Fitness is about the mind After all these years, it finally dawned on me that physical fitness trains the mind more than the body. The body shows the results. I bet few fit people haven’t developed mental discipline. You might start working on the body, but you won’t get far without working on the mind. The physical work opens the door. I doubt many people who think fitness is just[…] Keep reading →

(I’ll probably get in trouble for this post. Only read if you take responsibility for the consequences.) Every performance field makes a big deal of failure. Look it up. Fail big! Fail fast! Failure is how we learn! Fail! Fail! Fail! I typed “You should fail” into duckduckgo and the top responses were: “8 Reasons Why You Should Fail As Much As You Can” “Why You Should Fail” “This is[…] Keep reading →

July 4th, Independence Day is about freedom. Usually political freedom. I’m posting today on personal freedom. Last month I posted a video on how more than a year’s worth of garbage fit in a canvas bag. I made two videos that day—one with my shirt off to show the result to my body of avoiding garbage. I held off on posting the shirtless one to stay more conservative given my[…] Keep reading →

I like food. I don’t like skipping meals. Sometimes I can’t avoid missing them. Obligations arise and I have to do something for a few hours nonstop. Sometimes I know the only options are so disappointing, unfulfilling, or involve so much plastic, oil, or other things that will lead me to regret that I’d rather eat a big next meal than what’s available. Most of my life skipping a meal[…] Keep reading →

People keep acting like I have some special discipline that most people don’t. They think the burpees, cold showers, avoiding packaged food, and so on take effort. They don’t. Creating a lifestyle where they are normal and easy took effort—a once-in-a-lifetime effort—followed by their being the default for the rest of my life. Almost no willpower or discipline needed. People don’t believe me. I think they find it easier to[…] Keep reading →

The Perfect Workout, Perfected? Regular readers know I find physical conditioning integral to leadership (and a rich, rewarding life). Research shows it. Research shows a few exercises work the whole body and cardiovascular system with low risk of injury–particularly swimming, cross-country skiing, and rowing. The first two need pools or snow. Rowing requires only an indoor rower, which is why I’ve put over 1,000,000 meters and hit big achievements (for[…] Keep reading →

My post yesterday about my heart rate of 49 beats per minute and how people choose to spend their leisure time got me thinking about living by your values–what leaders do. When they hear I exercise daily, people suggest I have some special discipline, dedication, or other skill. I wish! On the contrary, the average American’s dedication and discipline for their values dwarf mine. I have to craft my life to make exercising[…] Keep reading →