Exercise Things Make Us Better At Non-exercise Things.

It’s the foundational principle of voluntary discomfort that enables us to sit in the chair when we don’t too.

The muscle I use to row 5000-meters is the same muscle I use to get up early. To study when I’d rather binge. To compliment when I’d rather criticize.

Some people call this willpower, others discipline. Maybe they’re both right. That’s not the important part. It’s the carryover I’m interested in.

I love to think. I can read and write and forget the world. But that doesn’t mean the activities I love most are easy. The opposite, in fact.

Writing, for instance, at least in my approximation, requires massive introspection and a willingness to confront thoughts I wish weren’t there. And we haven’t even started talking about to do with those thoughts or about authoring beautiful sentences yet. Maybe one day I’ll know what that feels like.

For now, I do it anyway. I read and write and think because it makes me feel more like myself. Daily disciplines I wouldn’t have the strength for if I wasn’t constantly working my row muscle.

I’m not unique or special. We all have actives, behaviors, or peculiarities to offer the world. Many of which, especially the…