The Ways of Hard Men

The conveniences of modern life have made us soft, fragile, and weak.

That is precisely why you hear people complaining day in day out. They’re complaining about politics, about their incomes, about the weather, about the new neighbors that moved in across the street, without seeing the immeasurable privilege that is being alive today.

Don’t go down the road of the spineless wimp (aka average Joe). Follow the ways of hard men and become a fearless specimen, capable of taking on any obstacle. Tough as nails and sharp as a blade.

1. Rise early

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin

Starting tomorrow, you’ll wake up early and set the stage for victory.

The hardest sons of bitches rise before the crack of dawn. While the rest of the world is still dormant, the hardest sons of bitches prepare for war. They plot, they strategize, they THINK.

Thinking is a long-lost art. As with any art, thinking requires dedicated and consistent practice. This is how you practice thinking:

Wake up 1 hour earlier than you usually do, take a shower, brew a strong cup of coffee, grab a pen and a blank sheet of paper. Headline the paper with a task or problem you need solved. Then come up with 10 solutions for the task at hand.

Put your ideas to paper. The first few might come out effortlessly, but the last couple will take some digging on your part. And this is exactly what this exercise is about.

Doing this every morning, you’ll notice your mind working at a much higher frequency, and ideas just oozing from your brain. Good things come to those willing to think.

2. Take cold showers

“The cold is my teacher.” – Wim Hof

Take a cold shower every morning after waking.

If you can endure 3 minutes in ice-cold water, nothing and nobody can pull you out of your comfort zone for the rest of the day. You’ve primed yourself for hardship, and daily stressors will lose their menacing guise.

Exposing yourself to the cold comes with a host of physiological benefits. But more than that, it gives you a mental edge over the competition. Make friends with the cold.

3. Embrace hunger 

“I refuse to graze all day. I have better things to do.” – Pavel Tsatsouline

You step out of the shower, feel wide awake and refreshed. Time for breakfast, right?

Wrong. You skip breakfast and fast for the first 4-6 hours of the day, consuming only water, coffee and/or tea. Going for long stretches without food will eliminate cravings, emotional eating patterns and reset your relationship with food.

An empty stomach will put things into perspective nicely. Trust me.

Fasting favorably alters your hormonal environment, making you more resilient to stress and better equipped to handle your daily business.

If you can’t handle the stress of not eating for a couple of hours, what can you handle?

4. Get strong

“Strength is never a weakness” – Mark Bell

Start resistance training to maximize your human potential.

Focus on a handful of compound exercises and perfect them through consistent practice.

If you’re new to strength training, start with basic bodyweight movements like push-ups, pull-ups, squats, leg-raises and perform them progressively 3-5x/week.

You can be tough without being physically strong. But why sell yourself short? Why settle for less than the best? I couldn’t be bothered with anything but the best.

5. Learn to defend yourself

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” – Mike Tyson

Take boxing classes, learn Jiu-Jitsu, dip your nose in the different fighting arts. You don’t need to compete in the UFC, but you absolutely must be able to defend yourself.

Incorporate some form of martial arts training into your routine and become proficient at executing the basics. Basics win fights. Forget black belts and flashy techniques. Learn to throw a proper punch and to control distance with your footwork. How? Practice, practice, practice.

As Mister Miyagi once said, wax on wax off.

6. Get uncomfortable

“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn

In order to gain momentum and keep it going, you must challenge yourself on a daily basis. You must do the things you dread, the things you’re afraid of doing every single day. Discomfort breeds fortitude.

Get a gym membership and don’t skip leg day for once. Talk to the cute girl at the coffee shop. Upload your music mixtape on YouTube. Learn a new language. Start a new business. Do it now.

Get uncomfortable and embrace failure.

The hard man thrives in times of uncertainty and despair. In contrast to the spineless wimp, he is not paralyzed by fear because he knows who he is, what he must do, and how to do it.

Your move.

 

Thank you for reading

Victor