Do Hard Things Review

[from last year]



I've finished reading the book Do Hard Things and these are my thoughts about the book.

The authors are twins Alex and Brett Harris, home schooled teenagers who are the younger brothers of bestselling writer Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye. This book describes in detail the Rebelution, a "teenage rebellion against low expectations." The word "Rebelution," coined by the authors, is a combination of the words "rebellion" and "revolution." The two brothers have organized campaign rallies, been the youngest interns to serve on the Alabama Supreme Court, and grass-roots directors for an Alabama judicial campaign. Alex and Brett make the point that when expectations are lowered, young people dropped their standards to meet the expectations society had of them. They give the examples of our first president, George Washington, who was a surveyor at seventeen; David Farragut, the first U.S admiral, who was in charge of a prize ship at age twelve; and Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, who cared for her sick brother at eleven. These three went on to do great things, but only because they chose to "do hard things" when they were young. Many examples are shown of ordinary teenagers today who went on to do extraordinary things because they refused to be satisfied with mediocrity. This book encourages me to not to be content with less than my best because many other teens gave their best and accomplished much more than they could even have dreamed of doing had they not done their utmost. This showed me that since they are just normal people like me, I too can accomplish much if I, like the many other rebelutionaries will become part of the rebellion against the low standards and expectations commonly accepted by the world today. This book will likely spur on a Christian teenager and even those that are in their twenties or older and want to start going somewhere with their life and rise out of insignificance to give their best for God. However, it is also good for an unbeliever, because the biblical principles are applicable for everyone, and the gospel is presented in the end of the book. A good thing about it is the fact that while it is full of useful and practical information, unlike other books I have read, it is not given in a dry or hard to read way, and the twins do a good job of making themselves understood in this book. Join the Rebelution. Change the world. -Max