The Birth Of A Budding Enthusiast
The year was 2020 and we as a society found ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic and I, like many others throughout the world, found myself having a lot of time for self reflection. As everything was being shut down and we were ordered to stay indoors and away from large crowds of people, I began to look at myself and where my life had taken me. I can honestly say that I wasn’t too thrilled with the situation I had put myself in and the life I thought I knew came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.
It was around this time that I decided to create a blog where I could document my rise up out of the ashes…like the Phoenix. My idea was that by documenting my journey, not only would I have a diary of sorts where I could look back on and draw inspiration and motivation from, but also there might be a chance that I could help at least one other person who is currently facing a problem which I was able to overcome. As Ed Mylett says, “You are most qualified to help the person you used to be.”
(Watch Ed expand on this concept here)
The Valley Of Despair
I wish I could tell you this is where my journey as A Budding Enthusiast began but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. If you know me personally, you know that I usually will get super excited and into a new hobby, endeavor, dream or goal and usually that excitement starts to fizzle out after some time…leaving me in a state of discouragement. I later discovered that there’s actually a name and theory behind this…it’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect.
You see what happens is that in the beginning of any journey we have all this excitement for our new “passion” and we go full throttle into diving in head first confident that we can conquer the world. This is the first stage and what is known as unconscious incompetence.
What we soon realize is that 1) We don’t know as much as we though we did 2) It’s going to take a lot more skill, effort, and time than we originally thought, and 3) The road ahead is not without it’s speed bumps, pot holes, blind turns, and hazards. This part of the journey quickly turns into hopelessness as we’ve entered the stage of conscious incompetence otherwise known as “the valley of despair.”
Now what most people including myself don’t realize is that if we just stick it through and remain consistent with our efforts during this stage, we gradually exit into the next stage, conscious competence. This is where we make progress as we’ve begun to learn from our past mistakes and are on a path of improvement. While we are progressing, we still have to remain focused on the task at hand as what we’ve learned has not become second nature…yet.
And this brings us to the final stage, unconscious competence otherwise known as mastery. While this last stage can have levels as well, generally our ability to perform tasks are done so without thought like walking and having a conversation. We are not thinking about placing our feet in front of the other one step at a time, we just do it.
So you see, for years, my home base was the valley of despair and the domain for A Budding Enthusiast would remain just that…a domain, a blank WordPress website with a placeholder waiting for me to set things up.
Mental Toughness, the Tool of Success
As things would have it, on December 23rd, 2023 my life as I knew it was going to take a radical turn. It was on this day that a voice I was very familiar with spoke words not into my ears…but into my soul. This was the day, Andy Frisella released episode 618 of Real AF, a Real Talk segment of his program and in it he gave a speech that rattled me to my core
(Listen to the full episode here)
In his speech, he addressed the problems that the majority of us have in our lives and the reason why we are not where we would like to be in life. He spoke about the one key skill that has held us all back in any and all areas of our lives…this is the skill of Mental Toughness.
What is Mental Toughness?
It’s being able to do the things you know you need to do in order to propel yourself forward in life, even when you don’t feel like it, it seems too hard, or the finish line is out of sight. It’s pushing past the pain (mentally and physically) knowing that what’s on the other side of your struggle is the version of yourself you were meant to be…the version of yourself God designed you to be. It’s the ability and skill composed of: Grit, Fortitude, Confidence, (Self)-Belief, Self-Esteem, Discipline, Determination, Perseverance, Kindness, Positivity, Self-Love, and Gratitude.
75 Hard and the Live Hard Program
Okay, so I knew I needed to build mental toughness in order to find any ounce of success in my life but how was I, your ordinary human being going to build mental toughness and become extraordinary? The answer was in a program Andy strategically constructed called the Live Hard Program.
This program, which consists of four phases is set up so that ANY individual, no matter their circumstances can transform their life from one that they are truly unhappy with to that which only a few elite people are able to live.
The first phase of this program which is also the bootcamp for the entire program is called 75 Hard. This bootcamp is a 75 day program consisting of five critical tasks that you must complete without ANY deviation, ZERO Compromise. If you fail at any of these tasks your clock resets back to day 1 of the program. Once complete there are three more phases in the program which must be completed within one full calendar year.
If you want a more in depth description of this program you can listen to this podcast here or go to andyfrisella.com and order his book ‘The Book On Mental Toughness’
The 5 Critical Tasks of 75 Hard
In order to complete 75 Hard, you must complete 5 critical tasks as I mentioned previously. While any single one of these may not be too difficult, the combination and consistency of which they must be completed exponentially increases not only the difficulty of your day but are strategically set up in a way which will test every ounce of your mental toughness. ALL of these tasks must be completed before you go to bed at night and again miss ANY of the tasks and your clock resets to Day 1.
Task 1: Choose a diet and commit to it for the entire 75 days (No cheat meals, no alcohol, no sugar or sweets, no compromise).
Task 2: Drink a gallon of water
Task 3: Complete two separate workouts each a minimum of 45 minutes long (unbroken) and staggered at least 3 hours apart, one of these must be outdoors.
Task 4: Read 10 pages of a non-fiction/personal development book
Task 5: Take a progress picture of yourself
(Again if you want a more in depth description of all of these tasks including the rest of the phases you can listen to Andy’s podcast here or go to his website www.andyfrisella.com and order his book ‘The Book On Mental Toughness’
Your Last 1,000 Days
In his book ‘The Book On Mental Toughness’ Andy Frisella starts off Chapter one with this quote: “Do you want to see a magic trick? Show me your last one thousand days and I’ll tell you exactly where you are in life.” The funny (not so funny) thing is that this is without a doubt the most accurate measure of where your current life is.
When I read this I began to look back upon my last one thousand days (2.74 years) and while I didn’t like what I saw, it was very clear to me that the reason I was (and still am) struggling in life is because of the decisions I’ve made leading up to this point in life. It was at that moment that I decided to change my future by changing who I was.
There is a quote by Lao Tzu which is translated as this: “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
Knowing this I knew I needed to change my thoughts, and the Live Hard program was going to be my vehicle that would get me there. You see when most people hear about the Live Hard program or it’s boot camp 75 Hard, they immediately think it’s some sort of fitness “challenge”, they are sorely mistaken. What 75 Hard and the entire Live Hard Program is, is a way to recalibrate your mind, a way to transform your life by changing the way you think, talk, act, perform, and portray yourself through developing mental toughness.
As part of my transformation journey my goal is to do everything in my power to break free from the thoughts that are holding me back from reaching my true potential. By following the steps laid out in the program to the T with zero compromise I believe that I will be able to achieve this goal.
Reflections on the Journey So Far
My progress as of writing this blog is Day 48 of 75 Hard and over these past 48 days I can honestly say that I’ve learned a lot. I’ve not only learned about myself through the many challenges that I’ve come across so far but I’ve also learned through the books I’ve read and the mentors I’ve listened to.
I’ve learned that the mental and physical barriers I used to think were solid and concrete were actually figments of my imagination, something my mind made up to keep me in my comfort zone. As I’ve broken through these, I’ve not only begun to gain more confidence in my capabilities, but I’ve also had a shift in my thought process. I’ve begun to look at challenges as just that, challenges and with each one conquered I’ve gained a new stepping stone in my life, helping me to advance to the next level.
Another super huge accomplishment for me is pushing past my fears, my fears of failure, judgement, and the unknown. Ideas that would have normally sat in the attic of my mind collecting cobwebs have actually begun to come into fruition as I’ve forced myself out of “paralysis by analysis” and just got started by taking action. Two examples of this are my front yard renovation and the development of this blog.
Now I can honestly say that while I am stoked on the progress I have had to come to the realization that the product would not be perfect or a 100% carbon copy of what I intended it to be, but what I’m beginning to realize is that by taking action I am able to course correct along the way while continuing to make progress…progress over perfection.
(If you’re interested in my current progress in the Live Hard Program and my one thousand day quest for personal excellence you can track it at the bottom of my ‘About’ page.
Final thoughts
While I am a lot further along in the journey towards personal excellence and have experienced a lot of growth, by no means am I perfect (Only Jesus can be) as I still come up short on challenges that arise. I also am not writing any of this from on top of my high horse, rather quite the opposite. I write this to tell you that if someone who is as messed up as me and has been for most of my life, can start to make small incremental changes in his life then so can you and it all starts with the way you think.
My hope and prayer is that through my struggles and successes you may find a tiny bit of inspiration…just enough for you to begin your journey, your quest for personal excellence. If I can do it, I know you can, strive for health, happiness and success in your lives.
Aloha,
Dan
