Yesterday, I was told that one of my oldest relatives, who is 73 years old, is doing 75 Hard. If you don’t know what 75 Hard is, let me give you a quick rundown. For 75 days in a row, the following must be completed each day:
- Two 45-minute workouts (one must be outdoors)
- Read 10 pages of a book (audiobooks don’t count)
- Follow a diet
- No alcohol or cheat meals
- Drink one gallon of water
- Take a progress picture
A 73-year-old woman is doing this! I did this challenge a little over a year ago and every time I told people about it, they thought I was crazy. They all said something along the lines of, “sheesh, there’s no way I could do that. I’d fail on the first day.”
So all of these perfectly healthy millennials and Gen-Z people are telling me they can’t do 75 Hard, yet a 73-year-old woman is doing it no problem?! If that doesn’t sum up today’s world, I don’t know what does.
Our current world has allowed us to become soft. We don’t have to put in any real effort in order to survive every day. We can literally sleep in, drive to McDonald’s to get our body’s ‘fuel’ for the day, and sit on our butts in a temperature-controlled office or home. Heck, some people don’t even work and just collect unemployment from the good ol’ government.
We have it so incredibly easy that in order to survive in today’s world, we don’t have to do anything even remotely challenging. We are never encouraged to ask ourselves, what are we truly capable of? That is exactly why challenges like 75 Hard or activities like Ultrarunning and Iron Man are so important.
The best way to challenge yourself mentally is to challenge yourself physically.
I’ve discussed this before, but we all know that physical challenges are far more mental than they are physical. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we ever ask of them.
Ever heard of David Goggins? He’s the epitome of turning physical challenges into mental milestones.
Do you think a 100-mile run is long? Tell that to the people who have completed the Moab 240. Even the people who have run 240 miles through the Utah desert understand that they are capable of doing even more.
Think an Iron Man (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) is pushing the human limits? There’s a guy running 100 Iron Mans, 100 days in a row as we speak.
With all this being said, it must be understood that each and every one of us is capable of SO MUCH MORE. Ask yourself, what are you capable of? Get out there and see what you’re made of.
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