75 Soft vs 75 Hard: How This ‘Female Founder’ Version Completely Transformed My Life in *6 Months*

When you’re a burnt out, doing-all-the-things female founder (and maybe a mother, too) with:

• A business to tend to;
• Kiddies you want to spend time with;
• Projects you dream of bringing to life;
• A dishwasher that seems to perennially need emptying; and
• A nervous system teetering on the brink with zero time to think let alone do two 45-minute workouts, follow a 100% no-cheat diet and drink your body weight in water each day..

.. 75 Hard is probably not the best thing to add to your plate.

I know, I know, I get it: it sounds appealing to do something like 75 Hard to actively feel like you are doing something to push yourself forward. For those not familiar with it, 75 Hard is a mental toughness challenge described as ‘an ironman for your brain’ developed by a man called Andy Frisella who looks very much like he should be in the military (and maybe is/was.. who knows). It requires a very rigid schedule that requires you to:

1. Follow a nutrition plan of your choice–no alcohol or cheat meals allowed.
2. Do two 45-minute workouts each day, one indoors and another outdoors.
3. Drink a gallon of water each day.
4. Read 10 pages of a self-improvement plan each day.
5. Take a progress picture each day.

It’s extreme, very masculine and assumes you even have hours a day to spare. Honestly, it lost me at ‘do two 45-minute workouts a day’ and ‘drink a gallon of water’ (that’s four and a half litres for the Aussies and other non-Americans following along). Frankly, as a 42-year old woman with two kids under five, a business to run and a partner who works 5am - 6pm every day, it’s not for me.

The ethos behind 75 Hard is something I can get on board with, though. At its core, it’s about the compounding effect of small daily habits.

James Clear articulated the life-changing impact of small habits best in the opening chapter of his book Atomic Habits:

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.

In this post, I will break down the burnt-out female founder edition of 75 Hard that I think we could all benefit from getting on board with, including:

• 🪨 My rock bottom moment at the start of the year, and how a series of simple daily habits turned everything around in less than six months;
• 💪 My exact #75Hard 75 Soft schedule that worked for me, and the impact it has had on my life (including the dream project I managed to tick off my list).
• 🎉 An invitation to join me in a mid-year reset and start your own version of #75Hard with me.

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Why I Decided to Do 75 Soft — and How It Happened

It’s been a big few years, and at the start of this year I felt depleted. I’d lost my spark entirely, and the most scary part was that I didn’t know how to get it back. Usually, I can get myself back on the horse relatively easily, but this period in my life was a whole other story. I’d lost my mum a few months earlier after two incredibly tough years (more on that here), I’d let friendships slip amidst the hustle and bustle of care-giving and my business had burnt me to a crisp.

I’d love to say that I used a three-step formula to pull me out of it, but the truth is I didn’t. In fact, I discovered my version of 75 Soft almost by accident, and it started (like all good habit stacking does) with one simple change: I downloaded a Pilates app and committed to doing a work out every single day. The work out didn’t require me to drive anywhere (I have my kiddies with me and couldn’t anyway), and it didn’t take 45 minutes.

They were quick 15 - 20 minute workouts and they have changed my goddamn life. I do them messy. I do them with kids jumping on me. I do them in the dark mornings before anyone is awake. I just do them: mostly because I can tell myself they will be quick, and because I don’t have any excuse not to.

The best bit? I ACTUALLY ENJOY THEM. Like, want to and look forward to doing them each day.

Over time, those workouts have:

• Shifted my energy: I start the day doing something I’m genuinely proud of, and it shifts my mental state;
• Improved my health: I have watched my body completely change, with actual muscles, improved posture and ZERO aches and pains (as a 42-year old who had many, this has been the biggest and best bit);
• Increased my motivation: I was struggling to want to do much at all; having the discipline to do these workouts had a knock on effect on other aspects of my business and life I was dragging in.
• Made me a better mum: I found myself not snapping as much, keeping my patience and becoming an all around better mum (I feel really proud of this!)

The biggest change, though? The knock on effect it’s had on other areas of my life.

The Accidental Impact of ONE Domino Habit on Every Area of My Business and Life

This habit became the ‘domino habit’ for me: the one habit that allowed me to start stacking others on top. Here’s what my version of 75 Soft ended up looking like.

75 Soft Challenge Rules:

• One Pilates session every day;
• One walk outside every day (even for five minutes);
• One hour of focus work on a project;
• Drink 2L of water;
• Daily Loops;
• Finance Goal.

I also read non-fiction every day, but I do that anyway so adding it for a ‘challenge’ felt like cheating (click here for a list of my recommended reads — I update it regularly!)

I tracked (and continue to track!) my progress with a simple progress tracker, which keeps me excited about not breaking my streak and I update it each morning when I sit down at my computer to work.

Most of these habits are fairly self-explanatory, but here are two that have changed the game for me from a business perspective.

One Hour of Focus Work on a Project Each Day

Do you have something you desperately want to achieve in your life, but you push it onto the back burner in favour of the things that make the money, the things that feel more urgent or the things that make ‘more sense’? What ‘something’ comes up for you when I ask that question? Maybe it’s a course you want to create? A podcast you want to launch? A charity you want to contribute to?

For me, it was to write a book.

It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do — and for years and years, I’ve pushed it back. It hasn’t been the right time. It hasn’t seemed realistic. I was scared and fearful and felt silly even admitting that I thought I could do it. It felt like a lot of work and I had no idea where to start.

At the start of the year, I decided to commit to starting anyway — not in a ‘big’ way, but simply by carving out an hour each day to get started. Truth is, I had no idea what ‘get started’ even meant: I opened a Google doc and closed it. I asked Claude how to get started writing a non-fiction book. I followed authors on Substack and started listening to relevant podcasts.

And then one day, about a week in, I went to the library and just.. started writing. Six months later, I have a book. A real, finished book. Now, the actual ins and outs of that are a whole different story and likely the focus of a future post, but I did it simply by committing to (at the start) one hour of work on it every single day.

Daily Loops

Ever receive a text from a friend, open it.. and forget to reply for 13,837 days? Because, same. Only, I didn’t want to be that person. So, I committed to a simple habit: at the end of each day, to spend five minutes ‘closing the loops’ — replying to text messages, shutting down tabs, finishing things.

On the flip side, I also committed to opening a new loop each day. Over the past few years of having babies and caring for loved ones, I dropped away from just about every other aspect of my life. Friendships waned, and I didn’t develop new business connections either. One day I woke up, and just felt super lonely. Truth is though, everything you have in life is a reflection of past decisions and so I decided to make new ones. My goal? To open a new thread every day — to reach out to someone, follow up with someone, make a new friend, connect with an old one. Specifically, I wanted to do it with business connections, to start to build relationships and feel a part of something again.

$20,000 Finance Goal

One area of my life where I knew I had become a little ‘loose’ was with my finances. I’ve always been of the mentality that I would focus on earning more rather than scrimping and budgeting to excess, but this year was a different story.

After losing my mum, I cut back significantly on work to give myself some much needed space — and that has meant a big financial step back. In many ways, that has been a blessing because it highlighted how financially loose I had become in many areas.

And so, I set myself a goal — to find $20,000 of money to invest into assets to contribute to my passive income goals. It was a way of me tightening up the belt both personally and in my business.

• Personal Finances: On the personal front, I opened a ‘scraps’ account and committed to filling it daily. In it, I put money that either I manage not to spend or that I come across in another way. Example: left unchecked, I will go to the shops on the weekend with the kids ‘just because’ and easily drop $60 on random ‘stuff’ I probably don’t strictly need (middle aisle at Aldi, anyone?) Since I started my scraps account, I don’t do that anymore.

Here’s a few ways my scraps account fills up over time. I order my groceries online so I can make sure I get the best prices (this reduced my weekly grocery bill by $50+ every week), I use apps that give you cash back (eg Shopback), I buy things on sale when previously I never did and I buy with a more ‘minimalist’ mindset (asking ‘do I REALLY need this?’). I also find ways to make money. For example, I sold my old prams on Facebook Marketplace, and randomly found a $100 casino chip in my drawer and cashed it in.

I also created a personal budget, and added in everything we currently spend on. I then went through and looked for opportunities to optimise — everything from my electricity bill (saving $700 a year), to small subscriptions.

The incentive? Knowing that my scraps account would be put to good use to invest in assets to grow my passive income. When your money has a ‘job’, you’re more mindful about spending it on silly things that don’t matter — and trust me, those dollars add up.

• Business Finances: I created a business expense spreadsheet, and listed out all of my business expenses. I then went through and looked for opportunities to cull or prune. This will be the subject of another post, because I have saved over $4,000 a month.

This wasn’t something I did all at once. It was a calendar appointment in my diary each week, and the compounding effect of little daily habits that built my scraps account and found areas in the business to optimise.

The Compounding Effect of my 75 Soft Challenge

It’s currently mid-way through the year. Here’s what’s happened since I started my ‘75 Soft’ challenge:

• Incredibly Strong and Healthy: I feel healthy, vibrant and strong with visible muscles from my daily Pilates — a habit I love and likely will never give up.
• Great Skin and Hydration: My skin feels soft with fewer fine lines thanks to my daily water habit;
• 100,000-Word Book Written: I’ve ticked my life bucket list item off and have written a 100,000 word book — something I am immensely proud of, feel very confident will help others (now, to look for a traditional publishing deal!)
• Friends Blossoming: My friendships are starting to bloom again, because I have taken responsibility for putting intentional focus into them. I’ve spent more time with personal friends this year than in a long time, and I am building business connections for the first time in years.
• $20,000 in Investments: I have $20,000 in investments which will now generate me almost $1,000 a year in passive income forever — without missing out on anything (simply from little habit shifts and intentional focus!)

Even better, these habits are now pretty much ingrained. I have no intention of stopping. What started for me as a bit of a reset has transformed me in ways I didn’t think were possible.

I’ll be renewing these habits as I move into the second half of the year, and would love to invite you to join me!

Your 75 Soft doesn’t need to be the same as mine. Perhaps there’s an area of your life that is being neglected and that you feel could benefit from the small compounding effect of stacking a habit? If so, swap it out. And then, come and join me! I’m going to document some of what I am doing over on my Instagram, and have a post for those committed to doing their own mid-year reset here — comment and let me know you’re in! 👀 ⬇️