Category: Life-Long Fitness

  • Weaponise the jazz mindset

    How a jazz player approaches his craft stands in stark contrast to that of a classically trained musician. Whereas classic music is about perfectly playing the right notes, jazz is about improvisation. A talented jazz musician can, and probably has to, adjust his playing on the fly each night.

    To react to the other musicians he’s playing with or to change the vibe of the audience. Adding notes to a solo or pulling back while another player takes the spotlight.

    In classic concerts, you get to enjoy the talented playing just the same. But when you buy a ticket to a classical concert, you know you’ll be getting the exact thing it says on the tin.

    With a jazz gig, though, there’s always a certain element of improvisation to it. You never know exactly what you’re going the get tonight.

    Approach strength training like a jazz musician.

    Injuries often happen when we’re stuck on doing what we’ve always done. I used to love training with barbells and (relatively) super heavy weights. And I kept getting myself injured. After a while, longer than I’d like to admit, I realised I had tied a part of my self and who I was to the way I trained.

    I had to two options. a) keep going back to the heavy weights and keep feeling like shit, or b) let go of the part of me that’s tied to the barbell training. And find a different way to get to my goals.

    Now, all that sounds much more elegant in writing than what it was when I was going through it years ago. But I guess that’s the benefit of hindsight. Besides, writing this blog is about as elegant as I ever get. So please don’t take that away from me.

    When you weaponise the jazz mindset for your own fitness, you let go of being married to a one way of training.

    You become more adaptable. You move the focus away from the method. And towards the results. Instead of having a one method to get to your goals, you can use whatever training style or exercise selection feels good for your body.

    With the jazz mindset, you can change your training because of an injury or let go of an exercise because your body no longer feels good doing it.

    You can adjust your training sessions based on your time or equipment availability. Instead of doing nothing because you can’t train the way you’ve always trained.

    Jazz mindset means dropping the dogma. If the latest science no longer supports the way you’re doing things, you’ll be open to moving on to something else. Instead of trying to grind a gear that ain’t moving.

    Essentially, you become an agnostic of fitness.

    – J

  • Finite focus

    24 hours a day. Eight of which you (ideally) spend sleeping. That leaves you 16 hours mostly vertically orientated. And vertical orientation is when you get stuff done. Then, unless you’re retired or in the fourhourworkweekforlife tribe, you spend at least eight hours of that 16 doing work.

    That’s eight hours left. Throw in the housework and whatnot. Commuting if you must. Then add up the time you spend interacting with other people. Whether it’s Friday afternoon social tea, helping kids with the homework, or just attending to things, people and causes that deserve your attention.

    If you have a partner, they’ll likely appreciate some deeper connection time, too. A dog? Yep, that too. Cats? Meh. Not our cats, anyway.

    How much time does that leave you? Few hours. Three, maybe. And that three is only realistic if your time management is somewhere closer to Benjamin Franklin and not the early 90s Axl Rose.

    But for the sake of agreeing on something, let’s say you have two focused hours to yourself each day. On average.

    And if, like me, you’ve got young kids, most of those hours may well fall into early mornings or late evenings. That’s the time to read and learn. To create something in a way that’s meaningful to you. All this eats out of your two hours.

    To make progress in anything requires focus. And you pay for that focus with time. And we haven’t even touched on your health and fitness. Which brings us to…

    Based on the time you have available to train, how reasonable are your expectations for the results?

    Are your training result expectations inline with the time you have available to do the work? Unless you’re willing to put everything except the kettlebells on the back burner, it’d be nothing short of delusional to expect quick results.

    You don’t exist in a vacuum. With all the other commitments, stresses, and dogs you have in your life, there’s only so much attention you can give to your training. Even when you’re prioritising it.

    You’re a human adult.

    You have a life, and it’s unlikely that your life revolves around strength training. Give yourself some slack. You’re more likely to stay motivated if you shift your expectations from tomorrow to eventually.

    Carve out whatever time you can for training. Yes, something else might have to give. Within reason. Then, keep showing up. And know that when you do the right things often enough, results will follow.

    It just might take a little longer than you’d like to admit.

    – J

  • The window to your future

    When we get carried away by our current fitness goals, we often neglect the impact it has on our future. Grinding, raging, and smashing our way through each workout with the ferocity of a wild boar on speed will eventually take its toll on our body.

    Whether it’s about always pushing for the heavier weight, constantly running yourself to the ground on trails, or obsessing over whatever the latest hardcore home fitness craze of the moment is. What gets us carried away in the river of fitness is the temptation carrot of short-term results. The drool-inducing physique, the instant ego rub, the hope for glory.

    Competing is a whole another story, though. When competing in most things that are physically demanding, folks make the (hopefully) conscious decision to swap some of their longevity for the chance of winning.

    The rest of us, we need to stay humble.

    If we want to age gracefully, we can’t afford to treat each workout like it’s about the grind and glory. But about showing up for the practice. An opportunity to discover more about ourselves and our bodies. With a one eye firmly locked in on the long-term progress we’re hoping to make.

    Sure, being mindful about training is more work compared to just turning up and letting it all hang loose for 30-60 minutes.

    But if we really want to train for the now and for the future, we need to embrace the practice. While still intelligently pushing our limits. That’s our best chance for getting both.

    – J

    p.s. Talk about embracing practice and longevity. Arthur Brown’s been making music for 54 years. At 80, he still has it.

  • Questions and solutions

    When searching for answers, you have two options. One puts you in control. It requires you to reflect inwards and come up with a solution. The other option means giving the control to someone else. Giving them the permission to dictate the solution.

    Which option you choose depends on the context of your situation.

    When you see a doctor, a dentist or a physiotherapist, you expect them to provide a solution to your problem. Something you can implement immediately. Or something they can do for you right then and there. Besides the questions to understand your situation as it relates to your problem, you wouldn’t want a doctor to rely on you for the right answer.

    You’re not there for introspection. “Hey doctor, I’ve decided I need a kidney surgery. Can you operate on me tomorrow?” When dealing with physical pain, the last thing you want is coaching and more questions.

    But when it comes to improving your health and fitness, it’s likely that you already know what you should be doing.

    You already have all, or at least most, of the answers. And if you don’t, you can find them with a quick search. You don’t need a god-like expert.

    What you need is a coach. Someone to ask you better questions. Questions that force you to look inwards. Questions that allow you to find the right the answers for you.

    That’s what a good coach helps you to do. They help you think by asking questions you might not have thought of. Or the ones you’re too afraid to ask yourself. Questions that lead to answers that help you take action.

    A coach helps you to reflect. And then holds the space and guides you to find an answer. Without judgement.

    He or she gives you the autonomy to decide on how to move forwards. Within a framework that will serve you. And keeps you accountable to the actions you decide, together.

    Obviously, some people don’t want their health and fitness coach to ask questions either. They just want the exact roadmap to follow. This can work well in quick transformations or when the time to achieve specific results is otherwise rushed. Start of a soccer season, getting ready for skiing, wedding…

    But taking orders rarely leads to independent thinking and sustainable results. There’s no autonomy or ownership on your part. And you’re less likely to follow through when you have no say in what the answers will be.

    Which brings me to this.

    I have space for THREE new clients in my signature online coaching program.

    I am looking for folks over 40 who want to reclaim their strength, energy and fitness. Not by following orders, but by being an equal partner in a coaching relationship.

    You used to be fit. But for years, you’ve prioritised your work and the needs of other people ahead of your own wellbeing.

    It’s left you feeling weak and lethargic. And out of control.

    Time to take action.

    If that sounds like you, reply with “I’d like to know more”. And I’ll send you a quick message so we can see if and how this program might be a good fit for you.

    The coaching program is not cheap. And it’s not right for everyone. But it might just be right for you.

    – J

    ps. Now might not be the right time for you. That’s ok. I’ll let you know the next time I am taking on new clients.

  • Fitness savings account

    Most of us focus on the relatively immediate benefits of training:

    To get stronger, to have more energy, to manage stress, to improve mood and mental health. And, to feel good about the person we see in the mirror.

    And all of that is cool. They’re all worth the focus.

    If you’re over 35, you’re likely thinking about the benefits that being active has on aging. Avoiding chronic diseases and getting older gracefully motivates you to move. Instead of stumbling through the years, eyes closed, fingers crossed, and hoping for the best.

    What we often neglect to appreciate, because we suck at planning for something that might not happen (or like to think that it won’t happen), are the benefits that training has on the life’s “oh shit” moments.

    It could be a fall, an accident, a surgery or an illness. Yep, “oh shit”.

    Training and being active is literally like building our fitness savings account. And whether we want to acknowledge this, there’s a chance that one day we need to withdraw from our fitness savings.

    The longer your training history is, the better off you will be if “oh shit” happens. You’re more likely to recover faster. Or to even make a full recovery. Especially when compared to those who are in the same situation as you, but untrained, overweight and inactive.

    So, give yourself a wink, a nudge-nudge, or a high five each time you add strength and fitness to your savings account.

    And if you haven’t started accumulating your savings yet, the next best time is today.

  • The rules of graceful fitness

    Graceful and reasonable fitness march side by side.

    Stay loose.

    Breath through the nose.

    Complete each repetition with a perfect form.

    Finish each set with a repetition that looks as good as the first one.

    Recover in a graceful, even elegant position.

    Keep breathing through the nose.

    Cover all movement patterns.

    Know when you’ve done enough.

    Leave a little (or a lot) in the tank for the next time.

    Walk away feeling better than when you started.

    Know when to skip a workout.

    Every rule has its exceptions. But when you’re training for health, strength and life’s length, it pays to stay graceful for most of the workouts.

    Injuries and burnout happen when you ignore the rule of graceful too often and for too long.

  • We’re like trees

    I’ve been listening to this book about trees. Yep. Wait! Hear me out, it’s super interesting. Trees are incredibly complex. And the author did solid work dumming down the topic. So that I too can understand it. And feel kind of entertained listening to it.

    Throughout the book, I kept seeing these similarities between us and the trees. The modern forest management has a bunch of unhealthy parallels to how we manage our own individual health and fitness.

    In both cases, we’ve said farewell to patience in favour of quick results. And it’s not working.

    Even in (relatively) well-managed forests, the goal is to grow trees fast. The quicker the growth cycle, the better the profit. If you can get a tree to a chop-chop-length in 100 years vs 200, the better it is for the wallet. Right? No surprises there.

    The thing is, a tree would prefer to grow slow for a reason. 

    When they grow slowly, they become denser and thicker, instead of just prioritising height. Which then helps them grow old and be more resilient to storms and all kinds of tree loving bugs.

    When we force trees to grow fast, the trunks are slimmer and filled with air bubbles. They’re weaker than their slow growing tree buddies. Which I guess is fine if you and all your mates are going to get chopped down anyway at the 100 year mark.

    But it’s not just the tree itself that suffers because of the fast growth. If a tree is suppose to live up to 300, even 500 years, it’s no wonder the entire ecosystem of the forest goes through a spinner when the tree gets cut down at a youthful age of a 100.

    Every being from scrub, to fungi, to bugs, to birds, to big mammals. They all suffer because of the trees fast growth and early demise.

    [They suffer in ways that is way too complicated for me to explain. So you just have to take my word for it.]

    And since everything’s connected, all this negatively affects the wellbeing of our planet as a whole.

    Now, you can probably draw the comparisons between tree growth and how our society seeks quick fixes and fast results in fitness. 

    Aggressive fat loss plans, diets, shakes, supplements and all the rest. Unsustainable approaches, only to leave us full of proverbial air bubbles. We’re less resilient when the storms of life happen.

    An ongoing cycle that not only makes the person in the middle of it all unhappy. It also affects those around them. And eventually puts an extra pressure on our medical system with chronic diseases and whatnot.

    As for unsustainable training approaches, look no further than my first ten years of training. Too much, too often, too aggressive. The result? Air bubbles. Constantly injured and sick.

    That’s a long-winded rant about how slow is the way. Slow’s how we get results that enrich our lives. Slow is how we become resilient.

    And the sooner we accept it, the quicker we can start seeing and enjoying our results.

    -J

     

  • How To Do More Exercise

    Finding opportunities for movement instead of a specific time for exercise.

    It was Roy’s, Elroy’s and Leroy’s turn to carry their brother Brian home from the pub.
    Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

    Maybe all we need is a shift in thinking. To move away from prescribed exercise and toward random vigorous movement. Instead of asking “how to do more exercise”, we can seek opportunities for physical activity and movement in our day-to-day life.

    Exercise, physical activity and movement are all the same thing

    We could call it ‘fat loss’’ or ‘looking sexy and desirable so my ex-boyfriend/girlfriend would feel bad about leaving me six years ago and now I finally get my revenge haha you can’t have this anymore I am awesome’.

    Regardless of what we say our goal is, the aim of exercise is to elevate heart rate and challenge the muscles, joints and all the rest to achieve and maintain a resilient and healthy body. 

    If our only goals are health and longevity, then it doesn’t matter what we do to achieve those things. We can start looking past of what we can do in a gym. Or with a specific piece of equipment. Whether the activity fits the mold of traditional exercise is irrelevant. All that matters is that we hit The World Health Organizations’ recommended weekly physical activity targets.

    https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128

    The only reason the modern idea of exercise even exists is to combat the downsides of the modern sedentary lifestyle. Today, whenever someone doesn’t take part in any form of exercise, they’re the odd one out. But we only have to go back 40 (if that?) years and the one doing exercise would have been the oddball.

    Let’s agree that the reason for exercise is to replace the physical activity we no longer do in our daily lives. This opens up the possibilities beyond formal exercise routines.

    Adding more physical activity and movement into our day

    One way to look at it is to increase the physical challenges in our comfortable suburban popcorn-like existence. To seek opportunities for needless every day “hardship”. Activities that we don’t need to do to survive. But we do it because it’s good for us. If not always fun.

    I understand I am not making this sound appealing to anyone right now. But this is the stuff that makes us feel great after we’ve done it. Both physically and mentally:

    • Parking the car unnecessarily far from the store and heaving the groceries back into the car without a trolly and oh my god get out of the way!
    • Walking to the shops to get soap. Then carrying two bags of kitty litter home even though we already have four bags.
    • Speed walking or even sprinting up hills when doing a casual stroll with the family.
    • Using the stairs and taking multiple steps at once if you have the legs for it.
    • Buying 100kg of soil for the garden and not letting anyone else carry a single bag.

    But it can also be fun: 

    • Throwing a kid up and down at the beach (kid swings, if you will. Only use your own children).
    • Carrying kids on the shoulders.
    • Hanging from the bars at the playground – can you tell I’ve got young kids?

    Opportunities like these are everywhere. Movement and “exercise” that doesn’t involve counting reps or timing rest periods or tracking the weights. Activities done while living.

    We just have to learn to see them. And then take action without worrying what others might think of us.

    Hey Brian, could you go back to the shops and get an onion for the soup please?

    It might not feel like it makes a difference, but it does

    Just like a 20 minute daily walk, having these little daily movement snacks really makes a difference. I could do the math, but this is about not counting anything. Besides, after last week’s walking blog, I am positive that everyone is sick of physical activity related math.

    Seeking to increase our physical activity in everyday moments moves (har har) us away from thinking exercise as this one dimensional thing that we have to do in a certain environment, with specific music, while being inundated with the hairy strangers’ body odours and only if we have 45 minutes to spare and our nipple flashing tight top on.

    Breaking these mental chains of what we consider “exercise” brings back the freedom, fun and excitement into movement. While also removing the ego and competition from the equation.

    So, we don’t need to exercise? Ever?

    Well… If your goals are general health and longevity and if you can get your weekly activity levels to those aforementioned WHO levels, no, I don’t think you don’t need to participate in traditional exercise. Things change if your reason for exercise has a specific end goal beyond longevity and health.

    Such as training for a sport, rehab, significantly increasing muscle mass, changing body composition beyond just getting slim, and the like. In which case, the entire term changes from exercise to training.

    But I know most of you enjoy training, as do I. So we might as well keep doing what we enjoy doing. While adding some movement hardship on top.

    Guideline for leanness, health, longevity, and let’s be honest here, looks

    Here’s how I would structure a perfect week of training and physical activity for health, longevity and looks. Keeping in mind that this is the perfect scenario, which almost never happens.

    • Two or three 30-45 minute full body strength training sessions at the 8-12 rep range using full ranges of motion and following a gradually progressive plan. Like this or this.
    • One or two short, high-intensity cardio workouts.
    • 45-60 minutes of daily moderate cardio at a conversational level. Anything goes. The more enjoyable you find it, the better.

    Then I would look for any opportunity (such as those listed earlier) to increase the moderate activity throughout the week.

    Also, it would be three strength workouts or two high-intensity cardio sessions. I wouldn’t max out on both columns in the same week. Because recovery and life. Perhaps three strength sessions and one high-intensity cardio suits best for most of us.

    Now one could add yoga and the rest of the things in that category for flexibility. But it’s surprising how flexible we can get by just following smart training principles.

    But yoga for mindfulness and stress release? Yep, I’m down(ward dog) for that.

    Summary

    Physical activity, movement and exercise are all the same thing. We think of exercise as this thing that we need to do in a certain environment (gym), with specific programs and equipment.

    This thinking limits us from finding opportunities for movement in everyday situations.

    A better alternative is to look for opportunities for vigorous physical activity and movement in our daily life. As ways to increase the physical challenges in our comfortable suburban popcorn-like existence.

    To seek opportunities for needless every day “hardship”. For the lack of a better term. And then combining this with some more structured training sessions.

    Having more specific goals beyond health and longevity means that we move away from random exercise and toward training. Something that’s done for narrow goals. Be it significant muscle building, rehab or sports performance.

    As for overall health and longevity, anything goes as long as we reach the WHO’s targets for weekly physical activity.

  • The Declining Standard Of Fitness

    “”Kauhun”” company on skis.
    Photo by SA-Kuva

    This is a rant.

    165 days. Five and a half months. That’s the minimum military service a Finnish male has to complete after his eighteenth birthday.

    The time spent in the service is almost a third less than what it was in the 1950s. Back then, the fine youth of the nation had to gear up for at least eight months. Although the length of the service has changed, one tradition never fades.

    Whenever the current group of young men (and women who’ve volunteered) enter the service, you hear the previous generations loath how “It’s not what it used to be. Dammit”.1 I echo this. The current service probably isn’t as tough as what it was when I did it. And let’s be honest, when I did it in 2003 it wasn’t that tough.

    Yes, it felt tough at the time and I hated most of it. And yes, our last camp, called “guerrilla battle”, because each team spent a week wandering in the middle of fucking nowhere avoiding being captured, was cold. As in Artic-Circle-in-December-even-reindeers-are-struggling cold.

    But as little as I enjoyed it, it wasn’t physically that tough. I definitely wasn’t fitter than an average recruit when I did my service. I might’ve even been below average. Yes, I did occasional weight training. But that was the extent of my fitness or sport endeavours as a 19-year-old youngster.

    I also know that the military service in 2003 wasn’t nowhere as tough as it was in the early 90s. And in the early 90s it probably wasn’t nowhere as demanding as what it was when my dad’s generation did it in the 1970s. One only has to imagine the tension of the Cold War. Combined with the ever looming anger of the power hungry leader dicks of the Soviet Union.

    And obviously I won’t even discuss any of the above in the same paragraph when comparing what my grandfather’s generation must’ve gone through before and during World War II. Back when the most of dickish of them all, Father Josif, came knocking.

    Each passing decade since the World War II, the physical demands of the Finnish military service have gradually gotten easier.

    Some aspects of the easing of standards make sense. We do not fight the modern wars the same way as we once did. I don’t think we need to expect the same physical demands from most of our youth during a wartime than was the norm in the 1940s. But I won’t dwell into the triviality of the modern warfare here and now.

    The fitness possessed by an average rookie who enters the service is not what it used to be. The Finnish army admits they’ve had to lower the standards because physical demands of the service have to be within a reach of the current youth. However long that reach might be.

    And that’s why the definition of being fit enough to go through a military service is different to what it was twenty or fifty years ago. Let alone what it was eighty years ago when one needed a level of physical robustness to get through life.

    Today, when an average unfit rookie enters the service, he or she can look around and think of himself or herself as rather fit since most of his cohorts are in the same shape. Oddly, it might be those who enter the service with a high level of fitness that are the outliers.

    Sideshow Box
    Women enter the service voluntarily. And it takes a certain character to do so. I assume that most, if not all the women entering the service are much fitter than an average male.

    Frightening as it is, the people entering the mandatory military service provide us with a deep cut into our society’s state of health and fitness. Or at least the future of it. Whether it’s Finland or Australia, it’s clear that our physical fitness is declining.

    And it makes me sad and upset. Really upset. As in, “I’m going to Sha Booms!”2– upset.

    Where we live shapes our fitness standards

    Let’s look at the data in Sydney. For those who live in the inner city suburb of Mosman (I don’t) the standard of being fit is very different to those who live in the Western Sydney3 (that’s me, ish).

    In Mosman, the outlier might be the unfit individual. In the West, the outlier might be the very fit-looking person. All we need to do is spend a day observing people in both locations.

    So unless we have the means to live in a fit and affluent suburb, being fit means we have to fight against cultural norms. If we see a lot of morbidly obese and extremely unfit people around us it’s easy to think we’re acing health by being “a little unfit”. Even if it means a looming metabolic illness in the horizon.

    And because it’s always hard to go against the norm, both locations provide a feedback loop that keeps reinforcing the habits of the population. Great for those living in Mosman. Not so for those in the greater Western Sydney.

    It’s possible to bypass this fitness-straightjacket.

    Whatever our suburb, we can improve our odds of being fit by surrounding ourselves with people who share our values of health and fitness. It’s possible to create our own pockets of Mosman (health-wise, because, well, if you’ve been to Mosman you’d know) regardless of where we live.

    This could be about spending more time with active friends and finding a local community of like-minded people. Or by joining “I Order a Salad at McDonald’s!” – Facebook group. Although, with the current online algorithms that group is probably a breeding ground for the future Anti-Vaxxers and “Finland Does Not Exist” – conspiracy theorists.

    It’s not just the people around us that we look for feedback.

    As our society is getting less fit the surrounding infrastructure has to adjust to it. More travelators at the airport (except those with illness or movement problems, who would not want to walk every meter after a long-haul flight?). Convenient parking close to services. Drive-through everything. Elevators instead of stairs.

    Our world is reinforcing the decline of our fitness by giving us the permission, or at least tempting us, to be less fit. We seek comfort. We don’t have to try, so why would we? We are heading into the direction, if we’re not already there, where we don’t have to be physically active to live.

    We are at a point where to get any form of physical activity we have to make a conscious decision to exercise. Whereas a physical activity can be a by-product of doing a wide-ranging tasks or learning skills, we exercise with a narrow purpose of increasing our fitness.

    It takes an effort to exercise. And despite all the science on the benefits of doing it, most people don’t. Because it’s too hard, boring and time-consuming.

    We’ve becoming a society where at a sight of physically demanding task we spin on our heels and let the people mover take us into the opposite direction. And it’s only going to get worse.

    1 Or, in Finnish, “Ennen piti vetaa sukset jalassa telaketjutonta panssarivaunua umpihangessa ainaki kaks kilometria. Ylamäkeen. Perkele.”

    2Don’t mess with Kenny’s jetski

    3Health Tracker reveals Sydney suburbs with highest rates of obese and overweight children, inactive adults

  • Why We Should Appreciate Our Bodies As They Are

    Oh, don’t mind me. Just sitting here, desperately looking out for the next best thing.
    Photo by Dmitry Bayer on Unsplash

    I will bet my left knee cap that as you’re reading this, there is something about your body that you’d like to change. That you don’t feel completely satisfied with how something in your body looks (belly fat), feels (spongy) or moves (tight, or constipated).

    We often think of this lack of satisfaction as a good thing. It provides the motivation to switch into our training gear. That little voice that urges us to make healthier decisions during meal times. The soft whisper that tells us to eat more fibre.

    So if these collective negative feelings about who we are now are driving us to be better for tomorrow, shouldn’t we embrace them with a shriek?

    Then, once we reach our goals, we can finally feel content about ourselves.

    But, alas, this is not the case. Let’s have my friend Emma prove it. She looks amazing. It’s clear that she cares for her body. Without looking like she has redirected her mailing address to the gym and diligently counts each gram of fibre in her diet.

    Naturally my conversations with Emma often turn to training, fitness and health. And time and time again I come away from these conversations baffled by how unhappy she is about her appearance. Be it too much arm fat, back fat or ankle fat. Never satisfied with her present-self, there is always something she wants and needs to work on next.

    That’s because Emma is a human. Which makes her notoriously incompetent at predicting what will make her happy and content.

    Most of us are no different to Emma. We base the images of our future goals on how we would feel if we’d achieve those things today. We ignore the fact that who we are now is not the same as who we will be.

    In Stumbling on Happiness Daniel Gilbert uses the example of a heterosexual teenage boy to illustrate this. Asking him to imagine how he would feel if a bikini wearing Budweiser babe (“if she’d be a president she’d be called Baberaham Lincoln”) would show up at his door in a desperate need for a massage.

    Thrilled. That’s how he’d feel. But what if this same guy imagines how he’d feel if a bikini babe (still Baberaham Lincoln) would show up at his door in 50 years’ time?

    Again, thrilled. He thinks he would feel as thrilled as he would today. But while blinded by these present thrills, he ignores that in 50 years he’ll be in his mid-, to late-sixties and will have a different level of hormones, life experience and whatnot running through him. All of which would alter his future experience.

    The point? We are terrible at predicting what will make us content and happy. Yet we keep setting these lofty goals and expecting to feel euphoria once we reach them.

    And even if our predictions of our future happiness are accurate, our insatiability keeps us from feeling content for the long-term.

    This phenomenon has a catchy name: hedonic adaptation. We feel unfulfilled with what we achieve because we get easily bored with what we already have. The things we worked hard to get lose their appeal and we will take them for granted. And so we come up with new goals and targets. And on and on we go without ever feeling fully content in the present.

    Although we typically associate hedonic adaptation with tangible things like new iPhones and fancy leather pants, it is prevalent in our careers, relationships, and yes, in our self-image.

    Unless we “cure” our insatiability, we can never jump off the demonic rat wheel of desiring what we don’t have. There will always be the next thing that becomes the burning focus of our whimsical appetite.

    The alternative is to find contentment in how we look, feel, and move as we are today.

    Instead of using a negative verbal lashing to push ourselves forward, we can learn to appreciate what we already have. A one way to do this is by practicing an ancient stoic technique called negative visualisation. The thick-bearded Roman stoics were the masters at finding tranquillity in the present.

    They regularly contemplated how their life would be if they’d lose the things they valued. Whether it was visualising losing the annual pass to their favourite bathhouse, not having enough food on the table, or worse, being exiled to a remote island.

    And it’ll work just as well in our fast-paced modern world. We can visualise losing our physical resiliency, our career, family or our favorite coffee mug.

    Negative visualisation works, even if we think there really isn’t a way things could get any worse.

    If you’re unhappy with that ankle fat you could think how sad you would feel if you’d break your ankle and couldn’t walk at all. Imaging your life navigating the word as an ankless being.

    If you are already dealing with a broken ankle and can’t walk, you can visualise how much it would suck if your leg would be cast up to the groin. Got that going for you already? You can visualise how life would be if you’d break your dominant arm.

    This might sound extreme, but the Roman stoics believed that regardless of how bad the situation might seem, it could always be worse. Meaning that there is always something to be grateful for.

    How much happier would we be if we’d set aside few minutes each day for negative visualisation?

    Maybe it’s when we’re commuting or before pausing for lunch. When we’re going for a walk or getting ready for sleep. For only few minutes a day.

    This doesn’t mean that we should stop trying to reach your goals. But it might make us question which goals are worth pursuing.

    If this sparked your interest in stoicism, I highly recommend reading William B. Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy Although the writing could use some heavy-handed editing, the content itself is brilliant. It’s a great introduction to stoicism. Besides, the writing could be a lot worse.

    There. Negative visualisation coming right at you.