My single best piece of career advice is to do hard shit.
I was lucky enough to learn early on that saying yes to the hard sticky things is how you build the future you want. When the other duties as assigned come up, do them. When you’re offered an opportunity that is seemingly impossible, accept it. My strongest skills are built from the moments that I was stuck in the hardest shit of my life.
How Taking on "Hard Shit" Accelerates Your Career
You Eliminate Competition: Most people filter opportunities by ease. By intentionally stepping toward complex, high-friction problems, you operate in a much smaller, far less crowded talent pool.
You Build Irreplaceable Muscle Memory: The deep confidence required to lead teams or handle crises doesn't come from success; it comes from surviving past chaos. Navigating complex failures and breakthroughs builds a track record of resilience.
You Gain Cross-Functional Visibility: Messy problems rarely stay inside a single department's silos. Fixing complex issues puts you directly in front of executive leadership and key decision-makers across the entire organization.
You Accelerate your differentiation: People who take on the hard shit are built different. It can’t be taught. It’s a skill that you either have or you don’t.
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Why People say no: Unclear goals, high chaos
The Opportunity: Complete ownership and carte blanche to redesign the process
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Why People Say No: Fear of public failure
The Opportunity: Rapid prioritization skills and visibility under intense focus
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Why People Say No: “Not my job”
The Opportunity: Skill advantages that make you dynamic, not redundant
I spent years grabbing every complex, uncomfortable opportunity thrown my way. I said yes to the projects no one else wanted, took on the extra scope, and deliberately built a toolkit that made me a jack of all trades.
It wasn't always smooth sailing. I’ve lived through the hard times. I’ve been laid off, missed out on jobs I desperately wanted, and spent seasons feeling thoroughly stuck and miserable. But doing that heavy lifting early on gave me something priceless today: leverage.
Because I chose to lean into the mess, I now have the freedom to pick and choose what I do next.
Does building a diverse, battle tested skill set make you invincible? Absolutely not. No one is immune to market shifts or bad luck. But it does make you more in-demand and uniquely prepared for when the bottom drops out.
And make no mistake—the hard times will always come.
Careers are not linear. They don't move in a clean, predictable line upward.
Comfort is a trap. Staying strictly inside your job description keeps you comfortable today, but leaves you vulnerable tomorrow.
Resilience is built, not given. You don't discover how tough you are when things are easy; you find out when everything is breaking.
That’s why I struggle to understand the mindset of avoiding the heavy lifting. Choosing ease in the short term almost always guarantees hardship in the long term. Volatility is guaranteed, but your ability to handle it is up to you.
The next time a piece of work makes you uncomfortable or seems impossible, don't look for the exit. That discomfort is simply the physical sensation of your skill ceiling rising.
