How Committing to Health Teaches you to Stand Out

Add a Little Crazy into your Fitness Routine

To bring the conversation back to health, besides the expected benefits of increased energy, fewer medical issues, and greater confidence stemming from greater strength and endurance, achieving a healthy lifestyle teaches you a little bit about being a radical.

Even if you only stick to the 6 low-hanging fruits in The Warrior Spirit Principles of Health, which are the least obtrusive habits you can adopt that will get you 80% of the way to being vibrantly healthy, you're going to have to take a stand against the status quo. For example, the very first thing I recommend is to stop drinking sugar. Think about how ubiquitous liquid sugar is:

• soda pop with every meal;
• high-fructose corn syrup added to 'health' foods like yogurt, granola, and sports supplements;
• sweetened water masquerading as fruit juices;
• and who drinks plain black coffee anymore?

If you add alcohol (a sugar) to the mix, then you're really down to drinking just water, milk, tea, and black coffee. You'll discover the strangely ostracizing effect of ordering a simple glass of water whenever you're at a party, or even a restaurant.

While it's up to you to balance how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, one thing is definitely true: being able to stand by your health choices in the face of the status quo will teach you how to stand out, stick to your principles, and forge a path of your own despite it being an uphill battle.

These abilities are essential in many areas of life, not the least of which is pursuing a passion and making a difference.

Training for Success

By definition, to make a difference, you need to fight the inertia of the status quo. The hardest part isn't necessarily the fight, it's the fact that you always have the option to just relax, do nothing, and enjoy the comforts being offered at every turn.

Of course, if you're used to getting up early every morning to run up a mountain before work, or routinely pulling two times your bodyweight off the ground, or climbing ledges and bars and ropes, then maybe cheap, easy comforts aren't so seductive to you. If you know how to look past the fatigue and the inconvenience of a workout to the freedom and sense of power you gain after months of hard work, you might not have so much trouble looking past the late nights, frugal living, and constant diligence of a startup to the freedom you gain and the impact you have.

The psychological path of the warrior, as symbolized in myths and hero stories the world over, involves a period of isolation from the tribe or the community. Either because the hero has chosen a greater destiny or had it thrust upon her, she must face challenges alone. These are challenges that only she is worthy to face, by virtue of her courage and willingness to answer a higher calling. In the myths, they are frequently challenges that have felled lesser mortals.

But, once the challenge is completed, the hero can return to her community with a new ability or gift to offer it, something that benefits the world.

Being different, and sometimes being alone, is a small, temporary price to pay for leading a richer life.

Photo credit: Hamed Saber on flickr