Ep. 032 - Becoming Anti-fragile

SHOW NOTES

Are you ready to transform obstacles into opportunities in your weight loss journey?

That's what we're diving into today as we explore the concept of anti-fragility. I'm delving into how it's not just about bouncing back but actually growing stronger from setbacks and uncertainties. 

Be sure to check out the show notes here:  https://www.thespearmethod.com/blog because I have included a special worksheet for you to help nurture this resilient, anti-fragile attitude. Get ready to discover how setbacks can become the stepping stones to success in your health journey. 

TRANSCRIPT

How do you react when you face a setback? They're inevitable in light and especially common in a weight loss pursuit. Today we're diving in to what it means to be anti-fragile.

Welcome to man in the Arena, your go-to podcast for all things related to health and weight loss for men over 40. Here we discuss strategies that will get you off the sidelines and into the game so you can achieve your optimal health. It's time to lead a legacy of longevity.

Welcome back to man in the Arena. I'm recording this episode on Monday before Labor Day, which means the summer is winding down, we're heading into the fall season, which I absolutely love because it means it's football season and though my football days are over and well behind me, I get this kind of blast of nostalgia when the air cools down and the leaves start to turn. So I'm really excited for the upcoming months. And though I'm no longer competing in team sports, I am still training. So I'm preparing for what's called the 4x4x48. And if you haven't heard of this, this is where you run four miles every four hours for 48 hours, which equates to 48 miles all told. And although I've run this distance before, I've never run this far over two days, and I think the lack of sleep plus the stopping and starting, is going to make this especially challenging. Nevertheless, this episode is kind of appropriate because in my preparation I strained my right calf and I haven't been able to do the training or run the way that I want to. I've been doing some other stuff and lifting and riding a bike, but here's the thing I'm using this situation to practice being anti-fragile, which is what this episode is all about.

We've all been taught about mental toughness and being resilient and overcoming the challenges we face. Certainly there's value in being mentally tough and resilient In fact, there's a great book on this by Angela Duckworth called Grit and in her book Duckworth outlines the two important ingredients to success, which are passion and perseverance, and she uncovers really great stories and research that backs up her claims. But after reading her book, I wondered what do you do when you're not passionate about something that still requires you to be successful, like losing weight? No one wants to lose weight. No one is passionate about losing weight. It's an uphill battle that requires changing many ingrained habits and taking on high levels of discomfort. Well, there's another book I came across called Anti-Fragile Things that Gain by Disorder, and it's by Naseer Tuleb, which goes beyond this argument about resiliency and toughness.

While resilient systems remain unchanged when exposed to shocks, anti-fragile systems actually benefit and grow stronger from such shocks and stressors and volatility. And this is how he defines anti-fragile it's a property of systems that increase in capability, resilience or robustness as a result of stressors, shocks and volatility. So think of a vase which is fragile you drop it and it breaks into 100 pieces. Something that is fragile breaks under stress right. We've all encountered certain situations where we've been fragile, we've kind of cracked under that pressure. But the opposite to resist breaking, kind of like a bowling ball you drop that bowling ball, it doesn't break. It means that it's robust but it's not anti-fragile. According to Tuleb, to be anti-fragile actually means to get better and improve as a result of the stressor or the trauma or the difficulty. So even though weight loss is difficult, it can be a blessing and an opportunity because when you do it the right way, you can overcome some really limiting character traits, really limiting thoughts and beliefs that probably hold you back, not just from a health standpoint but in all other areas of your life. The other great thing about becoming anti-fragile is it provides hope and optimism and belief.

When it comes to weight loss, we are not constrained to our genetics or the circumstances we encounter. We can change our mindset, we can learn and grow and ultimately we can change our outcome. But it takes work. You have to be willing to learn and grow and look for obstacles and turn them into opportunities. So, in other words, there's no Debbie Downer's allowed. Speaking of work, I created a worksheet that you can download from the show notes of this episode, which is going to help you start to trend towards being antifragile. So you can download that worksheet. But here's five questions that I want you to consider now. Okay, number one how do you typically respond to unexpected changes or setbacks? It's so important to understand your current coping strategies because they're going to provide insights into areas where you might need to develop greater antifragility. Number two can you recall a past experience where adversity actually led to personal growth and positive outcomes? I imagine you can, because reflecting on past challenges will help you recognize your capacity to benefit from difficult situations. Number three how comfortable are you with uncertainty and ambiguity?

So you want to start to explore your comfort level with the unknown, and then this is going to reveal areas where you might need to reframe uncertainty. Number four what ways do you practice self-care and stress management? This is a big one for guys A lot of guys. We don't practice self-care. We don't have techniques or strategies or tactics to manage our stress. We just try to get over it, naturally and inherently and in this area, guys, our intuition stinks we need to actively, proactively, seek out ways to manage our stress. So this question is going to help you to understand the importance of developing healthy coping mechanisms and then how. That is essential for maintaining mental and emotional well-being, especially during tough times. And lastly, number five are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and take calculated risks? So it's important to embrace calculated risks as a chance to stretch your boundaries and then learn from those outcomes, regardless and this is key regardless of success or failure. So we want to focus on being process-oriented, not goal-oriented, so to speak. It's important to have goals Absolutely. They really help shape us into who we are and who we become.

But once we set those goals, we want to focus on our processes. So these are just five questions that you can go through. The worksheet offers a few others If you really want to get deeper and gain more insight into your current mindset around being antifragile. But one last thing there's one resource I want you to check out.

Go to YouTube and search Jocko Wilnick Good. Jocko Wilnick Good. He's a former Navy SEAL and in this short clip he shares his mindset about coming up against unforeseen negative situations. And I've played this so many times on my own, just when I start to feel myself getting down or beat myself up about a certain situation. So with that, I want you to look for the good and the opportunities that exist in challenging situations, and I want you to ask yourself how can this help me grow and improve? And this is a practice that's going to have a huge impact on the success you attain in your life. I guarantee it. That's all I have for today. Until next week, keep leading a legacy of good health and longevity.

If you're ready to step inside the arena and change the trajectory of your health, head on over to thespearmethod.com and download my free guide to learn simple and effective strategies on how to optimize your health today.