friends? Go ahead, and enjoy it fully. Want to go out for a dance? Go ahead, and do it well.

This doesn’t mean I’ll have a month of binging. But it means I can enjoy the contrast. Do a lot of the hard stuff. Then do a lot of the easy stuff. It’s easier on the decision-making, and the net effect is the same.

Why this matters if you run a company

Founders live on that stressed-out metronome. Every single day, trying to be strategic AND operational AND available AND focused AND delegating AND doing. The balance myth says you should be all of those things, evenly, all the time.

That’s not balance. That’s a slow burnout with good PR.

The founders I work with who are actually thriving? They do contrast. Sprint periods where they’re deep in one thing. Then recovery. Then a different sprint. They don’t try to be a balanced leader every Tuesday. They’re fully in the room when they’re in the room, and fully out when they’re out.

The 75 Hard version: you don’t negotiate with the workout. It happens. Then it’s done. You don’t negotiate with the diet. It’s decided. The decision was made on day 1, and every day after that is just execution.

The founder version: the hard conversation isn’t something you “find the right moment” for. It’s in the calendar. The price increase isn’t something you “think about.” It’s decided, communicated, done. The system beats the person. Every time.

Shared suffering

I’m nearing the end of my current 75 Hard. And what sticks with me most is the joy of shared suffering.

I took on this challenge with a friend who also wanted to challenge themselves. And the shared suffering, but also the shared wins, made this challenge 10 times more fun.

I’m one week out for a sports competition. The going is really tough right now. I’m longing for a break, for the ability to “not show up for once.” But I’m also looking forward to the next one.

The next round

Starting May 1st. 75 days of making the hard decisions again. Daily workouts. Meal prep. Managing my time to do the things that matter.

And I want to do it with others this time. With likeminded people.

If you’re a founder, someone who runs a company and recognizes that negotiation voice, let me know. I’ll create a WhatsApp group. I don’t want to build a community, a product or a program. I just want to create a place to share the wins and the daily suffering. To reach out when making the right decision feels impossible.

Let’s suffer together. Let’s show up for ourselves.
DM me if you want in.

PS: And it feels weird having to say this: this is not a product, or a service. This is free.