I heard this quote in the movie “Sucker Punch,” and I don’t think it is unique to military types, but rather applies to the hero’s journey of finding out who you are.

During training I had three moments of experiencing the sublime, of profound wonder that made me feel connected to everything around me. The first time was during the run portion of a physical training (PT) test. As I ran, I thought about everyone who’d written me letters, everyone from home cheering me on. I thought about people in a combat zone a world away, counting on me to do my job. It made me stop thinking about myself, about the cold air burning my lungs, about the clock ticking down on my run. It was an incredible sense of oneness, that there was nothing separating me from the world around me.

Initial Entry Training (IET) is a crash course in becoming a soldier. It’s broken down into Basic Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT). It seems like 80% of the time is spent waiting around for the 20% of actual training that goes on, everyone gripes about how much shorter the whole process could be if it was done more efficiently.

I realized towards the end of IET that the wait is the training. There is no way to prepare you for being away from home for months without actually doing it, no way to test patience without lots of waiting around, and no way to test faith without asking you to do things you don’t immediately understand.

One of my favorite athletes, Tim Tebow, wears his faith on his sleeve. I never really counted on faith in others until I started listening to Tebow’s message. He made me realize that faith harnesses a lot of energy that would otherwise be spent questioning, analyzing.

Special shout out to the Rollins lax family for a warm welcome home, Jenn and Nathan for a great meal that I wish would never end, my sister for being my sister and taking care of our dad and my stuff.

Corporate shout out to Octopus Car Wash for the free wash, Chick-Fil-A for half off my breakfast, Sea World for the free admission, and Spectrum Sports Performance for physically over preparing me for the Army. This shit is too easy.

To serve my country.
To serve humanity.
To find myself through the pursuit of an overwhelming challenge.
To whittle down my life to what is essential.
To get six-pack abs.
To find beauty in the places people normally turn away from.
To have fun.
To become the man I want to be.

I can keep going but the themes start overlapping, you get the idea.

As personal as this decision is, it’s hard not to think about how it will affect friends and family. They say that the greatest thing you can give away is your own time, yet I am basically taking this away from all my loved ones to pursue some abstract idea of making the world we live in a better place. Funny that such great sacrifice and service is at the same time damned selfish.

No one likes change. Things will be different; infrequent contact, fewer shared experiences, missed birthdays, etc. But when you really love someone, you accept that his or her life is a separate thing, and when that life shines brighter you can choose to be happy. It’s not the way things were, it’s not how you imagined it would be, you don’t even feel like you played a part in it. Don’t believe any of that. You let me go, you had faith I would come back after finding what I was looking for. I thank you for giving me that freedom.

Listed as a hardcover it’s more like a softcover bonded to a thin black leather cover with a built-in satin bookmark and overall is easier to handle than cheap paperbacks where you have to break the spine just to keep them open.

A summary of the book can be found here on slideshare.

Chapter headings:
1. Intense Realism—See things for what they are
2. Self-Reliance—Make everything your own
3. Opportunism—Turn shit into Sugar
4. Calculated Momentum—Keep moving
5. Aggression—Know when to be bad
6. Authority—Lead from the front
7. Connection—Know your environment from the inside out
8. Mastery—Respect the process
9. Self-Belief—Push beyond your limits
10. The Sublime—Confront your mortality

Greene’s writing style is evident throughout as each chapter is consistently structured; statement of focus, presentation of Fifty’s relevant experience as the “hustler’s angle,” the fearless approach, keys to fearlessness, and reversal of perspective. The last three sections aim to connect with the reader through a shotgun approach of presenting the lesson in three different ways. The fearless approach breaks down the ideal mindset to conquering the specific fear. The keys to fearlessness examine the steps and lessons that go into building behavior that compliments the proper mindset. The reversal of perspective identifies the opposite mindset, weak and fearful, that needs to be improved.

There is a big difference between showing someone the path to fearlessness versus telling them about it. The 50th Law is the former, written with a variety of perspectives to connect with readers who are at different stages of personal development and come from different backgrounds.

The end chapter on mortality contains a great summary of Stoic philosophy; knowing how to die in order to live well, discarding the emotional labels of good and bad we rely on in order to embrace life’s true nature without prejudice. I feel this chapter should be read first and revisited last since it sets up the idea of having an internal guiding philosophy rooted in reality.

Every chapter contains a bit of social commentary. Unlike those who blame external factors like technology and pop culture for our isolation and confusion, the 50th Law calls out individuals for choosing fantasy and escapism. We only have ourselves to blame for the misuse of “the greatest weapon in all of nature–the rational conscious mind.” Are you chasing 15 minutes of fame, or finding greater meaning for your entire life? Will you use the internet to passively observe people, or take the opportunity to connect with others? Do you allow yourself to be constantly distracted from the life you want, or will you cut through the noise and take advantage of the opportunities everywhere?

My only technical criticism is the frequent mention that Curtis Jackson is now known as Fifty Cent. The flow would often be interrupted by the awkward placement of this phrase throughout the book.

I was always taught that success would be achieved by simply checking off the right boxes throughout life; good grades in school, college, job, career, house, etc. The reality is we must all figure out our own definitions of success and then work tirelessly for it. We may not get a Mr. Myagi to guide us through the process, but at some point we must take personal responsibility for learning what we need to learn. Ten years ago this book would have flown right over my head. Five years ago I would have spent a lot of time talking about it to make myself feel good and to show people how smart I am. Reading it today I nod my head realizing a book is only as powerful as the action it inspires, and then I quickly get back to work.

The book’s message is not that you should be Fifty Cent; it is a presentation of Fifty’s story showing one way that one person found their personal legend. Books like this are misunderstood for one reason, people do not realize inspiration starts within the self.

This Guy is an idiot. “Get it straight: the military does not protect our lives or our freedoms” #military http://bit.ly/1rn2Nb

The one day where our veteran’s sacrifices are recognized should not be tarnished by the ramblings of lesser men. Some quotes from the article:

Sure, there could be a despotic foreign power that threatened the lives and freedoms of people living in North America, as other countries have been threatened occasionally throughout history.

So the title of his piece is “the Military does not protect our lives and freedoms,” yet this line clearly shows an admission to the necessity of a military to protect us from threats unknown.

It is not possible for the military’s objectives to be in line with those of the public because the military wants what the State wants, and what the State wants is in direct opposition to what the people want. If this is not true, then why must the State institute a coercive monopoly and murder anyone who defies it?

I agree in part that the State does not directly reflect the wishes of the public. Watch an episode of Cops, or any sampling of prime time reality TV, and you will realize we’d be in big trouble if the State accurately reflected the lowest common denominator. The State reflects the wishes of those who give two shits to actively participate in public affairs, all are heard but that does not mean everyone is right.

Anarchism is an old convention that was created in response to the formulation of coercive political institutions and hierarchical social relationships. Its emphasis is on individual decision making, personal freedom, and non-aggression. It worked in medieval times when the highest level of organization in the country of Iceland was a farm.

Guess how that Icelandic Free State started? A feudal lord in Norway wanted to unite the country, these disgruntled farmers fought back, lost, and packed up and moved to Iceland. So for all of those anarchists who claim that non-violent non-participation in the oppressive State system leads to the death penalty, you are ignoring the obvious choice you have to pack up and leave.

But why is this anarchist lesser than a veteran? Because veterans have proven through their service that they care about someone besides themselves. You can walk for a cure, buy apple products endorsed by U2, or write about personal freedom on the web, but it doesn’t compare to those who wager their lives for their nation.

So to all the veterans out there, thank you.

Related reading:

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

Brave New War by John Robb

Edit: I commented on the article linked and there was a little back and forth with the author. Things started out heated, as it tends to happen on the internet, but we both settled down and there was some good discussion. I can say John tempered my initial impressions of him and his philosophies, I look forward to future discussions.

My journey to obesity and back has taken 15 years. Dr. Drew writes about addicts having the most intimate knowledge of the dangers of their addictions, this is generally true of people who are fat. Knowing that fat = bad health is not enough, it takes a combination of tools, ideas, and mental models to live in better health. Ideas cause the spark of personal insight to move you towards change. Tools provide you with the steps, or mechanics, of living healthy. Mental models continue the momentum necessary for new changes to become ingrained behavior, for ideas to become new perspectives. Here is a summary of some good ideas and mental models I found, go to the primary source for the actual tools for better health:

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

This book completely changed the way I look at food by introducing the idea of the corporate model of food production and consumption. Simply put when America’s farmers were in trouble the government told them to just grow corn and they’d buy it to keep everyone afloat. With a surplus of corn around this became the cheapest way to make food so all the big companies jumped on cramming as much corn as possible into the food we eat (and the food of our food i.e. what livestock consume). Corn is not that healthy to begin with and when you refine it further that strips away all of its nutritional value.

Food companies were also faced with the problem of man’s “inelastic appetite,” which just means that everyone gets full at some point during eating. Some evil bastard figured out that although we get full we have a much higher tolerance for sugar, so corn syrup is invented and now they can cram even more corn (products) into our food. This food innovation is responsible for the rampant spread of diabetes and other sugar related maladies.

The book also weighs in on the organic food debate by showing that anything sitting in the grocery store, organic or not, has to be mass produced and treated with some amount of chemicals to get there.

The mental model I created was that I am at war against these food companies for my health. Instead of just “should I be healthy, or not…” it became “am I going to make myself better or make these assholes rich?” Recognizing my enemy for the first time made me realize they had me backed into a corner; all those shitty foods had a history of making me feel better, everyone else was eating them, and they’re convenient as hell.

MaxDiet by Tynan

I followed this diet for a while and it helped me with my initial weight loss. The article linked contains more ideas than tools for healthy eating, I consider it a great mental kick start towards taking food more seriously.

I believe that we are designed for survival, which means that we are designed to eat EVERYTHING so that we don’t die. We have processes to handle a wide range of food and make good use of it.

However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all GREAT for us. A diesel engine can run on regular gasoline, but it’s not as efficient as when it’s fed its optimal fuel, diesel.

Just as a daily McDonalds eater won’t miraculously become healthy by eating a handful of spinach, you won’t become unhealthy if you eat a bad meal once a month.

The section on quitting sugar is excellent, and the idea of removing meat from your diet to eat a wider variety of foods is also discussed in the Flexitarian Diet. My only problem with his endorsement of veganism is that it is based entirely on the book The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. The book finds correlation (which is far from cause and effect) between consumption of animal protein and onset of cancer. In their lab experiments I’m pretty sure they were feeding their test subjects some nutrient solution packed with sugar and refined food products in addition to the animal protein. To me sugar and refined foods are still far worse than animal protein.

Flexitarian Eating by Lifehacker.com

The article is a pretty short, quick read. Again its a little heavier on ideas than tools, but there are some good ones here.

Broaden your food base
Don’t get held hostage at restaurants
Re-think your hunger
It’s a guideline, not a religion

This article really helped connect the dots for me in forming my personal philosophy towards food. The mental model here is that it’s all about remaining flexible to change and trying new things, a few days or even a week of shitty food doesn’t matter so long as it is overshadowed by healthy eating the majority of the time.

The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears

This book is full of useful tools that have helped me lose my last 10 pounds. The Zone Diet gains a large amount of credibility by being the diet of choice for most Cross-Fit Athletes. Some keep blogs that serve as mini-case studies picking apart their diet and how it affects their performance.

The Zone takes a very precise approach to diet treating it like a medical prescription. The big idea here is you need to control your body’s hormonal response to food. Here is where calorie counting schemes fall short; eat 500 calories of lean turkey versus 500 calories of olive oil and your body will have two very different reactions.

The Zone equates consumption of food with taking prescription medicine. Much like recreational drugs, unhealthy foods should be used sparingly in social settings (I kid, I kid). Control your food to control your body. At first it’s a pain in the ass to measure out the proper portions of food but you get used to it and really good at eyeballing stuff.

I have a friend who complains about all the conflicting diet advice out there, he used it as an excuse not to take any chances with new diets. You have nothing to lose by trying new foods, at worse you can always go back to eating what you did before and at best you will change your life for the better. Yes there is a lot of information out there but you have a big old brain that can take it in and then help you make an informed decision.

If you don’t take personal responsibility to make these decisions someone else will be happy to do so. Problem is they’re trying to sell you something and they do not care about your health.

Despite all their marketing suggestions to the contrary, no manufacturer has ever invented a shoe that is any help at all in injury prevention

and decided I like the idea of getting back in tune with nature and a bare bones approach to training. Plus I was (am) dirt poor and the idea of not buying expensive shoes seemed appealing.

Even bigger than that is this whole idea that we humans are inadequate; that despite being born with the gifts of two arms and two legs, thousands of years of evolution allowing us to run our food to death, that now we need to pad our feet before we run.

I started out running in aqua socks outside and training completely barefoot in the gym. I knew that I would have to progress very slowly but at some point I pushed the issue and was rewarded with strained calves a very sore achilles tendon.

After two months of nearly no running I figured I needed more information. I picked up ChiRunning, skipped straight to the injury prevention section, and discovered sore calves are a sign of running with too much weight on the balls of your feet/toes. Barefoot running is supposed to prevent heel striking but it looks like I over-compensated to the front of my foot. The ideal mid-foot strike should feel like landing on a spring and your heel just lightly touches the ground when the spring is fully compacted.

I highly recommend ChiRunning; besides fixing running mechanics it presents a very zen approach to training. For most of us we’re not competing for gold or smashing records; we’re in it for the long haul, we’re just trying to improve our quality of life with the resources available. Research shows you are mostly likely going to buy overpriced training shoes, suffer some kind of injury, and give up. Admit you don’t know anything, spend $10 on the book, browse the internets, progress slowly, and have fun.

Related resources

Long article with cool pictures

Nerd article on barefooting

Geek article

Some crazy guy who runs trails barefoot

I’ve been reading this advice for a while, but it was only after reading this post that everything clicked for me:

We love to scream about the narcissist. We love to tell those around us that we don’t twitter and we don’t read status updates on facebook. We love to surround ourselves with people so we can tell them how much we don’t give a shit about what other people are doing.

But is it narcissistic to just want to connect? To put yourself out there and say “this is what I’m about, what are you about?” I don’t know. I’ve read so many snarky condemnations of the narcissist that I couldn’t recognize one if I was holding up their mirror for them.

At some point you’re going to have to decide if you’re afraid of what other people are going to say about you. And if you are, then you’re never going to step out and do something great. Because if you do, if you step out, you’re going to attract haters. And you’re most likely going to fail in the attempt, and still, you’re going to attract mountains of criticism. It’s not fair but it happens and most of it, the worst of it, is going to come from your own brain.

-Ben Corman