Is there any viewing experience better than watching The Olympics? Amidst all the turmoil and negativity in the world, we all seem to come together for a four-week period to marvel and cheer on the best of the best in their respective discipline, as they embody the patriotism of representing their/our country.

The background stories of each athlete are great. The examples of overcoming life’s roadblocks and the challenges of reaching this level are constantly presented. The selflessness of otherwise individual athletes coming together for a cause they deem bigger than themselves.

It’s inspiring across the board. As I watch, my main takeaway continues to be the display of what having an ironclad focus on a singular goal can have for a person and the lessons we can take from that ourselves.

There isn’t anything bigger than the Olympics for a swimmer, a gymnast, a track athlete, a fencer, etc. This is it - the pinnacle of the mountain. They have trained their entire lives in one very specific sport, with representing their country at the Olympics as their North Star that guides them.

We might not ever compete for a gold medal in our lives, but at some point, we will enter an arena/profession that we are likely to remain in for the majority of our professional careers. Can we mirror (at our own level) that focus and determination to be the best we can be? What effort would it take to get a “gold medal” in the career that you identify in? If you don’t feel the drive to compete with yourself, maybe it’s time to consider pivoting to another “sport”.

Brain - Why Do We Do What We Do?

Tony Robbins has an older episode of a podcast where he covers the “Six Human Needs” - Certainty, Significance, Variety, Love/Connection, Growth and Contribution. Throughout the episode, he makes the case for how each individually affects our thoughts, behaviors, moods, and aspirations.

Tony, in his compelling way, takes these arguments from a variety of angles to connect them all eventually back to why we do what we do.

Which begs the interesting question of ourselves - Why DO we do what we do?

Why is it that we brush our teeth? Why do we take a shower in the morning or the evening? Why do we eat three meals? Why do we take out and feed our dogs every morning?

The inverse question is equally, if not more interesting - Why do we NOT do what we know we should?

Why is it so easy to sleep through the alarm? Why do we skip the gym? Why do we choose the fast food over the whole food to cook at home? Why do we not read?

The baseline for both of these questions is the same - our actions, as Tony argues, are all tied to implicit needs we have as humans, which in turn, are tied to consequences that we either highly respect or disregard.

The truth is that even though it’s a chore, you take your dog out every morning so they don’t pee in the house and feed them so they don’t starve to death. You brush your teeth because you don’t want to have bad breath and decaying teeth. You eat three meals because it’s part of your routine, which you know makes you feel a certain way and avoids the negative effects of hunger.

The truth of the matter why you don’t consistently go to the gym, eat clean meals, pick up your book, wake up early, drink enough water, etc. are foundationally the same - Instead of emphasizing the certainty of an outcome (IE - Brush teeth so they don’t fall out of your head), we underemphasize the impact of NOT doing the thing we know we need to do.

In the moment, one missed workout doesn’t seem like a lot, but the problem is that it often turns into multiple. And multiple missed workouts in a week don’t seem crushing, but a lifetime of missing workouts will turn into a body and mind when you are 50, 60, 70 that shows the signs of those misses. A bad diet will manifest itself later on in life with health issues. Not reading will have an impact over the long haul of how efficiently you can communicate, lead, parent, etc.

What we find when we are super motivated to complete a goal is that we place a significantly higher level of emphasis on the goal at the end. We are running a marathon - If I miss this workout, I am going to embarrass myself on race day. I am tired of being overweight - if I don’t fix my diet, I will be fat forever.

So the answer, which will always be a work in progress, on why we do what we do, lies somewhere in line with the emphasis and the importance we put on the end result of each action.

If you properly weight the significant impact working out can have on your longevity, you will make time to do it. If you decide that reading will have an impact on your ability to move up in your career or be a better parent, you will do it.

If you want to take action this week on something you have been avoiding, think about the short and long-term ramifications of doing or not doing the thing. Reflect on why to this point it has not been a priority to you - as waking up and brushing your teeth without thinking is.

Sometimes I am a little too harsh with myself and my messaging resembles that, but this is a different case, especially in the health space. We can make every excuse in the world, but the end result is inevitable. We will all age. What you do today, this week, this month, will determine how gracefully you do.

Body - Daily Stretches for the Desk Job

We don’t need Andrew Huberman to get on a podcast and tell us that sitting in a chair for extended hours a day is having a negative impact on our body. We understand that our bodies have adapted over time to support the necessities of pre-modern life - emphasis on a lot of foot transportation, manual work, etc.

The challenge is the simple fact of the matter that the nature of our career / job is not going to change significantly on what it entails physically. We will only become more reliant on sedentary technology in the workplace, which raises the need for proactive measures like these below. For this week, we will emphasize the importance of stretching throughout the day to combat our sitting posture, through a simple full-body stretch routine to break up the day:

30 Seconds of Each:

• Triceps Stretch, 90-Degree Elbow Pulled Behind Head

• Overhead Reach, Arms Extended, Fingers Locked

• Shoulder / Pec Arms Behind Back Stretch (Arms Locked Behind Back)

• Torso / Trunk Rotation, Chair Used as Stabilizer

• Foot Up on Chair Hamstring Stretch

• Seated Butterfly Stretch for Hips

All of these movements have a visual on this Healthline Article. A few other good resources for daily stretch routines to free up your neck, relax your traps, protect your back, and loosen your legs are here:

• Low Back Pain - Dan Go Youtube Video

• Undo Sitting - Minus The Gym Youtube Video

• 5 Minute Posture Routine

Book - “Do Hard Things” by Steve Magness

The science of real “toughness” - the premise of Steve Magness’ “Do Hard Things.” When I was deep in the beginning of my endurance pursuits a few years ago, I churned through books just like this one after another. I’m a firm believer that even if the content of some books is similar and repetitive, the act of reading and reinforcing their ideas remains equally powerful (for specific periods of time and contexts).

I browsed back through my highlights this week and wanted to share a few good ones. If you want a copy, here’s the Amazon Link.

• “Real toughness is experiencing discomfort or distress, leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action. It’s maintaining a clear head to be able to make the appropriate decision. Toughness is navigating discomfort to make the best decision you can. And research shows that this model of toughness is more effective at getting results than the old one.”

• “We tell our children to believe in themselves, without explaining how to develop that belief. We’ve fallen for the Instagram version of confidence, emphasizing the projection of belief, instead of working on the substance underneath. We need a new approach to building confidence, one focused on the inside.”

• “True Confidence Is Quiet; Insecurity Is Loud”

• “Research and practice are clear. Stress inoculation doesn’t work unless you have acquired the skills to navigate the environment you will encounter. As sports psychologist Brian Zuleger told me, “Telling people to relax doesn’t work unless you’ve taught people how to actually relax. The same goes for mental strength. The historical way to develop toughness was to do something physically challenging, and you’d have a fifty-fifty shot if they thrived. You have to teach the skill before it can be applied.” Throwing people in the deep end doesn’t work unless they’ve been taught the basics of how to swim.”

• “Create space: spend time alone in your head. Keep your mind steady: develop the ability to respond instead of react.”