a worthwhile read- The Comfort Crisis

[Grumman]

Ordered. Thanks for the recommendation.


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[Doc Holliday]

After seeing this post I watched his video with Joe Rogan.....the comments were pretty harsh. You can't disagree with his message.....spot on, and is less of an indictment of people on this forum/active outdoorsmen, more of where the younger generations are headed, and where technology had led "us".

 

[Vaultman]

There was a podcast I listened to about a guy who challenges NBA, NFL, other pro players who has an annual challenge. It is based off of a Japanese philosophy about pushing yourself beyond your limits. The premise is once a year, you setup a challenge that you 'should' fail.....run 30 miles, etc......and see how you respond....it was quite interesting.

If you can find a place to stream it "The Failure Club" is a series by Morgan Spurlock (of "Supersize Me" fame). It is based on a book I think to. It is a group of people that set a goal that is so far out of reach they know they will fail. They meet regularly and discuss how they are getting close to a personal goal. Great series. I am not sure how it would age as it was probably a decade ago, but I think about it somewhat regularly.

 

[Marbles]

Given @mtwarden recommendation, I will add it to the list. After reading Emergency by Neil Strauss I generally avoid books written by reporters.

I do think engaging in something one knows they will fail at results in suboptimal effort and is a waste of resources. Rather, it is the edge cases, something that is achievable, but stretches capabilities, that are of value.

One giant event is also of marginal value. Life and most things worth achieving are a long game. I can run 30 miles today if I choose. But, 10 miles 3 days in a row would be more challenging. The first day is a given, the second I would have to motivate myself despite knowing that after 3 or 4 miles I would be in pain. The third I would have to start in pain.

Special operations training is hard because of this. No one day is all that difficult. But, weeks of such days on end, and knowing the next day will repeat the pain of the previous days is what breaks many people.

There are also some, usually spectacular human specimens who out perform those around them, that break when a single event makes them struggle. The general theory is that such people have always been good at everything they have done and lack the grit to get back up once knocked down.

 

[mtwarden]

^ nice insight!

I'd agree going in knowing your going to fail is not something that I want to do; knowing going in that what you're about to try has a decent chance of failing- that's different

 

[JasonWi]

I agree with Marbles in the opinion of attempting something you know you'll fail: "results in suboptimal effort and is a waste of resources".

Also as mtwarden stated: "knowing going in that what you're about to try has a decent chance of failing- that's different"

I enjoy being challenged in different ways (physically, mentally) and by accepting those challenges and giving the utmost effort even if failure is the outcome -- I can still be proud that I tried and didn't just talk about it but made an effort to overcome it. I HATE when I've talked myself into quitting something and that failure eats at me...failure sucks, but it's a powerful motivator.

I see so many people who are soft, out of shape, and mentally weak. Adam Janke (Journal of Mountain hunting) had an article awhile back....where he mentioned -- stop being a lap dog, but a wolf...paraphrasing here....but that stuck with me everyday since then.

 

[Vaultman]

If you can find a place to stream it "The Failure Club" is a series by Morgan Spurlock (of "Supersize Me" fame). It is based on a book I think to. It is a group of people that set a goal that is so far out of reach they know they will fail. They meet regularly and discuss how they are getting close to a personal goal. Great series. I am not sure how it would age as it was probably a decade ago, but I think about it somewhat regularly.

I did say here "they know they will fail", but I probably should have worded it different. It really was likely something that was VERY far out of reach. Anyway... watch the show if you want. I liked it years ago. Great concept similar to what was mentioned in many posts.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I see so many people who are soft, out of shape, and mentally weak. Adam Janke (Journal of Mountain hunting) had an article awhile back....where he mentioned -- stop being a lap dog, but a wolf...paraphrasing here....but that stuck with me everyday since then.

"A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control" - Jordan Peterson

 

[Button]

Get comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

 

[Clarktar]

Its a good book for most people. In a similar vane, "Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins is also good. I listen to all these during training hikes/lifting/etc., it's great

This was a great one to listen to. My wife and I still use the idea of stealing souls, whether it's in a work context, intra-competition context etc.

Even my kids mention stealing souls!

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[Clarktar]

I heard the author on the Joe Rogan podcast and bought the book. I was not disappointed by the read and found it to be very interesting and motivating. I have always thought we as Americans have become “soft” in general due to good living post WW2, and even though we push ourselves in many of our hunting endeavors, we need to challenge ourselves more. Not just in outdoor pursuits but in other aspects of our lives as well.

I have since bought the book for several friends who hunt and/or have just retired to motivate them to get outside their comfort zone in life.

Thanks to MtWarden for bringing the book up on the forum, I think it should be in every Rokslider’s library.

Warden just parroting old news as new news

Good Read

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. I know there are couple of references on RS to podcasts, and I randomly see it referenced in other material I get. Call me crazy, but I still like to pick up a book on occasion. This, to me, was a pretty good one. Yes, I hate to run. No, I don't like...

www.rokslide.com

 

[Winnie]

I think it really builds character, especially in kids, to be uncomfortable. I have had many people ask me about elk hunting because they know that is my passion. I often ask them if they can handle being uncomfortable for a week or more. Too hot, too cold, tired, in pain, exhausted, hungry, windburned, sore feet, etc. Many give up the idea right then and there. Too many give it up right then and there. I can see it in there eyes. As a society, we tend to be snow plow parents or helicopter parents....our kids get the least bit uncomfortable and we plow the obstacle out of the way or we helicopter in and get our kids out of the predicament. Hunting does a great job of getting our kids uncomfortable for a time.

 

[Marbles]

This was a great one to listen to. My wife and I still use the idea of stealing souls, whether it's in a work context, intra-competition context etc.

Even my kids mention stealing souls!

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I have never read the book. However in the military I started playing a game where "I stole someones soul" if I passed them. Is this the same idea?

An instructor may have said something along those lines and given me the idea. Not sure.

 

[displacedtexan]

Get comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

I constantly tell my wife that people need to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Worth reading- The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. Easter is a freelance journalist who write for Men's Health, Outside and a few others. This book offers a good discussion on a lot of interesting topics relating to health, but with a focus on why it's important to to challenge ourselves and embrace some discomfort for both our mental and physical health. In the backdrop is Michael Easter (a non-hunter until right now) on a multi-week caribou hunt in the Brook Range- he definitely is out of his comfort zone

“We are living progressively sheltered, sterile, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged, safety-netted lives.”


"Do hard things and the rest of life gets easier”

My library has this in mp3 to download. I have it on hold

 

[Wrench]

If you can find a place to stream it "The Failure Club" is a series by Morgan Spurlock (of "Supersize Me" fame). It is based on a book I think to. It is a group of people that set a goal that is so far out of reach they know they will fail. They meet regularly and discuss how they are getting close to a personal goal. Great series. I am not sure how it would age as it was probably a decade ago, but I think about it somewhat regularly.

One of my kids was very advanced and ended up in a special class for gifted students. In the class at the age of 6 she was expected to name 50 countries and their capitals as well as place them on a map and a bonus for naming 25 rivers of the world.

I spoke with the teachers about the curriculum as it would be difficult for most adults.

The teachers explained to me that the goal was to cause failure. People do not do well with failure if they have never experienced it before. High level students are particularly hard on themselves once they do fail and the class was designed to not only test them to failure, but also show them that it's normal and recoverable.

I never even considered that before the conversation.

 

[5MilesBack]

That can backfire as well. When I was in high school there was a kid younger than me that never got anything but A's. They got a B+ in a class, and then committed suicide over that.

 

[Mikedlaw]

That can backfire as well. When I was in high school there was a kid younger than me that never got anything but A's. They got a B+ in a class, and then committed suicide over that.

I think that's what the teachers were trying to instill at an early age in Wrench's scenario. Teaching them at age 6 that failure is normal and recoverable rather than getting all the way to high school age without ever experiencing failure...

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[Wrench]

That can backfire as well. When I was in high school there was a kid younger than me that never got anything but A's. They got a B+ in a class, and then committed suicide over that.

That's exactly what they were fixing. Mediocrity is not acceptable but failure with effort is.

It's holding yourself accountable to yourself....but accepting the results.

 

[Marbles]

This has been touched on, but it is worth stating explicitly. In training (such as children in school) there are constructive and destructive strategies for inducing failure.

Constructive failure must start with something achievable (even if unlikely). The country task is an example of this. Then, it must also provide the tools for how to proceed, the basics of this is expresed by things such as:
-How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
-A journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step.
-Break the rock.

Then, once the edge of capability is found, they need to be guided in how to constructively deal with failure. Getting back up after falling is a learned response. As is melting down.

I would posit that if a child is not being pushed to failure, they are not actually being taught well. This falls on parents however as it explicitly implies expectations based on ability and in the setting of school this can easily lead to the trophy for effort mentality.

On another note, this thread and you people are why my right knee hurts. As a millennial (taught the ways by boomer parents) my suffering is never my own fault. So, I blame this thread for the 17 miles I ran yesterday. I'm glad you guys are there for me so I do not have to own my choices. Thank you.