I recently found myself standing on a windy tarmac 20-miles above the Arctic circle, staring at a plane that was about the size of a Snickers bar. I was with Donnie Vincent and William Altman, friends who are also backcountry hunters and filmmakers.
Our plan was to spend the next month trudging hundreds of miles across the Arctic. Before the pilot returned to pick us up 33 days later, we would encounter subzero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, white-out storms, massive grizzlies, vicious badgers, raging glacial rivers … you name it.
This was nothing like my safe, comfortable life at home, but that was the point. Most people rarely step outside their comfort zones these days — we’re living progressively soft, sterile, temperature-controlled, over-fed, under-challenged, safety-netted lives. And it’s slowly limiting the degree to which we experience our, as the poet Mary Oliver put it, “one wild and precious life.”
But a growing body of evidence shows that people are at their best—physically harder, mentally tougher, and spiritually sounder—after doing hard shit like my trek across the rugged world of the Arctic. These experiences, similar to those encountered by our ancient ancestors, may protect us from physical and psychological problems like obesity, heart disease, cancers, diabetes, depression, and anxiety, and even more fundamental issues like a lack of meaning and purpose.
It worked for me. After my time in the Arctic, I was fitter and healthier than I’d ever been, but more importantly, I’d experienced a sea change in my perspective. I was harder to ruffle and less stressed. I was more productive and creative. I found joy in moments that once seemed ordinary. And I could fully appreciate just how amazing modern life is.
I was also curious — why had the act of thrusting myself into a world of discomfort created such profound change in my life?
To help unpack this question, I met with researchers at Harvard, geneticists in Iceland, monks in Bhutan, Special Operations soldiers in Florida, and many more. I asked them all the same question: What happens when we exit our comfort zone? In other words, what are the upsides of doing hard shit?
I wrote about this journey and its lessons in a book called The Comfort Crisis. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a month in the Arctic to see the benefits of inserting a bit more challenge into your life. In addition to exploring the new science of discomfort, the book lays out some simple tactics to improve your mind, body, and spirit.
I finished writing The Comfort Crisis in May 2020, just as the pandemic took hold. I knew that Covid-19 would fundamentally change our lives, but I, like most of us back then, was naïvely optimistic. I figured we’d have it sorted out by summer. Now here we are, still playing whack-a-mole with variants.
To cope with the hardships of the pandemic, many of us have leaned further into comfort. For example, drinking and drug use have increased anywhere from 30 to 60 percent. Screen time jumped 50 percent. Activity levels dropped by 27 percent and almost half of people have gained double-digit weight.
But since the release of The Comfort Crisis, scores of doctors, psychologists, neuroscientists, and even religious leaders have reached out to tell me that I’m onto something with this strange idea about embracing challenge. And they agree that it might help get us out of this mess we’ve created.
There’s plenty of evidence to explore; for example, just the other day I talked to Dr. Thomas Zentall. The guy’s an old-school psychologist— he got his PhD at Berkeley in 1969 and has been doing pioneering work ever since. He told me that humans evolved to get a greater psychological reward from doing harder things, possibly as an incentive for us to keep searching or hunting when our survival depended on finding food.
So I’d like to propose the following: Do not go comfortably into the rest of your life. We can not only cast off the baggage we’ve accumulated during the pandemic, but even seize the opportunity to come back even better than before.
How do we do that? By doing some hard shit. Take on big challenges that scare you. Come at them true and with an open heart.
I’d love for you to join me — get started by reading my book. For more on the benefits of doing hard things, sign up for the 2-Percent Newsletter. It delivers weekly thoughts and challenges that can improve your life. It doesn’t matter if the pandemic rendered you couch-bound and 20 pounds heavier (one study discovered that was the average), or if you’re already an intrepid explorer. The lessons work for everyone.
Onward.
