Do The Hardest Thing First: The Polar Bear Swim

“Let’s do it”. I responded confidently.

It was coming up to the end of the year. Each walk to work was getting colder and colder as the infamous Canadian winter was in its peak. My friends were trying to persuade me to defy all reason and jump into ice cold waters for the infamous ‘Polar Bear Swim’.

“I’m in”.

What was I thinking? Canada was so cold and I’ve never been a huge fan of water. Why on earth was I going to throw myself in under these conditions?

Despite spending a week juggling back and forth as to whether I could follow through with my assured participation, it was January 1^st and here I was. Standing on the beach with three of my friends, looking out into the water trying to not think too much about what lay ahead in the next couple of minutes.

Suddenly, the horn sounds. We hear people running, shrieking, and splashing in the water, thirty meters from where we’re standing.

The same words I had stated weeks ago came back to haunt me as one of my friends let loose a rallying cry. “Let’s do it!”

As soon as I could think, we were running. Splash! Our legs hit the water and a chill shoots up my entire body. I persevere.

Suddenly I’m up to my waist in freezing cold water, working my way deeper and deeper. I’d done it. Here I was, taking action. Starting my year off with a bang, and doing the hardest thing I could think of.

As I waded my way back to the shore, shivering and cursing each cold drip of water that fell off my body, I was ecstatic. I had to go back in and experience this some more. I had to seize the moment as best I could.

I learned two things from jumping in the water that day.

1) You’ve got to jump straight in and get your entire body wet first, don’t tip toe on the edge not really committing  because that only ends up being more painful.

2) Start off doing the hardest task first.

How does this translate to success? I think it’s quite obvious.

Every single day when you wake up you need to do the task you don’t want to do, first. Get it out of the way and use the feeling of its completion to motivate you and to push you to complete everything else you have planned.

You can do it.

2012 is going to be your year! This is the year where you are destined for greatness, so seize the moment and don’t let it go from your grip. This is your time to shine!

2012. The year everyone will refer to as the most important in your legacy.

So do the hardest thing first. Do what you need to do to push the boundaries of your capabilities to get what you want out of life. Even if it might appear outlandish, sometimes the best inventions stem from the craziest of ideas.

If you don’t throw yourself into the icy waters every once in a while, you’ll never realize how refreshing it is. If you watch everyone else throwing themselves into adventure and new experiences, you might find yourself in the same spot next year, wishing you’d jumped in a year earlier.

Get out of life what you deserve.