Every morning I watch the faces of the 6:30am crew as they watch the end of the 5:30am class. I can see the fear, the nerves and the anxiety plastered all over them, like a thick coat of fresh paint.
This makes me smile – many think I’m sadistic…
They may be onto something as I do like to see people suffer. But I’m not sick, I smile because I love to see people choosing to do this stuff, it can be freakin hard.
I’m a believer that humans are getting weaker and weaker every day. Technological advances are making life easier and easier, from a physical standpoint, all the time.
Even in my relatively short life (33 years) I have seen many simple things become so much more available and therefore easier than they used to be.
Think about a simple thing as getting food…
Today you can order all your groceries straight to your door. Nobody orders “takeaway” anymore because you actually have to go to the restaurant to take it away. Uber Eats solved that and basically killed that word.
My Grandmother never drove, like many in her generation. She would have to Farmers Carry her groceries over 1.5km from the bus stop – at least she had the bus!
If we go way back in time, humans would carry their share of a 500lb animal many miles back to camp. And that could have been after hours of stalking and hunting.
The simple act of getting food has become so easy, it no longer requires any physical effort. Something that used to be so difficult and required so much energy, is now effortless.
There are many examples of this over the last 10-20-30+ years. It’s entirely possible to live, have everything you need and never leave your house.
You can work from there, have your food delivered, order anything you need on Amazon and get all your entertainment from Netflix.
In a world that has become so physically easy, you have to seek out discomfort.
You have to go looking for it, you have to make it part of your day, EVERYDAY. I smile at 6:30am because these legends are choosing to add some discomfort to their day and I know the benefit that it will give them.
We evolved from times that were physically hard. We were a physically tough species. Our bodies and our minds need to experience this to stay alert, to stay on top!
Here’s my belief; “everything gets easier once you learn to be comfortable when it’s extremely uncomfortable”
The only way you can develop the skill of ‘being comfortable when it’s uncomfortable’, is to seek discomfort in as many ways as possible.
Tough workouts and tough activities are the most accessible forms of finding discomfort. I believe they do much more for you than build your muscles and increase your fitness. They harden the mind and body together.
There are times in life when you’re put in difficult situations. More often than not these will be emotionally difficult. Chances are, you will be better equipped to deal with them if you have sought after many physically difficult situations.
Train Hard!