We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life's 20 Questions

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination and racism.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How does the authorial approach of We Can Do Hard Things compare to single-author self-help books you’ve encountered—for example, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic? What advantages or disadvantages do you see in having multiple perspectives woven throughout?

2. The authors deliberately avoid prescriptive “steps” in favor of ongoing questions and practices. How does this approach affect your engagement with the material compared to more structured self-help frameworks, such as Russ Harris’s The Happiness Trap?

3. What surprised you most about the book’s tone or content? Did any aspects challenge your expectations about what a book on “hard things” would contain?

Encourage readers to reflect on how the book relates to their own life or work and how its lessons could help them.

1. The authors describe authenticity as “excavation” rather than “acquisition.” Reflect on a time when you discovered something about yourself by removing external expectations. How did this process unfold?

2. Which of the book’s 20 central questions (identified in the chapter titles) resonated most deeply with your current life circumstances? What made that particular question feel urgent or relevant to you right now?