A critical component in increasing our ability to deal with adversity is witnessing others travel through the same or worse.

Though the these stories may not exactly match your own, you’ll find ones that are close enough for you to grab onto and use to pull you to the other side.

Too often we try to “overcome” adversity by trying to go over it.

Consider adversity an obstacle course.

If you went over or around it, you would never gain the skills or strength the course was designed to deliver.

It’s in all of us. A burning desire for adventure and purpose.

The tightening in our throat during a movie, the feeling of anxious tension after too many hours at the desk. That “thing” is our soul grabbing us by our guts and trying to pull us outside.

For some it feels like this fire went out, but it didn’t. The fact that you’re here reading these papers proves that the pilot light is still burning. We see it flickering and we’re about to pour jet fuel on it.

Why are you working harder and harder just to keep up? Why does life seem to be getting busier and more demanding?

It’s because there’s a new standard of performance out there that you’re competing against, whether you realize it or not.

Now that you know, it’s time to up your game. It’s time to recapture lost time, money, and energy. It’s time to do things better, faster, and bigger, with less effort. It’s time to get after life on a superhuman level.

It’s simple if you think about it. If you make promises to yourself and actually keep them, you’ll progress very nicely. It’s just that we swim in a culture of comfort, surrounded by others who just talk and don’t act. That makes not following through the norm, rather than the exception. When we don't keep the small promises, we lose confidence in our ability to keep the big ones.  

Remember - if your career is breaking other parts of your life, then you know it's not a good fit. There's no reason you can't love what you do, make enough money, AND be fit, have fun, friends and time with family. We gotta get it all handled!

Consider what your life would be like if the things you “love to” do and “have to” do were the same. Imagine a career that gives you energy and passion, instead of sucking it out of you.

Keep reading the ebook if you haven’t already finished it. Think about how these things apply to you. Take it seriously. As if it’s life or death. Because it is.

As I write this, I sit by the sea in my favorite dive bar, preparing for our sea excursion. A thick marine layer sits next to me using the sun-rays to signal its intended departure for the day. The salt air has been seasoned with just the right amount of diesel exhaust to pull in other men of the sea from distant places to reset and find adventure.

The world has become too dynamic and competitive, and now requires levels of patience, courage and confidence beyond what a single man can hold on his own. 

Alone we're weak and unable to fully realize our roles as leaders, fathers or providers with dignity. As we become pressed, we default into working (at work and in life) nonstop in an effort to keep up.

You’ll get your ass blown out of the water if you don't exist within a brotherhood. 

You still changing your oil? 

These “DIY” (do it yourself) skill sets that men think make them men—changing the car oil, edging the lawn, buffing the cars—are actually chewing them up.

It’s no wonder so many of these guys are too busy, are not making enough money, are out of shape, and have relationships in the crapper.