Do you like to do hard things? Do you tend to challenge yourself… just because?

On this episode, Katy and Tiffany talk about deliberately seeking out difficult situations, tasks, and habits, in order to promote personal growth, build inner (and outer) strength, and hone a sense of daring—and hopefully have fun too.

Tiffany believes that doing hard things is a muscle that can be trained. If you force yourself to, say, take a cold shower every morning or go three full days without eating, when it come time to ask your boss for a raise, quit your day job, or (gasp!) move to a far-flung country, those challenges won’t feel quite so daunting, simply because you’ll be used to challenging yourself.

Katy advocates for facing fears head-on. As someone who grew up terrified of death, she spent several months working in a mortuary at age 21, dressing, cleaning, and even shaving dead people. Did that help her conquer her fear? Did observing (and taping) a live hip-replacement surgery cure her of squeamishness?

We discuss these ideas and more on the latest episode of The Bittersweet Life podcast.

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