Best-Selling Author Michael Easter Takes Over The Hard Way
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 | | In today's edition, Michael Easter Shares: - Why Comfort is Killing Us
- His Go-To Energy Foods
- The Value of Rucking
| | | THE COMFORT CRISIS | Spartans! This week, I've turned The Hard Way over to my friend and best-selling author Michael Easter. Michael knows the value of doing tough stuff, and I think our community can learn and benefit from his insight. – Joe
Hi, I'm Michael Easter.
I recently found myself standing on a windy tarmac 20-miles above the Arctic Circle, staring at a plane that was about the size of a Snickers bar.
My plan was to spend the next month with two friends trudging hundreds of miles across the Arctic. Before the pilot returned to pick us up 33 days later, we would encounter subzero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, white-out storms, massive grizzlies, vicious badgers, raging glacial rivers … you name it.
This was nothing like my safe, comfortable life at home—but that was the point.
Most people rarely step outside their comfort zones these days — we're living progressively soft, sterile, temperature-controlled, over-fed, under-challenged, safety-netted lives. And it's slowly limiting the degree to which we experience our, as the poet Mary Oliver put it, "one wild and precious life."
But a growing body of evidence shows that people are at their best—physically harder, mentally tougher, and spiritually sounder—after doing hard challenges like my trek across the rugged world of the Arctic.
These experiences, similar to those encountered by our ancient ancestors, may protect us from physical and psychological problems like obesity, heart disease, cancers, diabetes, depression, and anxiety, and even more fundamental issues like a lack of meaning and purpose.
It worked for me. After my time in the Arctic, I was fitter and healthier than I'd ever been, but more importantly, I'd experienced a sea change in my perspective. I was harder to ruffle and less stressed. I was more productive and creative. I found joy in moments that once seemed ordinary. And I could fully appreciate just how amazing modern life is.
I was also curious — why had the act of thrusting myself into a world of discomfort created such profound change in my life? To help unpack this question, I met with researchers at Harvard, geneticists in Iceland, monks in Bhutan, Special Operations soldiers in Florida, and many more. I asked them all the same question: What happens when we exit our comfort zone? In other words, what are the upsides of doing hard challenges?
I wrote about this journey and its lessons in a book called The Comfort Crisis, and a follow-up book with even more challenging adventures called Scarcity Brain (which was just named an Amazon Best Book of the Year).
I now write about all the ways hardship helps humans over at my newsletter, 2% with Michael Easter. Read it here for free.
We cover everything from the six new rules of elite fitness, to breaking new science on extreme calorie burn, to how taking on epic challenges can expand what you're capable of.
When I was on Joe De Sena's podcast recently, I felt like I was with a kindred spirit, a brother in arms in fighting the modern habits that are making us soft.
As we look ahead to 2024, I want to wish the Spartan community a year filled with challenges accepted and challenges met.
The Hard Way is the only way.
Michael | | | We Ask, Michael Answers | Q: Michael, What foods keep you going during all your crazy adventures?
A: Spartans, Breakfast is like a houseplant in a frat house -- often neglected. USDA surveys find that basically no one skips dinner, but we skip breakfast an average of four days a week.
I don't. Ever. I eat oatmeal to fuel up at the start of every day. Here's why.
When I need a snack, I like Maui Nui's Venison Jerky Sticks (the healthiest meat on planet Earth).
I also supplement with Momentous Essential Plant Protein. I prefer plant protein, and Momentous has contracts with the military because their products are pure and backed by science.
Aroo! | | | | They Said It | | "You risk so much by hesitating to fling yourself into the abyss." | | – An unnamed Carthusian monk in the 1800s | | | RUCK IT! | I can't talk about fitness without mentioning my favorite activity -- rucking. It sounds simple -- walking with a weighted backpack --- but it's actually an ancient activity that helped make us human.
Humans are the only animals that can carry weight for distance. And this shaped us and allowed us to become apex predators—we'd carry meat and gather food back to camp, and tools into the unknown as we explored.
Still today, it's the most powerful thing you can do for your fitness. Rucking is strength and cardio in one.
It crushes calories and preferentially burns more fat than does running. It also has a far lower injury risk and can prevent and relieve backpain. To learn more about it, click here to get the free rucking deep dive. | | | The Hard Way Podcast | | | "The common theme that runs throughout all advice on how to improve your life is that you often have to go through short-term discomfort to get the long-term benefit."
– Michael Easter | | | | | | Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. | | | WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS NEWSLETTER? | | | | | |
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