Humans Were Built To Outlast

Even though we live in a world that’s comfortable and all of our needs are catered to, let’s not forget our evolutionary past. Humans are designed through evolution to be patient, resilient, and durable. There are few animals capable of running the distances that humans can, and that’s because our hunting strategy was to outlast our prey. We’d track animals until they got too tired to escape. It’s a gritty way of life, and it’s wired into each one of us.

However, because our survival is ensured by the fixings of modern life, that side of us doesn’t need to come out as often. Author Michael Easter calls this “The Comfort Crisis”. 

In his book (by the sane title) he elaborates on all of the concerns that come from our modern world: We live in temperature controlled environments when our internal systems require variation… We keep everything clean and it weakens our immune system… We’re sitting all day sedentary when our bodies need movement. 

And with all these things out of whack it’s no surprise that rates of obesity, mental health issues, and cardiovascular disease are at an all time high.

Since we don’t naturally get the things our mind and body need any more, we need to find our own outlets for it. Working from a standing desk and midday walks helps with blood flow and muscle activation throughout the day. Cold exposure through a plunge or shower kickstarts our metabolism. Getting some sunlight in the morning kickstarts our circadian rhythm, and eliminating blue light and screen time in the evening helps us wind down. 

Our natural spirit of resilience, dedication, and toughness is masked by the comforts of our modern world. Deep down we still have the same drive that propelled our species forward for millennia, it’s just not being expressed. 

We can consciously bring that side of us out when we need to every once in a while, but the real goal is that it’s infused as a spirit within everything we do. And the way to bring that forward is by intentionally doing hard things. Push yourself in a workout, get in cold water, do a breath work routine, take a bold action in business. It’s unbelievable how small consistent actions like that ignite a fire within you.