Entrepreneur Peter Barton was at the top of the world.
Until it was not.
Barton lived a life that everyone dreamed of, took a very good care of him and was a big husband and dad of his family.
And then a fateful day, his world was broken:
A diagnosis of terminal cancer.
The work has become less important, other experiences have ceased to hold a meaning; He tried to pick up the pieces while crying a future that he would not live. He would not see his children grow up or age with his wife.
Barton shared these thoughts and experiences in an absolutely heartbreaking book entitled Not disappear,, And a paragraph has always stayed with me.
One day, Peter’s body was destroyed, succumbing to cancer, head and his mind was lower than ever. Defeated, he said to his wife of support:
“I don’t see the interest.”
She replied: “So find one.”
Finding the point has become the point.
Barton was sentenced to life and chose to “find the point of life” by writing a book that his children could read. A book that other people could read and analyze the meaning in their own lives.
I was thinking of “Finding the Point has become the point” while revisiting another of my favorite books, inspired by a recent episode on my friend Bretty McKay Art of virility podcast.
The search for sense of man
Victor Frankl was a survivor of the holocaust, psychotherapist and creator of a type of therapy called “logotherapy”.
After surviving the horrors of Auschwitz and other concentration camps, he wrote the first project of his book, The search for sense of man,, in nine days.
He even planned to publish him anonymously, but in the last second, he was convinced to attach his name to add a certain gravity to his survival history.
It has since sold more than 16 million copies and has translated in more than 50 languages.
Frankl’s school of thought, Logotherapy, is built around the idea that “the meaning of life is to find the meaning of life for each person. He often refers to the famous Nietzsche saying:
“He who has a why living can bear almost all how.”
Throughout this book, Frankl explains his thoughts and reflections on life by watching thousands of people die or be murdered.
What is the most striking in this short book is Frankl’s ability to find meaning and hope for humanity in the midst of one of the worst human atrocities never committed.
The second half of the book plunges more deep into “logotherapy”, encouraging us to find our own specific “sense”.
“The sense of life differs from one man to another, day by day and hour by hour.
> What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment. »»
You might not be diagnosed with terminal cancer, nor undergo the atrocities of a concentration camp.
But there was probably a moment in your life where you ask: “Why do I do I do what I do?”
We might think that asking the question means that there is something that is wrong with us. That we do not live in the moment. That we need help.
Frankl feels differently. He thinks that asking this question is critical and healthy:
“The biggest task for anyone is to find meaning in their life.”
What if having this uncomfortable conversation with yourself is in fact part of the process?
What if to ask this question was the point?
Your “big why”
We are talking a lot about “what is your big one why?” Here in the rebellion of Fitness Nerd.
If we logically think about it, we try to force ourselves to do things We are not wired (or forced) to do.
Of course We do not want to burn additional calories, we get up early to exercise and avoid stuffing our face with comforting foods.
This requires additional efforts, we must be hungry, we have to change our behavior. And our brains don’t want to do anything!
It may not be things like “sense of life” type … but it is a really powerful reminder to help us remain consistent when life will give us something other than consistency:
- Why are we going to get up at 5 a.m. and walk when it’s cold outside?
- Why do we say yes to lean salads and proteins when cookies and donuts exist?
- Why would we sweat (raw) and do we collect weights (uncomfortable)?
- Why are we forum to breathe strongly and manage a 5K or to say yes to a yoga class where we feel deeply aware?
We are talking a lot about that with Our coaching customers and members of NF community::
Have a constant reminder of FOR WHAT We do this can often be the thing that keeps us on the right track during the most difficult moments after motivation has dissipated:
Maybe we want to break the generational cycle of an unhealthy relationship with the food we have learned from our parents.
Maybe we want our children to see that we can be a strong mom, that it is normal to sweat and push us.
Maybe we want to feel better in our skin when we look in the mirror, or we know that we always feel better After a training session that we did not feel it BeforeTraining?
Your challenge this week is to ask you why you are here:
- Why are you ready to go through the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that come with change?
- Why are you ready to try to learn a new skill or adjust the way you eat?
- Why are you ready to get up early and spend less time on your sofa?
Continue to go further with your reasons. Continue to ask “why” and see what comes out.
Write it.
Put it on a post-it note and check one on your refrigerator, the bathroom mirror, the dashboard of the car.
-Teve
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