mcshane on Nostr: Solid short essay on pushing yourself in the short term to chip away at long term ...

Solid short essay on pushing yourself in the short term to chip away at long term goals, and how volatile human will is.

the mind is a terrible master at times. listen to your body, service your physical ambitions regardless of mood, learn to slow and control your thoughts as you do your speech thru meditation. 🤙

quoting note1k0k…j3nl

A few years back, I was in the best shape of my adult life.

I was training for triathlon for upwards of 15 hours per week and eating super healthy.

In August 2021, I competed in my first official half Ironman, and a few months before that, I completed most of an informal full Ironman alongside the Iron Cowboy (check out the cool doc on him on Netflix). (I say ‘most’ because it’s not that I dropped out of the race; there were just some logistical challenges to doing all of it. I did cross the finish line with him, though.)

I also competed in the NYC marathon that fall.

I was feeling pretty awesome.

But by that winter, I started to slack a bit, mostly due to work-related stress.

I continued training 6 days a week, but I’d lost some of my intentionality. I was going through the motions but not really digging in deep.

Fast-forward to today, and I’m about 20 lbs heavier than I was then (which is a lot when you’re training considering that a bowling ball weighs about 8 lbs. Carrying 2.5 extra bowling balls worth of weight on you while you train is rough.)

I woke up this morning feeling super bummed and a bit hopeless. I had lots of things going through my mind, many of which were scenarios outside of my control. So, I thought about what was in my control, and I remembered how good I used to feel when I’d do a workout with great intentionality.

And so I suited up for a brick workout (when you do two parts of a triathlon). My rational mind told me it wasn’t a good idea to go out in my bike, as it was supposed to start snowing momentarily. I was tired of my rational mind, though, so I dressed as warmly as I could and got on my bike.

It didn’t take long for my toes and fingers to go numb, and for the wind to burn my face. There was no way I was getting off my bike before riding at least 20 miles, though.

And ride 20 miles I did. And I kicked into high gear for a chunk of the ride. Thighs and lungs burned. It felt great.

I got home and switched into my running gear. The snow started coming down as I headed out for the second part of the workout.

Hands and feet were still numb, and I loved the feeling. It didn’t take long to find my stride, and as much as I wasn’t feeling great, I loved that I’d tapped back into really wanting to be outside doing what I was doing again.

I knew it was either this or continue feeling down and defeated. This felt much better.

By the time I got in, I was cold and hungry, craving some healthy food. I haven’t been eating great, so it was good to feel this again.

I ate that food with a deep feeling of gratitude. The sense of defeat was gone. A sense of empowerment had come back.

I share this story mostly because I was inspired by one of mcshane (nprofile…lsjd)'s posts today, one about how he got started with jiu-jitsu (which I read just after completing my workout) and also because we need hear this kind of stuff to motivate ourselves from time to time.

So, if you’re feeling this, drop the defeatist mindset and get to work on something you’ve been putting off. Dig in. Push yourself. Create something. And lose your rational mind in the process.

When you’re done, post it here on #nostr so others can be inspired by it, as well.

We’re stewards of a new era of personal empowerment with #bitcoin and #nostr and we should bring our best selves to the table as we do this work.

Go further than you planned today, tomorrow, ASAP.

Test the boundaries of your perceived reality, and make peace with the discomfort in the process.

The results will likely surprise you.

Much love.