​“I don’t stop when I’m tired.  I stop when I’m done.”

–David Goggins

​“I can only encourage everyone how important exercise is, it’s a lifelong contract. Maybe not a panacea for everyone but the best time to exercise is before you need it.”

–Fourscore (with a hat tip to Tundra for the suggestion)

Chafed, thanks for Slight Edge. Far more my style than Goggins.

-Tulip

Tulip raised a good point that I hadn’t thought about.  Namely, presentation style matters regardless of the merits.  I am big Goggins fan.  I think he is nuts and that nuttiness is helping to define the outer boundaries of our own abilities.  Needless to say, he pushes like a motherf*cker for each of us to find our current limit and push past it.  He is coarse, brusque, and harsh.  I often need a dose of this.  I also understand where, because of his style, this isn’t going to do someone any good.

So, back to The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.  It presents a different mentality toward making progress.  The book is not specifically about fitness.  It’s about a mindset that benefits you in every area of life you choose to apply it.

The philosophy behind The Slight Edge is revealed in the foreword.  Every attitude or action is easy to do or easy not to do.  Simple disciplines applied consistently over time yield tremendous results.  It requires a modicum of responsibility and/or discipline.  Of course, what you choose to do must align with your values.

Those same attitudes and actions are easy not to do.  Not doing something is often the comfortable choice now but becomes uncomfortable later.  See Fourscore’s quote above.  Blaming someone or something else is easy and relieves us of responsibility.  Simple neglect serves the same purpose.  When you take the long view, the results from choosing easy not to do are terrible if not detrimental.

Olson tells three stories in the foreword to illustrate his point.  My favorite is about the water hyacinth.  The nutshell version, is the water hyacinth sends out runners that become “daughter plants” allowing it to double in size.  If you saw a single water hyacinth in a pond you wouldn’t even notice it.  Two weeks later it would cover about a square foot.  On the twentieth day it would be about the size of a mattress.  On the thirtieth day, it will cover the entire surface of the pond.

Ponder that my acolytes.  Ask yourself, how much of the physical work you do isn’t immediately noticeable even though it is building toward your terrific result?  How many times in the past you noticed only a tiny improvement and then suddenly you realize just how much you have accomplished?

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I think the CDC’s utter incoherence has received a well deserved beating in both articles and comments.  My one hope from the shit show that has been our country’s response to the coronavirus is a good chunk of the population devalues experts while continuing to appreciate expertise.  If anything will stop the Great Reset, this will. A man can dream can’t he?

Weekly cuteness that I’ll bet draws a mixed reaction.

This week’s music.