“Stay hard” is the mantra of straight talking fitness maniac, David Goggins, and whilst I don’t adhere to quite his level of self-shouting, I do believe it’s important to practice becoming comfortable with discomfort from time to time and subsequently managing the voice in the head that wants to avoid it.

As I now recognise that true comfort always lies on the other side of discomfort. I.e. short term pain = long term gain.

With that in mind, there are three things I try to do every weekday to stay in good health and fitness all year round.

1. Fast.

   The goal here is not to go so long that the day becomes a grind, it’s simply to wait until you feel those first pangs of hunger and then see if you can extend it 30 mins to 1 hour before you have your first meal. I.e. feel the discomfort, acknowledge it and go a little further. This, in a sense, is the true meaning of breakfast… break… (the) …fast. By doing this there are a whole host of benefits that your body will enjoy, including better digestion, improved blood-sugar levels and better weight management.

   TIP: Try drinking either black coffee or green tea (no milk) about 1-1.5 hours after you wake (so as to not disrupt your circadian rhythms). This should help suppress your hunger and give you a mental boost to start the day.
   

2. Exercise.

   I won’t bore you here with all the benefits of exercise as most people know that it’s good for you but what I will say is that the art of exercising regularly is two fold.

   One is learning to embrace the voice in the head that goes “pffft this is hard work Mat, you should probably stop now and go lie down” (which is my mind responding to the discomfort aspect) and will improve your ability to not only withstand discomfort in other areas of your life but you are more likely to lean into it in the future.

   The other aspect is simply learning to enjoy moving your body and progressively improving, even if it’s in incremental ways. These two elements combined can have an extremely powerful effect on your ability to exercise consistently in the long term.

   TIP: Start with small achievable goals. Whether that’s a brisk walk or a 15 min jog / circuit. Do something that triggers the ‘avoid discomfort’ voice and see if you can keep going a little longer without letting it control you.
   

3. Shower Cold.

   For some this might mean a cold plunge but for me, mostly due to convenience and limited time, I find a cold shower a day helps keep the doctor away. In the winter months, I may start it off nice and warm but will always finish with cold - almost regardless of the temperature outside. As long as I am warm in my core, I know my body has the ability to handle 5 minutes of cold water blasting from my shower. And again, just this small micro decision to lean into discomfort has such a positive effect on my physical and mental health long term.

   TIP: Focus on slow long exhales to mitigate the cold shock. Managing your breathing makes all the difference to both your mental and physiological response to the cold.

So there you go, those are the three hard things I try to do Monday to Friday. I try to get them all done in the morning so that I can enjoy the rest of my day even more knowing I’ve already done so much good for my body and mind.