“He who is only an athlete is too crude, too vulgar, too much a savage. He who is a scholar only is too soft, too effeminate. The ideal citizen is the scholar athlete, the man of thought and the man of action.”

― Plato

Here’s why I love this quote:

For starters, it provides an aspirational identity- “the scholar athlete”- someone who can hold their own in a rugged environment as well as a refined environment.  This gives a North star to calibrate against, something to guide us, to help us make decisions about what truly matters and what doesn’t.

It’s a broad enough stroke that it doesn’t box us in, and allows us to develop and express our Rugged and Refined natures in our own unique way.

Another aspect I liked is that this aspirational identity is tied to being an “ideal citizen.”  In other words- by developing our own strengths as an individual, we can contribute more to society.

Put another way- it is our duty, a moral imperative even, to develop every aspect of ourselves. Building Individual strength is the foundation of being able to serve others, and society as a whole.

Abdicating this responsibility is selfish and cowardly.

We’ll see this theme again and again, woven throughout what we do here.  The belief that it is our duty to develop ourselves to the greatest degree possible is foundational to everything I write here.

Finally, this quote reminds us that being single dimensional is a liability, and undermines our effectiveness as a whole.

Too many men today center their entire identity around a single aspect of their life, usually ones they’re good at. 

They're the jacked guy, or the rich guy, or the famous guy, the party guy…

This is usually a symptom of having never defined what a life of meaning would look like, what success means to that individual.

And so they double down on where they’re already successful and comfortable.

Dudes who fall into this little trap protect themselves from failure… 

But inside they’re lost and empty.

I do not encourage lost and empty.

I’m a much bigger fan of calibrated and fulfilled.

To accomplish this, we need to define meaning for ourselves, define success for ourselves, and most importantly-

Understand Who we need to become in order to create that meaning and success.

This is a scary process, because when we clearly define success- we open the door to the possibility of failure.

No one wants to fail, and so we may fall into the trap of hiding from failure by never declaring what success would mean to us.

Yet, it is only when you have the courage to define both Success and Failure for yourself, that you can calibrate your actions with your individual NorthStar. 

Once calibrated, you can get on with the fulfilling work of becoming who you were meant to become.

Fitness is necessary for all of us.  Our mental capacities and physical capacities are intertwined.

If one is limited, so is the other.

With that being said-around here-

Fitness is part of our life, not the whole.

We are working out so that we can reap the mental and emotional benefits of being, and looking, physically capable.

But it doesn’t define us.

What defines us is our drive to develop every aspect of the gifts we’ve been given so that we can contribute to the world at the highest level possible.

You with me so far?  Good.  

My goal is here to provide perspectives that you can learn from.

And in order to learn- we may have to shift our perspective on what learning looks like.

Open Loop Learning- Why School Systems Failed Us

We’re going to utilize a method of learning here that is new to most of us- in fact, it is quite the opposite of what we learned in school.  I call this method “Open Loop Learning.”

In school we were taught that “learning” meant “remembering the answer.”

Teacher told us the answer.

We memorized it.

We were rewarded for regurgitating it correctly.

I’m sorry to say, this isn’t learning.  In fact, it’s the opposite of learning.  This traditional method teaches us What to think…when what the world needs is more people who know How to think.

You see, in the traditional setting, we pick up two fallacies that hamper our ability to think critically:

1. There is one right answer

2. Having the wrong answer is “failure,” and failure is “bad.”

When we see every problem or every question as only having one right answer, we are robbing ourselves of the ability to understand nuance.  Life is Gray, yet school teaches us that everything is Black and White.  

And when we’re scared to “fail” by having the “wrong” answer…we block ourselves from discovery and creativity.

Most of us know, at least at a logical level, know that success is built on failure.  You gotta be willing to suck at something before you get good at it.

Yet, how many of us have an absolute aversion to “failure” in our gut? 

We want to protect ourselves from feeling dumb, so we won’t even try unless we’re 100% sure that we’re going to win. 

This is good for the ego, but terrible for long term growth.

Open loop learning simply means this: keep your mind open.  Disregard that ingrained need to “have an answer” right away.

Open loop learning is about having an idea, sitting with it for a bit while you engage life, and then re-examining your idea.  

Idea>>>Engage>>>Examine>>>Re-Engage

As you go through this cycle, clarity will emerge and learning will take place. 

Here is my ask:

I’m asking that you set aside the need to make sense of everything right off the bat. 

I’m not asking you to take anything I say here as set in stone-

in fact it’s quite the opposite-

I’m asking you to honor these ideas as something that might be a good fit for your life- and then go and SEE if the idea worked in the reality of your life. 

If not- set the idea aside.

The Greatest Contribution

Before we go any further, there is likely a need to reconcile two ideas inside of you.  These two concepts are essential parts of the Human condition, and if not framed properly, will cause friction and tension in your very being.

Many of us see these two ideas as being at odds with each other, creating an internal tug of war.

What I’m talking about are the Human needs for 

1. Creation

2. Service

Let’s start with Creation.  The desire to create is deeply ingrained in the human psyche.  It’s what separates us from all other animals.

Unlike other animals, we have a Vision for the future, and Creation (in this context) is all about making that Vision a reality.

Creation is all the financial and career goals we have for ourselves. 

It’s seeing an idealized, super hero version of ourselves in our head, and working to become that ideal.

We can paint an image in our head of what we want our life to look like so vivid that we can almost feel it.  

The burning desire to create this life drives our very existence.

That’s what Creation is- taking a Vision that we see in our head and bringing it into existence.

And on the other hand- we have Service.

We humans have a need to be useful.  We don’t want to live selfishly- it feels childish and wrong.  We want to contribute, we want to be helpful.

We want to serve our families and communities.  We want to be a good team member.

And so the internal conflict arises.

We think that Serving others means we have to let go of our childish daydreams. 

It has somehow come to be believed that we need to set aside our own personal needs if we want to serve others.

In this perverse way of thinking: Creation is selfish and Service is selfless.

The narrative is that Dickheads and Children are selfish while Good Guys and Heroes are selfless

That narrative couldn’t be more wrong.

This narrative feels good for people who don't want to take any personal responsibility for their lives.

Let’s face it- pursuing our potential, seeing what we’re made of, seeing how high we can fly…it’s fucking scary.

We may crash and burn, publicly, and be humiliated.

It’s much easier to label the pursuit of one’s potential as selfish, and justify our mediocrity in the name of “service.”

But you were not created to be mediocre, and it’s my duty to make sure you know that.

Understand this:  Our ability to Serve and Contribute is directly tied to our own personal development.

Hero’s can help people because they are Strong.  And Strength, whether physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or financial doesn’t happen by accident. It is intentionally and painstakingly curated over one’s entire life.

So- No, it’s not selfish to Create the Vision you have in your head to become the person that you’re capable of becoming.

In fact, it is the pathway to your greatest Contribution.

Creation and Service are not opposing ideas.

The Greatest Contribution you can make to this world is to get yourself and your own house in order.

Individual Strength leads to Collective Strength.

So go forth and be the most ass kicking Individual you can be.

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork of how we think and view the world here at MetaPhysique- let’s start have a look at the lens through which we view training.

We start breaking this down in Part 2 of the Manifesto.