What I'll Be Covering..
1. How We React, Matters
None of us can anticipate how misfortune will strike. Prison movie Shawshank Redemption looks at one such example. Andy Dufresne is an innocent man, sentenced to jail for the double murder of his wife and her lover. The first two years were harsh on him. He was targeted by the Sisters, a gang of prison rapists and ignored by many of the other inmates.
“Bad luck, I guess it floats around,” Andy muses, fifteen years later, “it’s got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that’s all. I was in the path of the tornado… I just didn’t expect the storm would last as long as it has.”
But the film shows it’s how we respond that matters. Andy decides not to lose hope—it takes him fifteen years, but he manages to chisel his way out of prison. And during that time, he lobbies for the construction of a new prison library, and works to improve the lives of many of his fellow inmates. In the closing scene, we’re there with him as he drives his red 1969 Pontiac GTO on his way to Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and freedom.
Hardship is inevitable. From minor difficulties to the types of setbacks that sully our horizons like late afternoon thunderstorms. From small annoyances to the miscarriages of justice like those Andy was dealt.
The truth is, like it or not, we all have to face up to adversity in one form or another—and when we do, we might find Andy Dufresne’s calibre of tenacity comes in handy. Without it, like those ancient Pompeiians waking up one morning, only to find Mount Vesuvius waking up beside them, we could find ourselves at the mercy of sudden and catastrophic changes in our circumstances.
And I think this raises an important but often overlooked question. Why do some rise, amid difficulties, while others fall? “We glory in our suffering, because we know that it produces perseverance,” wrote the apostle Paul, in a letter to Rome. “Perseverance produces character; and character, hope.” Tragedy teaches us this; it tells us suffering can help us grow. It invites us to respond with patience and courage. It reminds us that, when the chips have fallen—how we react, matters.
2. The Importance Of Meaning
“The way in which a man accepts his fate, and all the suffering it entails; the way in which he takes up his cross,” writes Austrian-born Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, “gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to his life. Everything can be taken from him, but one thing,” he continues: “The last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
No doubt pain can be devastating. But as Frankl intimates, it creates the space for new meanings and identities to emerge and for those identities to coalesce into something stronger, and more powerful, than what was there before.
Trapped within his concentration camp, Frankl drew strength from the memory of his wife. “Grey was the sky above; grey the snow in the pale light of dawn. Grey the rags in which my fellow prisoners were clad, and grey their faces,” he writes in Man’s Search for Meaning. “But as I conversed silently with my wife, I sensed her spirit piercing through the enveloping gloom. More and more, I felt she was present, that she was with me. The feeling was very strong: she was there.”
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”
The meaning we extract from circumstances often decides whether we wilt underneath them, or rise up above. That said, meaning can be a tricky thing to generate in a pinch. Reservoirs of psychological strength like this normally take a long time to establish; typically coming from a complex mesh of relationships, identities, and beliefs, developed over the course of years.
While I explore this phenomenon more in another article; here I want to focus on a more practical type of strength: something that can be established by laying down a few simple habits.
3. Defiance In The Face Of Overwhelming Odds
In 1565, Jean de Valette and his band of 500 Knights Hospitaller found themselves stationed on the fortress island of Malta: a strategic location that lay between Christendom and the Ottoman Empire. That said, few of the Knights expected the arrival of an army of 40,000 enemy Ottomans in late May. I doubt, upon seeing the sheer size of the invading forces, many of them fancied their chances. Despite this, they made their stand and waited for reinforcements. What followed was one of the most savagely contested struggles that took place during the sixteenth century.
Over the ensuing four months, the Turks, with some 65 siege guns, proceeded to blow much of the defences to rubble—overrunning Fort St. Elmo in the process. The Crusaders lost some of their bravest captains in its defence, but ultimately, the Knights held onto the island and ‘The Great Siege of Malta’ went down into legend: a heroic brotherhood of warriors, who withstood impossible odds in the defence of Christendom. Nearly two hundred years later, Voltaire quipped “rien est plus connu que la siege de Malte” (nothing is so well known as the Siege of Malta).
I don’t pretend we can equal the fortitude of such men, we live in more benign times. Practically speaking, however, there are certain lifestyle choices that, over time, can propel us in the same direction: techniques based on straightforward science, rather than convoluted articles of faith.
I want to focus on these techniques, on behaviours that we can control, that we can adapt to any given situation. And while we may never be able to fully rival the courage and resolve of men like Viktor Frankl, and Jean de Valette—we can certainly aspire to become more like them.
4. Hormones: The Ticket To Toughness
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” recite participants in Alcoholics Anonymous, “and the courage to change the things I can.” Luckily for us, hormones fall into this second category—and learning how to manage them can be the ticket to overcoming adversity.
Hormones, simply put, function as our body’s chemical messengers. They get secreted into the bloodstream and transported to organs—including the brain—where they help regulate our mood and behaviour.
Indeed, minor fluctuations in their quantities jar us from whatever is on our mind and get us moving—physically and mentally—in an altogether different direction. We might, for example, be walking down the street and notice an attractive girl out of the corner of our eye. Or maybe, we’ve just finished a heavy weights session at our local gym.
Hormones play the role of behavioural catalysts in both situations—responsible for generating rapid shifts in our mood and outlook. In fact, whether it be serotonin or somatostatin; calcitonin or cortisol, these chemicals shape our desires and wants, our capabilities and personal resources; even affecting our political beliefs. More than anything, however, they define our reaction under stress—and it’s for that reason that we will be paying them more attention.
5. The Übermensch
In 1883, the German philosopher Nietzsche introduced the world to his concept of the Übermensch: a figure capable of transcending ordinary mediocrity and exerting his will upon the Universe. A man who, Nietzsche would go on to explain, inspires greatness in others, through both his intellect and physical strength alike. Beyond such noticeable qualities, however, there would have been something else that singled the Übermensch out from the rest of society. Namely, his endocrine system—the network of glands responsible for adjusting his hormone levels.
In simple terms, the endocrine glands rally bodily functions during times of stress. They generate the chemicals we need to deal with difficulty: compounds like catecholamines, and glucocorticoids; growth hormone, and prolactin; which, when taken together, generate drastic improvements in both psychological and physiological functioning. On a short-term basis, fluctuations in these chemicals can reduce reaction times, and heighten mental alertness; while on a longer timescale they boost stamina and resilience.
So, then, can we fine-tune our endocrine system? Can we bolster hormonal output, boosting both mental and physical resolve?
The answer turns out to be yes—on both counts. Everything from our thyroids to our adrenals, and yes; even our testes, are affected by how much, and in what ways, we use them. You see, more than anything, the endocrines respond to how they’re being used—to lifestyle considerations.
The more we live life on the front foot—the more we seek out challenges and face up to pressure—the more potent and flexible these glands turn out to be, and the more energy, and personal resources, they generate for us in the future. Introduce danger and hardship, in the right amounts, and the endocrines adjust themselves accordingly.
Scientists have discovered, for instance, that rats exposed to stressful situations, over a long-term basis, went on to develop larger adrenal glands and, as a result, were able to deal with stress more effectively. Give those same rats a lifestyle of idle luxury, and transient pleasure, on the other hand, and their general hormonal decline was all but assured.
“To those human beings who are of any concern to me I wish suffering, desolation, sickness, ill-treatment, indignities — I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt, the torture of self-mistrust, the wretchedness of the vanquished: I have no pity for them, because I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not — that one endures.”
Nietzsche’s Übermensch would have crafted his superior temperament by following these same exact principles. Not, in other words, through privilege or luck—as some may suggest—but because of struggle; because of the types of situations he faced and how he chose to deal with them.
By striving against painful and often frightening conditions, his endocrine system would have gradually equipped him with the types of resources needed to conquer his own lower nature—his innate laziness and desire for comfort—and, in doing so, would have chiselled him into something more admirable, a sort of burning away of dead wood.
6. The Modern Man
Modern men, on the other hand, tend to be quite different. Their biggest threat likely comes from dealing with their girlfriend on a bad day, or leaving their smartphones behind in the office. Bounded up by material comfort and mental idleness, these guys rarely find themselves in a physical confrontation or life-threatening struggle. As a result, their endocrines have grown slack: incapable of helping them surmount serious difficulty.
Put simply, these men lack the inbuilt constitution needed for a struggle: the glands responsible for regulating their hormones have grown accustomed to function within much tighter ranges than, say, those of the Übermensch.
Misfortune, when it does strike, is often met with disproportionate and excessively emotional responses. Much like turning on sports mode in a car, without being able to handle the excess horsepower, these types of guys end up mismanaging their bodily dynamics badly: generating chemical imbalances in the process that, in the end, wreak havoc on their long term health.
For example, stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol tend to linger in the bloodstream, interfering with their ability to relax. Mental function deteriorates and health problems begin to arise. The American Medical Association now estimates that stress plays a role in more than 60% of modern day diseases.
How, then, does the modern day ‘soy-boy’ reclaim his virility? The answer is simple. Much like doing up a dilapidated house, he must reinvigorate his degraded endocrine system. Modern society never taught him how, in fact it taught him the opposite. Raised on a lifestyle of transient pleasure and comfortable living, it encouraged him to sabotage the system of glands responsible for maintaining his mood and motivation, his focus and resilience. But, by turning this dynamic around, by rebalancing his hormones, he can change all this: he can learn how to cope with stress and recapture the dignity his predecessors once held. Society never taught him how—but I will.
7. How to Create a Toughening Regime
First off, he has two possible paths ahead of him. One is called proactive toughening. It involves things like aerobic exercise or strength training, activities that trigger physiological stress responses from within the body. So far, then, so familiar. But what’s less well known and potentially more potent is the second path—passive conditioning.
“I love to wade and flounder through the swamp,” wrote Henry Thoreau in 1854, “on these bitter cold days when the snow lies deep on the ground.” Passive conditioning challenges us to proactively mix up our environmental stimuli in ways that trigger a stress response. Physical shocks like cold water, for example, release a cascade of stress hormones into the bloodstream, which, in turn, flushes out the physiological clutter: leaving us feeling invigorated and refreshed.
Cold showers may be one option; scary social situations are another: instigating interactions with strangers, for instance, tends to trigger chemical fluctuations that vary slightly from physical exercise, but can be equally effective in terms of adapting to stress, as, say, running 6km in hot weather.
My plea to you is to buck the wider trend. Use this initiative—and my coaching programme in particular—to redefine yourself into something more, and then use that newfound sense of self to redefine your situation. Beyond the physiological dividends, like better health and longevity; lie the psychological ones: like carrying yourself with more self-respect; and casting away the apathy and depression that previously weighed you down.
“I guess it comes down to a simple choice,” Andy Dufresne muses near the end of Shawshank Redemption, “get busy living, or get busy dying.” And that’s damn right. One day, you might look back on this article as a fork in the road: one you needed to take to become the biggest Übermensch you could possibly be. Who knows, when that happens, I may be there to greet you as a fellow traveller on the road. Until then—I wish you the best.
10. FAQs
This article highlights how modern society’s lack of everyday hardships has made many of us less capable of facing larger ones.
It goes onto explain that society has encouraged us to sabotage the system of endocrine glands responsible for maintaining our mood and motivation, our focus and resilience.
And finally, it shows us how we can reinvigorate our degraded endocrine system by introducing manageable amounts of adversity into our lives on multiple fronts.
The concept of the Übermensch was introduced by German philosopher Nietzsche in 1883, referring to a being who rises above common mediocrity and imposes their will upon the universe, inspiring greatness in others through both intellect and physical strength alike.
In essence, the article suggests we can become tougher by living life on the front foot, seeking out challenges, and facing up to pressure.
Taken together, these actions serve to strengthen our endocrine glands, which, in turn, are able to generate more energy and personal resources for us in the future—ultimately boosting health and longevity.
However, this requires us to introduce manageable adversity into our life on multiple fronts. Physical pursuits, like running or weight training, trigger a different cocktail of stress hormones than passive ones, like bathing in cold water or flirting with hot women. Both types of activities, however, are important for sculpting a well-rounded individual.
Proactive toughening involves things like aerobic exercise or strength training, activities that trigger physiological stress responses from within the body. This is a well-known path for toughening the body.
Passive conditioning challenges us to proactively mix up our environmental stimuli in ways that trigger a stress response. Physical shocks like cold water, for example, release a cascade of stress hormones into the bloodstream, which, in turn, flushes out the physiological clutter, leaving us feeling invigorated and refreshed.
The article mentions that testosterone levels in men are supposed to sit at around 617 ng/dL and that more athletic men can have levels well into the thousands.
However, some studies have found that modern men have lower testosterone levels than expected, raising questions about their ability to face hardships.
The article suggests that concepts like equality and tolerance have led many of us to perceive weakness as moral strength and exceptionalism as problematic.
This trend is itself viewed as problematic considering how it is contributing to a less stable world: one filled with people prone to emotional outbursts, and maladaptive stress responses.
The key takeaways from this article are as follows:
1.) Through comfort and complacency, modern society has encouraged people to sabotage their endocrine glands—reducing overall levels of mental and physical toughness.
2.) However, by adopting a diversified toughening regime we can begin to reverse this situation and reinvigorate our endocrine system.
3.) Reinvigorating our endocrines not only builds resilience and helps us overcome adversity, but also safeguards the mind and body from the damaging effects of age and chronic stress.
4.) However, it’s important to note that maxing out our endocrines without adequate periods of rest can cause long-term problems.
