Indifference To Pain & Pleasure

Indifference to pain & pleasure.

 One of the main issues I see as a coach is the lure of self sabotage and even psychological paralysis during times of stress. It’s been written and said many times throughout the most ancient of philosophical disciplines to be indifferent to pain & pleasure. To adapt to whatever comes.

Most people sabotage their exercise programs and diets during periods of high stress. They are often unknowingly training their minds for constant failure and emotional self sabotage. They are slaves to their environment, relying on things going well and a certain degree of comfort to enable them to take action.

I was very fortunate that I had instructors early on that trained and stuck to their goals regardless of what was occurring around them. This was a real warrior mindset where it was understood, the only aspect of life we have real influence over is ourselves. Training and discipline through grief, hardships and extreme stress, builds a formidable mind that can act without being totally overwhelmed by the events of ones environment.

So as tough as it may seem, train through your biggest challenges of life, have control over what you consume and you are creating resilience and a never quit attitude.

Furthermore, training through extreme stress will dissipate the buildup of stress hormones and even create a portal to potential in all areas of life.

 Remaining committed to our habits reveals an untapped potential, that only becomes apparent through great challenges and suffering, that expands the mind beyond its current beliefs and abilities.

Japans greatest swordsman points to the outcome of such discipline below.

‘To hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.’ - Miyamoto Musashi

YouTube Channel

 Our YouTube channel is now posting regular content on all things courage and mindset. I am about to cover the philosophy of Bushido - The Way Of The Warrior over 7 videos. If you don’t want to miss this, please subscribe via the link below:

https://youtube.com/channel/UCSTeetTK0uenpgUm66WY4_A

Recommended Movie

 Southpaw

I really liked this film. Jake Gyllenhaal is superb and intense as Champion boxer Billy Hope who is portrayed as a man who at the top of his game, loses everything. What follows is the road to redemption whilst struggling through massive grief and the uncomfortable truth that he is his own worst enemy, which is certainly true of us all.

His experienced boxing trainer (Forest Whitaker), helps him see this uncomfortable truth with an extremely direct approach. He also guides him on the comeback trail which depicts some exciting fights in the movie.

Well with a watch.

Warrior Sayings For Courage

“There has been a constant war, a war with fear.

Those that have the courage to conquer it are made free

and those that are conquered by it are made to suffer

until they have the courage to defeat it.”

-  Alexander The Great

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable

you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter.

Everything is within.”

-  Miyamoto Musashi

“A warrior must only take care that his spirit is never broken.”

-  Shissai

How People Really Reveal Who They Are.

 We all at some point in our lives will be taken advantage of, be betrayed and our trust broken. We may even be the perpetrators of this ourselves. People often say to me “I didn’t know they were like that.” Or “I thought I could trust them.”

So how can you tell who someone really is?

Whenever someone regularly writes and speaks about their own virtue, honesty and integrity, look for the opposite. This is known as ‘Virtue Signalling’ and is a very reliable indicator they are in fact the opposite of what they are often desperately attempting to be seen as. Real men and women of courage and integrity never do this and care little for reputation and the opinions of others.

Why do people virtue signal?

Apart from the obvious deep insecurity, they want something from you. Getting you to admire them and often fear them, they can feed from you by treating you as inferior and inflate themselves to a false level of superiority.

It’s also a way of getting you to not only accept their behaviour but turn it into your personal issue for not accepting it. There is a strong narcissistic quality in the virtue signaller.

By refusing this one sided, disempowering relationship and maintaining equal ground with respect and integrity, they will usually wander off and deselect themselves from your life.

There is no love, honesty or even a real relationship if anyone wants someone to be a certain way so that they can feel better about themselves.

If you know what you are looking for, people will reveal themselves by signalling the opposite of how they really live.

Until next time, stay safe and well and aim for courage in everything you do.