I hate inspirational content. You know the kind: never give up, beast mode, monk mode, do hard things kind of shit.
I tend to consume two types of content: business/entrepreneurial/creator content, and then running/riding/climbing content.
The two types of content I tend to ignore because there’s way too much of it and it typically feels hollow or disingenuous:
- Hustle porn complete with all the lambo’s and giant gaudy watches.
- Triumph of the human spirit shit that says: “you got this” or something similar.
The former was never ok and the latter has just been overdone so much it now means nothing.
However, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve been struggling lately. I’ve had a series of work related launches underperform in a way that makes me wonder if I have ever had a talented bone in my body.
“What is wrong with me?” has been the internal monologue on repeat lately.
The good news is that I (intellectually) know the answer. Nothing is wrong with me. In fact, I can take a look at the historical data and quickly determine I’m a smart, hard working, super experienced, bad motherfucker.
The key here, at least for me anyway, is to not get emotionally hijacked when things aren’t going the way I’d expected. In the rooms of recovery we call expectations premeditated resentments.
The only way I know how to not get emotionally hijacked is to have a strong awareness practice like mindfulness meditation. Otherwise, how would you know when you get hijacked? You’re too busy stuck in the movie in your mind.
But after successive setbacks, I could sense that my normally positive mindset was starting to degrade. No matter the meditation, exercise, therapy, coaching, etc. I was having a tough time feeling OK when I couldn’t seem to find the success I was aiming for.
Then, earlier this week I watched a short documentary about the 2024 King of Moab winner Max Jolliffe. He’s a young guy crushing the ultrarunning scene with a bunch of strong wins/finishes in the 100/200+ milers. And he’s 12 years sober.
So that kinda got me hyped about being a winner, overcoming setbacks, and having gratitude to get to even live this life that I almost destroyed with drugs and alcohol.
A day or two later the algo fed me a Cameron Haynes podcast featuring Max and I listened to most of that. But, as the algo does, I got served up the episode of Lift, Run, Shoot with Andrew Huberman.
Keep Hammering. Watch or listen to this short clip. Huberman talks about what it is that allows us to endure or to keep going when the body says we should slow down or stop.
“The reason we quit is rarely because our body quits. Our mind quits.”
Well, that’s what did it for me. I’d been climbing with a buddy, then went upstairs, set the treadmill on the steepest incline, and heard that quote over my earbuds and that’s when my mindset shifted back to normal. Maybe even better than normal.
It wasn’t like fireworks went off or I had some major A-HA moment. But there was a quiet click in my heart and my mind that reminded I’d been through harder times and I’d overcome worse conditions.
I hate to be inspired trite shit, but it worked when I needed it. And I love to be judgemental about inspirational content. I like to think it’s for weak people and that I don’t need that kind of stuff.
But I needed it today.
Look, we all get jammed up sometimes. Whether it’s in business, relationships, athletic pursuits, or creative goals. Not being where we want to be can cause a lot of suffering.
But most of the suffering is in your head. It’s not happening out here in the real world.
The Buddhist would say the root of this suffering is craving and aversion. We want something to be a certain way and when it’s not, we’re unhappy.
Mostly, this is a profound dissatisfaction with reality. In recovery we often open and close meetings with the Serenity Prayer where we ask for help in accepting the things we cannot change, and the courage to change the things we can.
It’s clear that I often need outside help when I get stuck. Whether it’s prayer or a therapist or a coach or just a good friend who can be compassionate and supportive.
Today I needed a little hit of inspiration from unlikely sources and I’m grateful I was open minded enough to hear it.
What about you? What helps you get unstuck when your mind wants to quit?