Today at a Glance
- Most people shy away from hard work and give up when they start to struggle and feel unpleasant feelings.
- Why doing hard things is worth It (in the long run)
- How to do hard things for a better fitness, health, and life
In fitness and health, just like in life, there’s a universal truth we often ignore:
Everything worth having is hard.
That’s why the ultimate life hack is to do hard things on purpose.
Because if you want to live a life of freedom, purpose, and high impact, you need to do hard things. You need to be one of the minority who go against society’s obsession with ease, comfort, and quick fixes.
Most people shy away from hard work and give up when they start to struggle and feel unpleasant feelings.
Most people choose comfort and the imaginary safety of their ordinary lives over discomfort, growth, and the chance to live the life of their dreams.
What we’ve seen over the years James Clear perfectly describes “The hard way is the fast way.” Looking for shortcuts seems easy…but it just distracts you.
- Exercising every day is hard. Seeing your own body deteriorate is also hard.
- Eating a whole food nutrient-rich diet is hard. Dying from a heart attack at 55 is also hard.
- Mindfully resting each day is hard. Hitting rock bottom and burning out is also hard
We chose our hard, and it’s making all the difference.
Life is not getting easier, you’re getting stronger.
"Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life"
Why Doing Hard Things is Worth It (in the long run)
Markus from 2009 to 2016 and Ketty from 2012 to 2022 climbed the career ladder. We were both rewarded with bigger titles, more money, and less free time. It was damn hard.
The long hours, the family sacrifices, and the constant battle to stay ahead in a race that seemed never-ending. It was an unfulfilling kind of hard. Often we left work completely drained, instead of energized.
Then we individually hit rock bottom.
We pivoted — but not voluntarily.
We learned to appreciate hard work in the realm of holistic fitness and health.
Both of us were sporty (running, mountain biking, hiking, etc.) and gym rats earlier in life — but not strategically and systematically.
Systematic exercising taught us to persevere. It showed us that we can control our fitness, health, and life much better. Yoga, mindful movement, and clean eating set us on a personal and spiritual growth path. It energized us.
We learned that our bias toward challenging endeavors that make us feel bad is what researchers call the Effort Paradox. Trying hard is costly and aversive, but it’s something humans value.
Effort “just feels bad, and we tend to avoid it. That’s why it’s costly,” says Michael Inzlicht, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Yet at the same time, “there’s something about pushing yourself that seems to be valuable and enjoyable as well.”
How to Do Hard Things for a Better Fitness, Health, and Life
We rarely leave our comfort zones anymore.
Humans weren’t built to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, scroll mindlessly on our phones, and watch TV as an empty escape before doing it all over again.
We are capable of so much more than this. When you test your body, you strengthen your mind.
You increased your mental toughness. This isn’t a physical challenge. It’s a mental one.
We have a three-step life formula that’s enabled us to get holistically fit, build a successful fulfilling business, and create a 100/100 loving relationship.
The formula is:
Move + Experiment + Optimize = Massive Success
Let’s break it down…
1) Move
This is the most important part of the formula. If you do nothing else but this, you will be more successful than 90% of people out there.
Movement means action. You get on the mat, the bars, and grab your elastic bands — every single day. In the beginning, it doesn’t matter if you do strength training, stretching, or mobility work.
We also did everything wrong and looked like idiots but we didn’t care. We just showed up.
Movement, showing up, and intentional action are the prerequisites to achieving anything in life. You can’t be a player if you’re not in the arena.
But once you’ve shown up what do you do?
2) Experiment
Look, once you’re in the arena the only thing left to do is the work.
You want to find what works for you. How to do that?
You guessed it — experiment. Trial and error.
In the beginning, you want to keep it simple. Stick with the basics and don’t expect much from yourself. Be okay with looking like a beginner because we all had to start somewhere.
As you do that focus on the final step…
3) Constantly look for ways to OPTIMIZE
In 2018 Markus got certified as a yoga teacher. He was hooked on this mindful physical practice. Over time he realized something was missing. So he added calisthenics. After another year or two, he added mobility work and physical therapy exercises.
And because he was always on the go, living a nomadic life, this became the well-rounded Exercise Anywhere System.
Something similar happened to Ketty’s nutrition approach: she’s from Sicily — the pulsating heart of the Mediterranean — so that naturally healthy diet was in her blood. 2020 she got certified as a nutrition coach and anchored what she knew in science.
And because she loves to travel (28 countries and counting), plus lived in 7 of them for more than 6 months, she added a potpourri of diversity to her dietary approach.
We learned that, if we do this enough times, we’ll invoke the power of compounding and eventually create an awesome holistic fitness concept.
We’ve accelerated this by buying courses, hiring coaches, and surrounding ourselves with like-minded people who are looking to do the same thing we are.
When you’re moving, taking action, and experimenting you need to look for ways to improve — to optimize.
You may not see massive changes in the beginning but getting even 1% better each week can lead to exponential change after a full year.
Follow the above formula for any part of your fitness, health, and life and we guarantee you’ll see massive success.
Conclusion
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” —Thomas Jefferson
Your life is determined by the number of “hard things” you can tackle head-on.
It’s not about some fancy dopamine detox or over-complicating things. It’s about finding what works for you and simplifying the process.
Don’t expect an overnight transformation. Give it time, at least a year, and brace yourself for some massive changes starting from month three and beyond.
Life is going to be hard either way. So why not choose the kind of “hard” that fuels your personal growth and development?
That’s it for today.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
What’s going on in our world
Recently Phillip finished our “Beyond Fitness” coaching program.
Phillip is an entrepreneur who was an athlete in college but “somehow life happened” (his words not ours). He felt like he lost his spark.
His biggest struggle was knowing the right things to do when it came to training and nutrition. He wanted to build muscle, burn fat, and have more energy in a way that fit his lifestyle.
He used our Holistic Fitness Framework and a simple strategy:
- He started strength training using progressive overload. Something he could do anywhere without a gym.
- He learned what and how to cook (or order) and eat so he could have healthy meals without having to think about them.
- He used our Rest & Relax Toolkit to release stress and calm the mind.
We added a healthy dose of expert coaching and accountability and, well, he said “That was the best investment of my life.”
Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, build muscle, and create a confident energized body without spending hours in the gym? If that’s you then click here to sign up for a strategy call and let’s get you holistically fit.
As always, stay fit, stay active, and enjoy your life.
Ketty & Markus
