Today we begin a new 6 part series in Always Learning: Self-Mastery Through Physical Endeavour. Over the coming weeks, I’ll explore how physical performance is far deeper than training and how it’s a pathway to expanding awareness, deepening virtue and the unlocking of human potential. Each edition will focus on one cornerstone principle, beginning with responsibility. Because without responsibility, the body remains a gift unexplored and self-mastery unattainable.
This is my belief. This is my lived experience. A gift that keeps on giving – if you choose to open it.
When I say “body,” I don’t mean just flesh and bone. I mean the living, integrated organism; brain, nervous system, muscles, hormones, breath – one entity that cannot be separated without losing truth. What affects the body shapes the mind; what affects the mind echoes through the body. From your first breath to your last, your life is a continuous loop of communication between them.
A good friend once challenged this belief, saying he felt the mind was the greater gift. I saw little disagreement. What I call “the body” already includes the mind, for the two cannot be divided.
Every sense, every thought, every feeling, every choice is carried through this vessel. It is the gateway to experience, the stage for action, the forge of growth. Yet look around, many treat it as disposable, disconnected from its power, letting it rot away in comfort.
Here is the truth: without taking full responsibility for your body, you will never realise your full potential. Why? Because if the body is the medium through which every experience of life is lived, then to neglect it is to narrow the range of life itself. You cannot live expansively through a vessel you refuse to strengthen.
Through challenge, strain and purposeful effort, the body reveals wisdom coded deep within it. Strength is only the surface. Beneath it lies awareness, character, discipline and ultimately, self-mastery. As Nietzsche wrote,
“There is more wisdom in your body than your deepest philosophies.”
Push your body, and you uncover truths you could never think your way into.
Responsibility is not just the cornerstone. It is the key. Without it, the gift of the body remains unopened, its wisdom locked away. To accept responsibility for your body, to strengthen it, to challenge it, to respect it – is to accept responsibility for your life, and for the vast human potential buried within you.
You already push your body. You already know the effort, the fatigue, the quiet battles with yourself. On a subconscious level, you are connected with the rewards of pushing your body for more. It draws you back, does it not? But have you ever taken a moment to consider “why?”
Taking into account, pushing your body to achieve new levels of strength and conditioning is stressful, uncomfortable and challenging – “Why do I really do it? What is it that truly draws me back time and again? Why does my life feel lesser when I am not focused on training hard?”
Not the surface reasons; fitness, strength, speed, aesthetics. Go deeper. Ask yourself: What are your efforts giving you on a human level?
- What states am I experiencing when I train? (awareness, focus, flow, connection, presence, concentration, etc..)
- What standards am I holding myself to? (self-control, self- accountability, self-education, self-governance)
- What virtues am I practising during the work? (discipline, grit, courage, vulnerability, honesty, etc..)
- What rewards am I experiencing after the work is done? (self-respect, self-worth, self-belief from going to battle with my weakest self)
Take ten minutes to reflect and write your answers. You may discover that your training is already giving you far more than you realised. And once you see it, responsibility shifts: you’re no longer “training.” You are engaging in a practice; a deliberate way of being where each session becomes an opportunity to deepen awareness, embody virtues and expand who you are.
Could I get free of my lower back pain?
Could I drop 15kgs of body weight?
Could I run a 5km race?
Could I run a marathon in under 3 hours?
Could I complete a 100km ultra marathon?
Could I climb the highest mountain in my country?
Could I climb a 6000m peak?
Could I climb Everest?
Could I row across an ocean with 3 friends?
Could I cycle across a continent?
Could I play professionally in my sport?
These are just a few perspective leading questions; perhaps one resonates with you. If so, try to use the powers of your imagination to get a sense of what committing to, and living that journey would do to you? Your inner world? Your relationship with yourself?
Admittedly, this is not an easy answer to connect with, however, it is very much a question worth considering and keeping in your mind.
Depending on where you are at now, there’s not much that can’t be achieved in a 5 year period with focus and work. In fact, there’s scope to achieve many incredible physical feats in that time frame. However, the cornerstone of the foundation you will achieve from is responsibility. Without it, all the elements that make up achievement (commitment, focus, work ethic, perseverance) are significantly lessened. Meaning how far you can go will be lessened.
Note to Self: These are pleasure inducing questions I have suggested but you could equally leverage pain inducing questions to get closer to taking more responsibility. In my experience these are more effective.
'As long as you live, keep learning how to live'
~ Seneca
