Book Club: Do Hard Things, chapters 1 and 2

Remember the Book Club series I introduced last Friday? We will be looking at various books and I will give you the summaries, for those of you who don't want to read (except I'm sure there isn't anyone like that reading this blog...is there?). Then I will prompt your thinking with some questions.

This series will be even better if it's interactive, so feel free to leave your thoughts on each chapter in the comments below!

Last week I said that today we would be discussing chapters 1 and 2 of Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, our first book.

So, here goes.

Chapter 1: Most People Don't...
"Most people don't expect you to understand what we're going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don't expect you to care. And even if you care, they don't expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don't expect it to last.

Well, we do."

-Do Hard Things, chapter 1, page 3

So begins this book. And it poses a wonderful challenge to us to keep reading and to let the message of this book change our lives.

"Do Hard Things": What It Is and What It Isn't
The book goes on to discuss what Do Hard Things is actually about. Here is what it says:

"What you're holding in your hands right now is a challenging book for teens by teens who believe our generation is ready for a change...we believe our generation is ready to rethink what teens are capable of doing and thinking. And we've noticed that once wrong ideas are debunked and cleared away, our generation is quick to choose a better way, even if it's also more difficult." (page 4)

Think about our culture's expectations of teens. Are they particularly high? Not really. That is what this book is out to change. The brothers challenge teens to rethink their lives into something wonderful.

But there's something that doing hard things doesn't mean. They say that the reaction of most people to the phrase "do hard things" is something like,

"Hard? Uh-oh. Guys, I just remembered that I'm supposed to be somewhere else. Like, right now." (page 6)

But doing hard things doesn't mean doing things just because they are difficult and make you miserable. It also doesn't mean that God will love you more. Doing hard things is just a challenge to make your teen years better and more exciting.

Chapter 2: Their Personal Stories
In chapter 2, the brothers share their personal journey, how they got where they are. Suffice it to say that they were directors of a political campaign at seventeen...

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail from this chapter, but it really is an amazing story and I would recommend reading it if you haven't already. One of the most inspiring parts of this book is the stories of real teens doing amazing things. They alone make the book well worth reading.

Questions to Think About

• Do you think that teens in our culture today are shackled by low expectations?
• How do you think that we can make that change?

What To Do Next
It's not too late to get a copy of this book and get caught up! You can get it in whatever form you want, but get it and read it if you can. So, so, important!

What do you think? Have you read this book already? Did you like it? Are you reading along? What did you think of these two chapters?