Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations | 
 enlarge | Authors: Alex Harris, Brett Harris
Creator: Chuck Norris
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.63
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Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 462
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 1601421125
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.83
EAN: 9781601421128
Publication Date: April 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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. We do. – Alex and Brett
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| Customer Reviews: Read 78 more reviews...
Not a "Christian"? Read THIS review May 27, 2008
Book Gal
163 out of 166 found this review helpful
I am NOT a fundamentalist Christian- I am a liberal, ultra-progressive Roman Catholic and a democrat. I am writing this because, although I have different political and spiritual views from the authors of this book (and nearly all of the reviewers) I thought this book had a lot of ideas worthy of thought.
I didn't always agree with certain ideas (though a modest dresser myself, I wasn't happy with parts of their modesty survey). Nor do I agree with some of the authors' religious statements and conclusions. But after deciding to "agree to disagree" with those parts, I can honestly say that the overall thesis and message of the book I completely agreed with. Moreover, this book was very well written and inspiring, even for me, an adult well past the teen years.
I'm not going to waste space on Amazon talking about the good points of the book- plenty of reviewers have, and you can read what they wrote. All I'm saying is, you can disagree with certain political and religious views of the authors and still get a lot out of this book.
Rocking A World of Low Expectations April 22, 2008
Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario)
97 out of 103 found this review helpful
I've often reflected on something I experienced when I was studying in college. With a busy semester ahead of me, I decided to take "Death and Dying," an elective that had the reputation of being an exceptionally easy course (a "bird course" we called it back then). On the first day we arrived in the lecture hall, the professor handed out a reading list and what he assured us were the lecture notes for the entire course. With these in hand, we were told, there was little use in showing up for the rest of the year unless we were really and truly interested in the subject matter. It was not a difficult course, he said, and we could probably do fine if we just turned in the assignments and showed up to write the exam. Needless to say, most of us took this as an opportunity to have an evening to ourselves each week rather than actually sitting through long and boring lectures on a subject that was of little interest. Also needless to say, most of us earned very poor grades. I've contrasted this in my mind to courses where the professor challenged us on the first day that his would be an exceedingly difficult course and one that would require the best we had. With such a challenge, many students rose to the challenge. Knowing that expectations were high and knowing that we faced a long and difficult fight, we reacted by putting out more effort and ultimately by doing better.
High expectations, it seems, often results in greater performance. Tragically, we live at a time where we expect very little of teenagers. The teen years, we seem to think, are a time where we can and must expect little. If our teenagers manage to avoid dangerous drugs, manage to avoid pregnancy and manage to avoid completely derailing their lives, we consider these years a success. We maintain low expectations and are not surprised when teenagers deliver very little.
Do Hard Things is a book for teens--and a distinctly different kind of book for teens. "Check online or walk through your local bookstore. You'll find plenty of books written by fortysomethings who, like, totally understand what it's like being a teenager. You'll find a lot of cheap, throwaway books for teens, because young people today aren't supposed to care about books, or to see any reason to keep them around. And you'll find a wide selection of books where you never have to read anything twice--because the message is dumbed down. Like, just for you." But this book is a challenging book, and one written by teens and for teens. It is written by Brett and Alex Harris, whose greatest claim to fame (other than being the younger brothers of Joshua Harris) is being the minds behind The Rebelution--one of the internet's most popular sites for teens and now a series of conferences. This book continues the message they've been communicating in every other forum.
That message is simple but far too often overlooked in society today: rebel against low expectations. They cast a vision of a better way of doing the teen years in which so many teens have been "conditioned to believe what is false, to stop when things feel hard, and to miss out on God's incredible purpose for [the] teen years." They look at five kinds of hard--five different kinds of hard things that can challenge the expectations of those around them: things that are outside of your comfort zone, things that are beyond what is expected or required, things that are too big to accomplish alone, things that don't earn an immediate pay off and things that challenge the cultural norm. They describe each of these through stories and examples drawn primarily from their lives and from the lives of other "rebelutionaries" who have shared their stories with the authors.
Though this book is targeted squarely at teens, I can't deny that the message rubbed off even on this reader whose teen years are far behind. There is something inspiring in watching teens shake off the low expectations that plague their lives and there is something in it that makes me want to examine where I may also have fallen prey to low expectations. Writing as the proud older brother of these authors, Joshua Harris says truly that "Every former teen needs this book, too. I know I do. There's no age-limit on the Rebelution. It's never to late to do hard things."
For too long our expectations of teens, and their expectations of themselves, have been far too low. In Do Hard Things Alex and Brett Harris rebel against low expectations and encourage their peers to meet the challenge of doing tough things for God's sake and for God's glory. I wish I could have read this book when I was a teen. I'm glad that my children will have the opportunity. I pray it will stir them and stir a whole generation of young people, to use their teen years to do the hard things God calls them to do. And I pray that the teen years are only the beginning, only the foundation, of lives lived to the glory of God.
Fantastic book -- great graduation gift! April 16, 2008
Cara Putman (Lafayette, IN)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
This book is incredible. Many of us have seen teens, young adults, even thirty-somethings who are floundering through life. They can't seem to get any traction. Frankly, this approach to life drives my crazy, because I live on the other extreme. The Harris twins pinpoint the problem as a plague of low expectations when we're teenagers. As a result, we aren't trained to push ourselves and ask how God can use us -- especially during our teen years.
The verse that motivates their ministry is I Timothy 4:12. I smiled when I saw that as it was my life verse until I was 30 and decided I might need a different verse since I wasn't exactly a youth anymore. I've often wondered what my parents did or didn't do that made me believe anything I wanted to do/be was possible if it lined up with God's Word and will.
There was an expectation that everything was training. The teen years weren't a time to goof off. Instead, they were a time to prove myself and gain increasing independence as I proved myself faithful. Everything I've done, accomplished, am doing is a direct result of that philosophy.
In a sense this is exactly what Do Hard Things is about. It challenges teens to intentionally do 5 kinds of hard things:
1. Things that are outside your comfort zone.
2. Things that go beyond what is expected or required.
3. Things that are too big to accomplish alone.
4. Things that don't earn an immediate payoff.
5. Things that challenge the cultural norm.
We'd all benefit from applying those principles to our lives. But how much better if we taught them to young people. I've talked about this book since starting it. Eric is lined up to read it. I'll be giving it as graduation gifts. And it will land in my children's hands by the time they are twelve, so we can fully discuss and apply these principles in their lives.
REBELLION AGAINST LOW EXPECTATIONS IS A GREAT THING!!! April 16, 2008
Gretchen (Pennsylvania)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I wish I could have read this book in high school. I think it verbalizes the cry of teen's hearts everywhere. I wanted to do more. I wanted to be more. I did what I thought I could - if only I could have realized I could do more...but it is never too late to do more and become more. And so, that is the challenge that I will take to heart from this book. Please check out this book and buy a copy for every 13-18 year old that you know...and one for yourself too!!!
A Must Read - Not Just For Teens! April 15, 2008
sleepybeth
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Don't let the short length or easy-to-read conversational writing fool you, there's a lot of meat packed into these pages.
This book begins with the story of how Alex and Brett were challenged by their father to do hard things and how they heeded that call and the results of their efforts. It then goes on to discuss what they mean by hard things (and offers suggestions of what the five primary types of hard things are) and how teens today - individually and as groups - can set out to change the world by doing hard things on small and large scales.
The underlying premise of the book is simple: don't waste your teen years doing what it takes to just get by - push yourself and make a difference. It's a message that so many people (not just teens) need to hear and heed - with recent research showing that, on average, people are beginning to extend their adolescence into their 30s (the consequences of which we haven't even begun to understand.)
In addition to recommending this as reading for any Christian teen you know, I would recommend this to anyone who works with teens. It would be great to see youth groups begin to embrace the notion that they can and should be doing hard things. Beyond that, I would encourage 20-somethings (and heck, 30-somethings) who are wondering if this is all there is to life to give it a read and try to catch a vision for what the future will hold if we all move past "good enough" and begin to do hard things.
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