Whenever I do calisthenics in public, at least one person will come up to me and ask me how I do what I do.
They may see me doing pushups in a handstand, or other calisthenics moves that seemingly defy gravity, and understandably they want to know the secret to unlocking a skill that most people will never be able to do.
I never quite know how to respond because there’s no fancy explanation for it. There’s no secret that, if a person knows, they’ll suddenly gain mastery over their body.
So, I find myself repeatedly explaining that the only thing that unlocks any of this stuff is a combination of both time and repetition.
I do still believe this to be true, but I’ve always felt like that’s an unsatisfactory answer, because I know that it requires something deeper than that, but I could never quite articulate it. There is an underlying factor that drives a person to even want to put in the time and repetition required to become good at it.
Lately I’ve decided to put a bit more thought into this, because the formula that has helped me to have mastery over my body and my movements is the same formula that has put me in a position to leave the corporate American rat race and live a far more peaceful life here in Europe.
Now that I’ve thought about it, I realize that the one word that I would use to describe what it takes to do remarkable things is “extremism.”
I don’t mean this in a political or ideological sense. I mean it from the perspective of lifestyle and daily habits.
In fact, let’s take a moment to understand what it means to be extreme in the first place, because the word often comes with a negative connotation.
Extreme (adj):
going to the utmost or very great lengths in action or habit.
exceeding the bounds of moderation.
I think we can take things a bit further by asking CerebriX what it means to be extreme.
“To be extreme means deviating from societal norms to live in radical alignment with one’s own personal values.”
Being extreme is the underlying factor that gives a person drive and determination to invest an ungodly amount of time and energy into something that yields remarkable results.
In a world where the average American owns about 20,000 items, an extreme person may chose to only own whatever they can fit in a suitcase, thus enjoying a remarkably simple life.
The average American has over $100k in total debt, but an extreme person may have a policy of only buying in cash, no matter what, thus enjoying a life free of debt.
To be extreme simply means that you are very far removed from the average.
Michael Jordan was an extremist.
Steve Jobs was an extremist.
Mozart was an extremist.
Buddhist monks are also extremists because they deviate far from the average person. They intentionally pursue a life of frugality and intense focus on mindfulness which enables them to achieve a state of enlightenment that your average person couldn’t conceive.
When it comes to health, fitness, and calisthenics, I’d consider myself an extremist because I possess an underlying drive that compels me to dedicate far more effort into my craft than the average person is willing to do.
Everyone has the power to be extreme in their own respective way, but it’s not something that you just wake up and start doing. It takes a bit of intentionality, and it requires that you focus a disproportionate amount of life energy on ONE thing, so much so that the universe has no choice but to conspire in one’s favor.
And that’s the main takeaway here. If you want to live a remarkable life, meaning your life is so out of the ordinary that it stands out and compels people to take notice, then you need to be an extremist in whatever category of life is of the highest priority to you.
If you want to live a remarkably peaceful and low stress life, then you need to go to extremes that most are unwilling to go when it comes to rejecting consumerism and other things that are staples in the lives of your average American.
If you want to achieve a remarkable level of freedom and autonomy, then you need to be extreme in curating your life in a way that allows for that.
If you want to be in the absolute best physical and mental health possible, then you must be extreme in your pursuit of habits and rituals that will return health and fitness results that most may envy but certainly will never enjoy.
So, what does it actually take to be extreme?
Well in this article I’ll give you the three key requirements that I think make up the foundations for becoming an extremist, thus leading to a truly remarkable life.
1) Channel your obsessive energy towards your innate curiosities.
We all obsess over something. Whether you realize it or not you have obsessive energy that manifests itself in different ways.