Growth Comes From Extreme Challenge

Growth Comes From Extreme Challenge. In every domain of life, the greater the challenge we are able to rise to, the more that we learn, grow, and gain from that experience.

If we can develop the ability to Focus The Mind On A Goal, and take care of every stage necessary to achieve that goal as an experienced habit — research, planning, program, tasking — we can quickly create programs with the conditions of extreme challenge required for (ideally maximal) growth.

Aside from this, the main task is finding the line. Finding the line between what is Sustainable, Extreme, and Too Extreme. We need to know what the baseline of a habit is, so that we have a good frame of reference for what is realistically extreme — something that we know is pushing the limitations of what is possible for us. But that is reasonable enough that we have a realistic-enough chance of success, as we are aiming right beyond our limitations.

Lessons From Physical Training

For those of you who have engaged in any physical training (be it running, weight-lifting, powerlifting, climbing) you know that the greatest development comes from pushing your limitations.

In specific respects, the greatest development comes from failure. This is because for us to fail at something, means that you were not capable at it before. As a weightlifter, this means that you were not able to hit a new Deadlift PR — your body wasn’t capable, wasn’t yet stronger and more powerful. As a runner, this means that you were not able to achieve a new 1 Mile, 10K, or Marathon PR.

Failure is the key — or perhaps it is Risk. On the one hand, we need to fail. Which means that we need to Put Ourselves In A Position To Fail. It is hard to grow when you are not in the right conditions of adversity to do so. So on the other hand, we need both the Drive To Achieve (or the Drive To Move Forwards) as well as a degree of Risk — Intelligently Employed Risk-Taking Behavior.

Long-story short, we need the right intensity of stimilus to promote growth, in training as in life.

Choose Your Stimulus

You need to choose your stimulus in life (whatever you are Truly Passionate About) and hold yourself accountable to the Ideal and the Dream. In life we have to push ourselves. Fearlessly chase our dreams, and deal with whatever adversity comes our way.

Without this, we are not even alive.