That’s the percent of people who take the stairs when they also have the option to take an escalator.

Thanks for the book review. I added it to my list of holds on Libby. I’ve been listening to some of Peter Attia’s podcasts (even got my first DEXA scan and Apo A1/B test recently!), but I missed this episode. I live a comfortable predator-free life here in Colorado (coincidentally, I’m also a Canadian expat computer engineer) and really try not to let the unimportant stuff get to me. It’s not always easy, and some days are just grumpy for stupid reasons (like your road-trip incidents), but I do my best to steer my attitude in a more positive direction. So your job is to catch yourself before this happens, and learn to keep things challenging, even as you upgrade the rest of your life experience. The Comfort Crisis looks in depth at these questions and how our unending search for comfort and convenience has robbed us of much of our vitality and humanity. Michael Easter is an UNLV professor and editor for Men's Health magazine, and has come up with this thought-provoking book, his first. Now I have to figure out how to replicate this, which is a good problem to have. Thanks dude. ReplyThis trip was a transformative experience for him. After just a few days he already felt calmer, fitter, and more in tune with the natural world. Great stuff as always. And a reminder to stop being a complainy pants when the mood strikes us. I’ve noticed in myself though that I swing between high levels of mental and physical exertion followed by long periods of laziness. Does anyone else go through this and how do you strike more balance between work and rest? Reply My work shows that science has many answers. This is why I read hundreds of studies and interview scores of scientists every year. But my work also proves that modern science overlooks many key aspects of the human experience and living well. Deeper discoveries and insights occur when we leave the comfort of our screens and offices to find and experience new ideas from overlooked people and places. This is why I travel to some of the world’s most remote and dangerous areas for my work. It allows me to deliver the best ideas from the world’s brilliant thinkers, societies, and places.

Great post! I’m a big fan of Dr. Attia’s and agree that life in the west is far easier than most other parts of the world, but most Americans have no idea what I’m talking about when I try to explain it. People complain about poverty here, which we have, but I always tell them they haven’t seen poverty until they’ve seen it in the third world. There is absolutely nothing like it. So, yes, we do have it pretty easy here. If you're the kind of person who does Crossfit, shaves your head (if you're a guy), is into hunting and Navy SEALS workout regimens, then this is kind of preaching-to-the-choir for you. I kind of wanted preaching-to-the-choir...I had an assumption that discomfort is good for us and wanted to read something that proves it...but I'm not into those things. So I didn't really identify with these parts of the book. If you're the kind of person who likes opinions from experts and statistics, you'll get plenty here. The writer travels around the world talking to researchers, monks, personal trainers about percentages of people overeating, losing strength compared to previous generations, being more stressed, etc. It's impressive how he went to the ends of the earth (e.g. Bhutan) to talk to people with differing viewpoints. On the other hand, I felt like I knew a lot of this stuff (Bhutanese Gross Happiness Product, the obesity epidemic in the US, carbs aren't actually bad for you, etc) or that I could've read these statistics in an article.There has been a lot of talk directed at the FIRE community recently about how bad we are at spending our money, and how we all need to loosen up. And there’s a small amount of truth to it, as my local friends Carl and Mindy recently admitted during a grilling on the Ramit Sethi podcast. Discover the evolutionary mind and body benefits of living at the edges of your comfort zone and reconnecting with the wild—from the author of Scarcity Brain, coming in September! the Yale Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital supports this notion. It found that dying patients who had open conversations about their death experienced a better quality of life in the weeks and months leading to their passing, as judged by their family members and nurse practitioners.” We think we know what our physical limits are, but we often underestimate ourselves. Studies have shown that exercise-induced fatigue is generally psychological, not physical. Our bodies are capable of so much more. https://www.wsj.com/articles/lazy-girl-jobs-wont-make-gen-z-less-anxious-stress-business-adulthood-trade-offs-13d6b5bd?st=5y6gu6doqlw9rfj&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink Reply

MMM – Thanks to you I FIRE’d from my cushy but non-purposeful real estate job in Los Angeles in April of this year and subsequently left most of my possessions behind and built a 2010 Ford Transit Connect into my new (badass and mobile) home. I’m writing this now after running a few brisk morning laps around the beautiful grassy banks of the Yosemite River in rural Montana as I took my morning “shower” in the fresh and flowing water along with the trout and the geese. The author is Michael Easter, a former writer for Men’s Health magazine was also once catastrophically addicted to alcohol – and descended from a long family line of ancestors with the same affliction.It was hard, and slightly scary, as we got further and further from the shore. Progress was slow even with serious paddling, and we didn’t have any particular plan beyond the spirit of “let’s GO!” It turns out that there’s a scientific explanation for these unfortunate people, along with most of our other problems: Commercial flying is incredibly safe. The statistics say you’re infinitely more likely to die in a crash on the way to the airport than you are in the plane. But this rule does not apply to bush plane flights in Alaska. It’s true that hard work, facing challenges, ‘suffering”, and pushing your own limits yields tremendous benefits in mental health, physical health, self esteem, and…..wouldn’t ya know it?…Happiness. Reply