Philosophy Has Consequences

22 Sep

“What do you think are the long-term consequences of facing panic, and overcoming it with hard, intelligent work? What exactly are you conditioning?” – Burkey (station515)

I came across this quote via some kind of ‘blog inception’ – a blog within a blog. And it stopped me in my mental tracks.

I was reading a piece titled ‘Evolution’ posted years ago by Mark Twight – a man probably best known for his role in the creation of Gym Jones. That and taking the actors for the movie ‘300’ and turning them into ripped Spartan warriors. In it he referenced another blog from 2013, from a similar style of training facility. The kind of places where the coaches were part philosopher poet, part Spartan warrior, part vengeful God.

The piece was titled, ‘Who We Are’

It was maybe 300 words long at best. But it was just hammer blow after hammer blow.  That quote was the crux. I read it, then read it again, and again and again.

And then it all clicked.

What are the long-term consequences of absolutely everything you do?

Once you ask yourself that question and you realise that you are conditioning yourself - mentally, physically, emotionally – every minute of every day – there is simply no turning back.

We have torn back the curtain and exposed the very foundation.

Your capacity is determined by how you see the world.

How you see the world is determined by your conditioning (mental, physical, emotional).

And your conditioning is a function of your philosophy.

So what’s your philosophy?

If you read that last question and thought, ‘Shit, I have no idea what my philosophy is…’, don’t panic. You’re normal. I don’t think many people have put a great deal of thought into it. And that’s the problem.

I wrote recently about the concept that you are either a vessel or a craftsperson. Either you lend your identity out to others by making it dependant on transient ideals such as brands, political parties, media, or you can be a craftsperson, and build your identity out of things you create, beliefs you refine and work on over years. You can subjugate it or captain it. Your call.

If your personal philosophy requires a PowerPoint presentation and accompanying white paper then you have less of a philosophy and more of a position paper. In my humble experience the greatest personal philosophies are succinct, compact, easily explained. Indeed the very best require literally no words at – they are expressed in that persons every action. They need not elucidate it as it announces itself in every moment, every facet of their lives.   

So you started reading this blog because you thought it might be interesting and now your stuck adding ‘create personal philosophy’ onto your To Do list, right between ‘pack school lunches’ and ‘prep for zoom meeting #348’.

The good news is that you don’t have to rush out, shave your head, don a saffron robe and think deep thoughts. But you do need to start somewhere. A philosophy of how you operate on a personal level within the world will take years, if not decades to develop. It will be nuanced and complex and will be set upon by all manner of life experience.

The key is realising that by having no philosophy at all you are robbing yourself of any kind of lens through which to view and assess the world. Your framework of where you fit and what you are capable of is simply a function of existing and blithely stumbling from day to day.

You're a passenger when you should be standing at the helm.

Let’s change that.

So you've come to the realisation that you 're a passenger, when you should be the Captain.

Let's change that.

Start with some sweaty discomfort.

You don’t have to get up at 4:30am every morning and run/lift/do burpees. (I mean you can if you want…)

But you have to do something.

Taking charge of your physical conditioning as a first step is the ‘easiest’ and quickest way to establish control. By making a conscious decision to subject yourself to some degree of physical discomfort, regardless of your personal desire to do so, you are moving from passenger to captain.

You have taken charge of one aspect of your life and are now consciously guiding the conditioning that occurs.

What’s the downside? It’ll suck. Understand the purpose of every rep, every step, every kilometre. It’s about a degree of discomfort, healthy hardship. You don’t have to train like a Navy Seal or run a marathon every day. You start somewhere, get sweaty, set goals that seem just out of a reach, and perhaps a little scary, and you start chipping away.

And you chip every day.

What are the long-term consequences of facing some physical hardship every day and overcoming it with hard work and mental fortitude?

I’m serious, don’t just read that line and move on, it’s not rhetorical.

If you did something you thought was hard every day and keep winning – what do you think that does to your mindset?

Here’s what happens next

You have a line in the sand – a forward operating base from which you can begin to expand your map. You begin to understand that you have capacity – mental and physical. Once that begins to grow you assess possibilities through a different lens – what seemed like a pipe dream months ago now seems like it’s on the map. It’s real.

Bringing it back to Mark Twight again, as he says:

“Greater fitness leads to more opportunity. This holds true for knowledge as well…when we develop ourselves as human beings, we uncover new potential. The map gets bigger..”

We have gone from passive existence to building that personal philosophy. You have become one of those strange people for whom getting sweaty every day and tackling some healthy discomfort is part of your identity.

You have now placed a lens between the world and how you perceive it.

That lens is determining your focal point.

You see the world differently because you see yourself differently.

This evolution of identity cannot be reduced without your permission, it cannot be taken from you or used against you. It will be built from your blood, sweat and tears – and such hand-crafted edifices tend to be very hard to tear down.

Taking charge of your physical conditioning is a gateway. Once you recognise that change, the realigning of that lens between you and the world, you cannot go back.

It’s like discovering the key to simultaneously unlock a myriad of doors – you begin to understand the connection that every single decision you make is a minute building block in the construction of your identity – as you wish to create it.

And the leap from taking charge of your physical activity, regardless of degree, to beginning to take charge of your thoughts and emotions, is far smaller than you think.