Issue #219: A Whole Different Kind of Race

Good morning. It’s Saturday, July 29th. Happy Birthday Adalyn Rose!

Today’s Quick Win

* “Attainable” = outside your comfort zone, but not impossible based on your current fitness. Shoot for 2x longer, faster or heavier than normal on a physical challenge, then revert to your normal and feel the difference. Create a foundation with this week and then build to, and be creative with, even greater challenges. Ideas:

Physical - running, HIIT, hiking, rucking, climbing, biking, weight lifting
Mental - meditation, breathing, no alcohol, no TV, fasting, waiting in a line without using your phone (oh the humanity!)

Share your plan with us.

Inspiration: Ötillö
What We’re Reading: The Comfort Crisis
Brain Games: #7
Question: Flow State

“Societal norms hold us back - age is just a number. Your body is amazing and if you put in the training you’ll surprise even yourself.”

— Bart Foster

The percent of people who take the stairs when the escalator is an option. (Source)

This Week

This week we explored how to break free from comfort to challenge yourself and build resilience.

Issue #217 - explore the contrast between the challenges of the past and the perceived problems of today. Our biology evolved to cope with survival stress, but in our comfortable world, it can lead to health issues. Embrace discomfort, seek real challenges, and reconnect with nature to find personal growth and happiness

Issue #218 - understand how to unlock your true potential with "misogi" challenges, the ultimate tests of mental and physical strength. Embrace acute stress to recalibrate your response to daily stress, resulting in lower cortisol levels and improved wellbeing and strive to achieve the state of flow, where productivity soars and true happiness is found

Click HERE to check out previous issues in the Thrive25 archive.

Inspiration

Bart Foster (48) and Stephen Neville (50) stepped up to the start line.

Connected by a 30 foot tether, they were about to cover over 25 miles through the Swiss Alps that will take them up and down 3,000 feet - nearly four of those miles will be swimming in 52 degree water. Overall, they’ll be getting in and out of the water 20 times.

Ötillö, meaning “island to island,” is a grueling endurance race where you alternate open water swimming and trail running while moving through nature. You swim in your shoes, run in your wetsuit, all alongside a partner.

Growing up swimming, Bart had already taken on races like the Escape from Alcatraz. But this was a completely different challenge.

He wanted something more authentic and natural than your typical triathlon. Well now he was in the middle of Switzerland trying to go from A to B through whatever terrain was in front of him.

It was raw; it was honest. And he was smiling the whole time.

That’s not to say that it was a walk in the park. There was plenty of yelling between the two high school friends - like when one guy loses his earplugs (a necessity in the freezing water), or when taking a wrong turn, or when your legs are screaming while traversing up the relentless hills.

But it’s in these moments, with these types of challenges, that you find your true self. For Bart - he also learned a few lessons from the journey:

Adapt & Overcome - what makes this race especially challenging isn’t just traversing a wild environment. It’s doing it tied to someone else. You each are going to go through your own physical and mental hurdles - so it’s figuring out how to help each other along the way. Whatever happens - it’s how you respond (together) that matters.
We Underestimate our Capability - our brain holds us back. Built-in mechanisms tell us to stop (it’s a survival safety net). But when we calm our mind, then we see how much more we can do. Research actually shows that most of us still have 10-40% more to give when we feel we are “spent.”
Good Friends are Hard to Come By - as we get older it’s hard to stay connected. But we need to make time for those that matter most to us (Issue #40, Issue #70, Issue #119). In this case, they were literally connected.

In the end, these “old guys” were the only American team to finish the race - after a little over 8 hours on the course.

Hearing Bart’s story made me want to sign up for next year’s race.

What makes us feel more alive than being in one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world and hugging your best friend after taking your body and mind to the absolute limit??

After finishing up a mile swim in a warm pool I realized there’s a lot of training necessary before I’m ready for this myself.

But that’s part of it - it’s the training, the dedication, the commitment that brings us to excellence and gives us the chance to make the most of this experience we have in life.

Bart has made an entire business on helping people get outside in nature and outside their comfort zones. He’s the founder and CEO of BusinessOutside®, a facilitation and training company focused on engaging, inspiring, and empowering individuals and teams.

He’s also written a book “Business Outside” and spends most of his time hiking the mountains around his home in Boulder, CO.

If you want more information on how he might be able to support your business, click HERE.

Here’s to everyone finding their own Ötillö!

Oh - and go call your best friend!

Thrive25 Partner Spotlight

Mark Sisson started Primal Kitchen with a simple mission: to change the way the world eats. Choosing real food and investing in your health can lead to a more empowered you.

What better brand to get back to our ancestral past? Primal Kitchen condiments and sauces are made with high-quality ingredients that make mealtime easy and delicious, so you can get the most out of life.

Enjoy a 10% discount off your entire order at Primal Kitchen. Don’t miss out - click HERE to claim your discount today!

What We’re Reading | The Comfort Crisis

TL;DR - do hard things to make yourself uncomfortable and reap the health benefits.

If you’ve followed along this week, you know we’ve referenced this book multiple times. Michael Easter starts by connecting our 21st century comforts to the rise in mental health challenges. If you can re-wild yourself and be uncomfortable with acute stress, every day stress will be nothing.

But there’s a lot more to this book - it prescribes how to be more present in everyday life, how to reconnect with nature, fighting loneliness with solitude, and even how to change our modern diet.

Two thumbs up recommendation from us at Thrive25!

Brain Games | #7

How is seven different from the rest of the numbers between one and ten?

**For answer, scroll to the bottom of the post

Weekend Q | Flow State

What activities get you into a flow state? Reading, running, gardening, baking? And how often do you get to do them?

Having trouble figuring out which activities get you there or sustaining flow, here are 7 conditions:

Knowing what to do
Knowing how to do it
Knowing how well you’re doing
Knowing where to go (where navigation is involved)
Perceiving significant challenges
Perceiving significant skills
Being free from distractions

Need more support, check out this article from BetterUp

Product Recs

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Thanks for another great week! Anyone else been waiting for someone to update Billy Joe’s iconic “We Didn’t Start the Fire”? Thanks Fall Out Boy…

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** Brain Games Answer **

Seven has two syllables and the other numbers only have one.

Why Thrive25

We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.

This newsletter is for you and we truly value your feedback. Never hesitate to reach out to us at team@thrive25.com.

To health!

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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.