We all have our daily routines that are our habitual behaviors that give structure to our days.  For me, it becomes a ritual when it is based on an ancient idea or behavior—it deepens the meaning, and deepens the reward of performing it daily

We wrote a blog a while back called “Taking our power back from Coronavirus.” In it, we talked about making empowering self-care decisions during lockdown periods, and we introduced a novel strategy: Prepare to get the virus.

Well, since then, one of us (Scott) actually got Coronavirus, and despite being in a vulnerable group (having chronic heart disease) he survived the ordeal quite well. So, although we are not doctors, and you should not view any of this as medical advice—we thought we’d do a practical review of our philosophy, and how it worked.

"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

-Admiral James Stockdale

Aristotle wrote about a lot of different topics during his life—and founded many of the disciplines we know today—including rhetoric and physics. The one we are going to talk about today is his perspective on ethics and how he viewed the virtuous life. 

In the last few months, our Coffee Talks have often fallen on the topic of sleep. Matthew Walker’s book has had a life-changing effect on us. In fact, it’s had an effect on our Coffee Talks themselves—if we want to have a coffee talk, it has to be before 12:00 because that is our caffeine cut-off time, to ensure coffee doesn’t affect our sleep. After that, it has to be a “Tea Talk,” and that just doesn’t sound as cool—plus we would have to build a whole other website. 

We’ve been talking about New Year's Resolutions—there doesn’t seem to be any way around it this time of year in fitness, wellness, and health circles. So, in the name of New Year’s Resolutions—let’s see if we can figure out some good goals for 2021 that add fulfilment and meaning to our lives—and don’t take our lives over.

Tragic optimism is finding meaning even amidst very real pain and suffering. If we can find meaning, even after a heart attack, a COVID diagnosis, a loss of job, or loss of loved one, or even a loss of who we thought we were—then we have a chance to not only carry on--but to flourish. The kind of flourishing that is not dependent on outside circumstances—a flourishing of the spirit.

We think that happiness and meaningfulness aren’t rooted in achieving or owning things. Don’t get us wrong, it’s nice to own stuff and accomplish difficult tasks, but we think it’s the journey itself that brings the most joy and fulfilment. Setting a goal, making a plan, and executing it, is where we feel the most joy. Actually working towards something great, by your own definition, is what makes life feel a bit more meaningful.

There are two lies or misconceptions that we often hear, which can be hard to talk about. Because if you bring any of these topics up at the next dinner party, there is a good chance that your friends will label you as an insensitive asshole and stop talking to you.

So, on that note… let’s get started.

I have lived by the ocean for 10 years. Just 100 meters away. Over the years I have witnessed the Scandinavian tradition of “winter bathing.” I have admired these stoic, brave souls from afar—but have never been brave enough to try it myself.

Is this obvious? We don’t know, it wasn’t to us. We have spent long hours working with people we didn’t actually like that much--or worse. Why? Life is short—we might as well work on things with people we actually enjoy being around, whenever we can. As we have talked about before, our friendship began over a post-training cup of coffee--and eventually Lennart said, “We should write this shit down!”

Luckily for you, we have tested it, and the answer is a little bit of both…

It all started over a couple of beers—as many great stories do! A friend and I agreed on running every day for 100 days straight. The rules were simple:

• You have to run every day

• Minimum 4 km a day

• You have to hit a 1000 km on day 100

It started as a text, “I’m thinking about swinging the kettlebell 25 times, then jumping in the harbor. Maybe five rounds?” The answer was, “Yeah! Good idea!”

“I am so sick of this shit!” We’ve said it to ourselves often over these last eight months. Coronavirus continues to nip at our heels.  Some countries are returning to lockdown yet again, some are facing new or stricter restrictions. Many people are facing economic hardships or new work situations that they would rather not face. When we find ourselves playing cat and mouse with this thing, and are constantly waiting for the next depressing shoe to drop, we are giving away our power. 

We have both been astounded at the head-clearing emotional boost we have experienced through cold exposure. We are both fathers of three—and cold exposure bulletproofs us in the mornings.

If you are going after a goal—for example a heavier weight on a lift—try actually cutting back on training that particular lift. Add in some other accessory training that doesn’t overstress the joints used in that lift.  The kettlebell is a great tool for that. Polish the floor somewhere else, and wait for it to shine where you want it to.

We have spent plenty of time exploring the other side of this coin. We have both spent years training powerlifting and weightlifting movements, in an attempt to improve our performances in CrossFit. We were always gunning for heavier and heavier lifts, and often the movement quality suffered, and eventually, we ended up with back, shoulder, and hip injuries. Now we are putting “Movement First.”

Stress has become deeply rooted in our vocabulary. Everybody is stressed—and understandably so—global pandemics, uncertain economic futures, increasingly polarized political landscapes, and more, are affecting us all. In our work lives, stress can even become a bit of a measure of status—the more stressed out you are, the more valuable you and your time are. “Outwork your competition,”  “Hard work beats talent,” or “Get up at 4 o’clock and dominate the world,”  are all sayings that we have heard from self-help gurus—and many people try to live by their preachings. 

You may have seen personal trainers, or even (gulp!) dieticians talk about the “Calorie In/Calorie Out Theory,” or some have called it the “Calorie Is Just a Calorie” argument. Guess what? They’re full of sh...uh...full of “Insulin Denial Syndrome.” (We just made that up—but it’s a thing—and a very pervasive thing.

This approach adapts well to following a high-frequency training program. When you run an easy distance every day, or swing the same kettlebell every day, the stimuli is more tolerable. You do not feel destroyed—meaning you are recovering well—and you’re ready to train the next day. This means that you provide yourself with a greater opportunity to learn, because of the greater frequency—and you can tolerate a greater weekly volume because you are not increasing the intensity every session.