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Micro wisdom delivered to your ears every morning in voice notes ranging from 3 to 15 minutes long. Wisdom on how to live a healthier and more fulfilling life. Every podcast will ground you in the present moment to ensure you know what's important, the here and now.
Hello, everyone. Welcome back. Day three of the twenty one day login challenge. So if you're following along, let's keep going. Great chat last night with doctor Paul.
Speaker 1:Replay's been positive for everyone that's on the challenge. For now, you missed out on a great chat. I'll cover some bits you said here. But day three, the topic today, again, from Epictetus, our teachers, these twenty one days. And this topic is discomfort.
Speaker 1:It does not equal danger. Okay. And Epictetus would say to a student, difficulties show a person's character. You know, if you're feeling hungry, oftentimes light hunger means you're in a deficit and you know, you're on the right track and it's like, Oh, I'm a bit hungry, you know, to be content with that. Tired and soreness can come with working out and moving more.
Speaker 1:You might feel your hips. I walked a bit more steps. My hips hurt in a bit. That's good. You know, you're moving your muscle more than you've used to.
Speaker 1:So you're stretching a bit. You're pushing it a bit more. Not too much, but maybe your old self would avoid this. So it's good stuff. This discomfort you're feeling is is a good indication at time, not extreme, silly discomfort, but this like when we know we're moving in the forward and right direction.
Speaker 1:So Epictetus spoke a lot in his lectures about he didn't see discomfort as a problem. He saw it like a mirror, reflects your character, resilience, discipline, checking to say, are you who you say you are? And he always spoke about the ancient myth of Hercules. So Hercules is a young man. He stood at a cross roads and the ancient Greek, they loved this story.
Speaker 1:It was a big part of the youth and people teaching. Was one of the big ones. It's one of those big things they teach taught and hopefully taught how to talk properly. And, yeah, it was like something that was ingrained in their core values. So basically Hercules comes to a crossroads and is offered one direction, which is comfort, ease, and pleasure.
Speaker 1:Sounds great. You know, maybe clubbing, going out with girls, going on the boat, Circules, drinking with the boys, you know, just all easy. Pleasure, easy comfort. But the other road he was offered was a life of struggle, service and building his character. And of course we know he chose the hard road in the story, not because he wanted pain, but because he wanted meaning and he wanted to become the person he was meant to be.
Speaker 1:He knew the harder path would make him the person he was meant to be because he wouldn't have been Hercules at all if he chose the other path, which is of comfort, ease and pleasure. Does that make sense? Like the entire story, obviously myth or maybe there was a guy called Hercules, who knows? He became this person because he got through the tough stuff. And this is same for you guys.
Speaker 1:Know, there's a lot of you going through a lot of stuff. And when you overcome it or, you know, you deal with it and you look back, these types of things, you look at this person because that thing is like developed a character. They're so strong and wise today because of that. It's never someone is strong and wise because they had an easy life. I don't know if I even exist, you know.
Speaker 1:And I think there's a lot of people that talk about this topic, but I can't remember who it was saying about, you know, if you grow up, you know, from a poorer background and less opportunities, sorry, and things like that, there's some people that come out the other side stronger, better character, gone through it. Some people, you know, never recover and they really struggle. So it really is how one person sees things. And you don't want to put yourself into these pains on, you know, voluntary really. Like, I mean, you could do something like the gym and stuff like that because you know you're gonna benefit.
Speaker 1:You Nobody's having like huge financial strain on purpose to see if you're going to come out the other side, you know what I mean? But there are things that happen in our life that we don't necessarily want at the time, but by dealing with them, overcoming them, my hand will become stronger. Really. You know, there's a lot of members over the years I can think about chronic illnesses still turning up to events, chronic illnesses still putting a smile on their face, going through things every day, this is tough, things you don't even have to deal with. Mostly listening, not to deal with these things.
Speaker 1:We think about like, remember Helen on oxygen and stuff like that and like still having a smile on the face and going after the day as they come, you know? And you don't know what you're capable of until you go through some things, that's for sure. And you can't compare to other people like, Oh, well, they haven't gone through it that much. They don't understand me. Their worst pain is their worst pain, you know.
Speaker 1:Their worst struggle is their worst struggle. And yes, there's levels to it, but it's not something you can compare because it's your own experience. Know, someone has maybe has never experienced someone dying in their family, but they have experienced like, you know, pain and anguish and stuff like that. So there's no point saying, oh, you don't understand pain because you haven't had the pain of death, but they've had their worst own pain, you know what I mean? So we've all gone through things and we're happy we overcome them.
Speaker 1:We're still here today. You're listening to this podcast, it's just a fact that everything you've gone through you've overcome. Don't know, discomfort shows up differently in the end, know, like when we get older and stuff, we're not the same person when we're young. We can't train as hard. We have less energy maybe or maybe not.
Speaker 1:That's not something you have to accept. But, you know, just even getting up a bit earlier to get to put some time into reading or walking is a big win, you know? We're trying to squeeze things in busy days. You're not 21 years old anymore. Sorry.
Speaker 1:This cough. How long is it gonna take to go? I don't know. You're not 21 anymore, waking up and you've nothing else to worry about but waking up by yourself, you know. There's this different for you now and you can't say, Oh, when I was younger I wish I Nah, that's not it now.
Speaker 1:The obstacle in front of you is the way, the obstacle is, you might have to juggle dealing with your kids in the morning, dealing with this tough job, dealing with some injury, chronic illness, whatever it is. But that is the cards you have, the cards you have to play with. And that that the obstacle is the way Marcus really said, a very famous stoic quote. The obstacle is the way, not the way isn't around or away from the obstacle, the way is to go through it. And that is the way you go.
Speaker 1:Okay? And you need you know, we spoke about it with Doctor. P, you know, aging and changing how you train isn't a weakness, it's actually like a form of refinement. You know, Doctor. P is mentioning he's in his forties now, precipitous he's ever been, but he's not as strong as he was.
Speaker 1:He's not as like big muscular as he was, but the overall now, because he's had to train more specifically, perhaps more smartly in some areas, he now feels like he's on top of things better. Because when you're younger, you just do everything. You're not worrying about, is this the right fit? Am I optimizing my time? You could be spending hours training, you could be doing this, you could be doing that.
Speaker 1:But when you get older, you realize, well, look, I can't do this exercise because I've got a bad back. I don't necessarily like doing that. I don't have the time. I feel really tired after doing this. And you start understanding yourself more and you go deeper into things you prefer.
Speaker 1:And there's less ego as you age. You've got more wisdom and discipline. And you've got this quieter type of strength going into these things. So if you feel like you're restarting training or restarting being active and stuff when you're older, see it as a way to recalibrate, okay, what does it mean for me to improve my health? It's not as much as you think you have to do.
Speaker 1:You can do very minimal extra steps. You can do one or two workouts a week resistance training. You can do body weight and stuff. And you can sign and find a class or a community that you like to get involved. As I mentioned in the podcast, sometimes like go to your local clubs and find out if there's a class you like or like martial arts, jujitsu, there's a lot of things you can get involved with and you can learn each time you turn up and the learning takes you back and you're doing the exercises like a byproduct, know, You're there to learn more.
Speaker 1:You're like, I wanna learn self defense. This is cool. But it's not so intense that I can't turn up the next day and learn again. And it's up to me how hard I wanna go. You know, in jujitsu, which is a grappling sport, which means there's no punching and kicking, it's all about being able to control your opponent.
Speaker 1:You can flip them. You can throw them on the floor. You can control their arms and neck and you try and submit them or you just control them. It means you can train at the intensity you like. Some people will go too crazy.
Speaker 1:The young people will jump around. They can jump from left to right and cartwheel and stuff. But then the older people you train with who are 40, not saying 40 years old, but like compared to the 18 year old, you got your forties, fifties, sixties, even people in their seventies. And I've spoke to many of these guys and, you know, and they're like, yeah, can't train like you, you know, I can't train like you or the younger boys anymore. But that's okay, I've learned to adapt my game.
Speaker 1:And they beat the younger guys because the younger guys are full of fury, full of strength, of power. But the older guys have refined their technique. They set traps up. They know where they're strong and they know where they're weak and they they bring you into their game and it's fascinating. It's like a game of chess, you know.
Speaker 1:And I'm using this example because it's so obvious in this sport because people are doing it all their life, know. There's people 70, 80 years old still doing it and black belts and starting at 70 years old. So that applies to other things you can do, you know. You're not going to be the best at 50, 60, 70 years old. Obviously, you're not going to beat the 25 year old in the peak, but you can do the best game you are capable of.
Speaker 1:And it's different game to maybe what you wish you played when you're younger. Okay? So the choice of Hercules, don't run away from these discomforts. They're gonna lead you somewhere well, but don't think you need to go extreme. Okay?
Speaker 1:It's important. And Seneca mentioned a good quote, another stoic. He said that a gem cannot be polished without friction nor a human perfected without trials. It's Heneka. Look at him go with this.
Speaker 1:Again, the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. Marcus Aurelius. And then, you know, there's a few if you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but your estimate of it. So discomfort is neutral in this sense.
Speaker 1:Your judgment makes it bad or meaningful. You can decide, you know? So if you can decide, like, yeah, hey, maybe I'm not what I was five years ago. Okay? Maybe I'm not what I was five years ago.
Speaker 1:But what's happened in that five years of life since then? Well, can I be the same person I was five years ago? Or am I completely experience of change my worldview, have I learned new things? Yes. Okay.
Speaker 1:Well, what's the difference? Well, five years ago, maybe I put being a gym junkie way too high on my priority list and I was going to the gym five, six times a week and I was eating more, you know, quote clean foods, but it didn't necessarily make me happy. And then life went down this path and I had This happened and I changed my job and I got a new job, but I hated it. And then someone got bullied and changed another job. Someone died trying to go over that.
Speaker 1:And then before you know it, made new friends and you talk about You're all going through stuff together. You go on holiday, you have a break, you enjoy this, there's there's ups and downs. And you're five years down the road and you look back and you go, do I even want to be that person from five years ago that prioritized, you know, looking a certain way and training way too much? Or can I go back out there now with a new view? Like, yes, I've been through some tough times recently.
Speaker 1:And yes, it has led me to cope with my emotions with eating and it has led for me to be shy away from social life public. This is these are normal things, guys. You know, you're all gonna unfortunately, everyone listening to this right now is gonna have something that's gonna slap him in the face. Life is gonna slap you in the face, and it's gonna knock you off. It knocks you off on how long, that's up to you.
Speaker 1:Knocks you off and brings you back with a new view, it's up to you, you know. I don't think, you know, I I certainly for me, I'm 32 years old right now. Okay. So when I look at my path, if I went back ten years, you know, heavily physique orientated, Didn't really wanna do as much sport as I wanted. Just wanted to go and do the gym, you know, all about cutting and bulking.
Speaker 1:Get to mid twenties, maybe less or after doing like one of those bodybuilder type shows and kind of getting into just general fitness and gym and running a bit. And then it got to my late thirties and I was like, I'm missing a bit of purpose for my training, you know, missing a bit of purpose. I like going to the gym, but just on my own without the community, without learning new things. I'm like, I like the gym, but I'm I'm I'm just doing what I know I need to do and I'm leaving. And that's when I decided, you know, go back into martial arts and jujitsu added so much to my life.
Speaker 1:And now I use now I train in the gym once or twice a week and I do it to minimize injuries, maximize my time in the gym to get strength gains to make sure my jujitsu can remain decent, you know? So it's kind of like you go on this journey and everyone's got their own journeys. I don't know what exactly yours is. A lot of people end up late twenties, early thirties, starting to run marathons or going into ultra marathons or ironmans and whatever else people like to jump into because they want to find some meaning in the training and helps them. Now if you were to say you're going to do all this to lose fat, you're in the complete wrong place and you're potentially an unwise person because you shouldn't be doing such feats of training.
Speaker 1:But marathons is to to have a have a to lose fat. Okay. The physique side of things isn't the main driver. But when it comes to our physique, the wise person, which you've learned is that this is down to your nutrition, right? Hit enough protein and, get into a deficit and you're going to lose fat.
Speaker 1:But sometimes it's not the right time to lose fat. Is it the right time to think of a calorie deficit and protein intake after someone's died and you've got two, three, four, five weeks of salt and out in a state and you've got people around you that's in a terrible shape and might mentally and you need help and you need to be there. Obviously, you should try and eat well and be on top of things, but it's not your priority to be in a calorie deficit, is it? And you might be back to back then you get illness, you get injured and stuff like that. So you can't always be ready to be trying to lose weight.
Speaker 1:That's not possible. But hopefully the more things you pick up over the years from stuff like these podcasts, from some challenges, from listening to this and the experts like Doctor. Paul is that you take some gems of wisdom and they stick with you. And without them, you would have gone down a far worse path. But with them, you've managed to go, yeah, I need to go off the path for a bit.
Speaker 1:Just gonna wander about into the trees over there, but I'll be back. Yeah. I won't be back exactly where I was, but I'm wise enough now to know not to go really down there and I'm wise enough to seek help, I'm wise enough to understand there's some stoic principles I can approach and it's not the events that disturb me is my opinion about it. And you know, that's an extreme thing to think about during death and I don't think it really can help you that much there. But day to day it helps you a lot.
Speaker 1:So you start picking and choosing things you've heard and listen, I like this, I like this. That helps me. That person I spoke to helped me. I reach out, I got this WhatsApp group. I got this business I can email, I can get.
Speaker 1:I got these workouts I really like doing in lockdown or live workouts I love doing. I got this well, I really like yoga back then. Maybe I'll do know, you've got all of these little tools you can dip into. You know? But it's not about, oh, shit.
Speaker 1:I should do everything at once. Does that make sense? So to roll it back on this topic of discomfort, it's a normal part of the process of fat loss for sure, hunger and stuff. You're going to have discomfort in many areas of your life. You're going to have to roll with the punches.
Speaker 1:But you're just listening to this podcast and wanting to try and put health as a priority and trying to move things forward one day at a time puts you in like a top 1%, 5% of people in the world who actually are serious about this. You know what I mean? And the mindset game is so important. The mindset might be the most important game of all. And I'll leave you with a quote.
Speaker 1:An epic tater says this to someone. He goes, look, if you were walking and No, sorry. If you were standing there and someone was walking by you, you know, and tried to take money from your pocket, What would you do? He's like, well, I'd obviously grab the coin and defend it. I wouldn't let someone take money.
Speaker 1:Wouldn't let someone take my 10p easily and he goes alright, so that's important to you because yeah, he goes Okay. Well, why is it that the most important thing you own, you let someone come over to you and disturb it and mess her up without any defense? He said, what do you mean? He's like, you never protect your mind. You let anyone into your mind.
Speaker 1:You can let anything into your mind to mix things up, to make you feel bad, to put these opinions in, to put this in, this in. And then they walk away and you're left in turmoil, emotional turmoil. You haven't got any guard up. Where's the guard of the mind? We have no guard of the mind.
Speaker 1:We let anything infiltrate our mind. So whilst we need to understand the process has discomfort, let's also today make sure we don't just let shit into the mind. Don't if someone starts bad mouthing about someone else in front of you, you don't like it, you leave the room or you say, guys, please stop. Don't want to be thinking about this type of stuff. Someone comes up to you and starts to gossip and I don't want to be talking about gossip right now for the next half an hour to one hour.
Speaker 1:Or you see you go on TikTok in the morning, go, don't wanna see this stuff, this this pass. You wanna put the right thing in your mind. Maybe read three or four pages of a of a book. There's something right from your mind. When you speak to someone, maybe speak with some direction, some like, let's get stuff done, let's help, as opposed to the opposite, you know.
Speaker 1:Make sure that, you know, the things you see in public or someone bumped into you while walking past you, no problem, not in your control. They bumped into you. Don't let it infiltrate your mind and just mess it about, oh, they shouldn't have done that. Why are people like this? Why are people against London?
Speaker 1:Why is everyone in London so moody? There we are. Well, I've just let that person. He has no idea. He's just done this to my mind, but he's just, yeah, stirred my mind up for the next five, ten minutes, and my mind and my time is my life, and I've just let some random idiot do that for me.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean? So have a think about that, and we'll be back tomorrow.