The other day I was reminiscing and I realised that the first time I set foot in a gym was around this time, just seven years ago. I was fourteen, going into the local gym for the first time.

Payment used to be a pound I placed on the front desk every single time I went in through the door. The staff realised what I was doing after a while and asked me to pay for a membership, but I’d caught the lifting bug by then.

A third of a lifetime later (I’m now 21 and it’s been 7 years), I thought that I’d write this to recount a couple of the most salient lessons that this journey has provided.

We’ll start with the most obvious…

1. The importance of consistency

Forget ‘genetic potential’, forget some people being stronger than others, the thing that’s going to matter the most in the gym is how much you can keep it going.

The reason that I’m so often perceived as naturally stronger, with more genetic potential etc. is that I’ve gone to the gym four or five times on average every week for seven years.

That’s over 1500 sessions and over 2000 hours in the gym - nearly three months straight of total time.

This adds up to more intention and effort than those who get into a phase of going to the gym six times per week for a few months and then once a week for a few months.

By being consistent, you set up a routine, and through this, you start working even harder without it ever feeling as though you’re working harder. Because you get used to things. Don’t keep dipping in and out, because it’s like an ice-cold plunge when you have to keep returning and starting from scratch. If you just don’t get out, you get used to the cold.

2. Your life/situation can be improved

I’ve talked before about the paradoxical idea that appears to me when I consider physical training and mental health improvement. They both grow from each other, so It’s similar to the chicken and the egg - which comes first?

Do you improve your mind first and then start training, running or doing some other form of physical activity?

In the context of my own experience, it was the other way around, with lifting and training coming first.

When I started lifting, I didn’t know anything about making my mind better and changing to a more positive outlook about the rest of life. I just wanted to be stronger and faster than my peers.

What changed was something relatively simple - I began to understand the idea of delaying gratification. Trading a little discomfort now for a better future.

In the moment, lifting weights doesn’t feel fantastic, but when you’re stronger and healthier down the line, this is worth the short stint of pain regularly to get it done.

After a while of learning that this was how things worked in the gym, I realised that it could be applied everywhere else too. Delayed gratification maps to all areas of life. You can meditate and write in a journal, which doesn’t feel great in the moment, especially the former, but when your mind is more still and peaceful in the future, it’s worth it.

This idea is one of the most fundamental I’ve ever come across. It’s my belief that we’re wired for this reality - the flow state that we reach when doing something difficult or uncomfortable is the peak of human experience. It’s no coincidence that the things that require a flow-like element of focus are difficult things that make our future better than our present.

Knowing and understanding this was something that was born out of the gym and the time that I spent there, so I don’t exaggerate when I say that starting to lift weights might be one of the best decisions of my life.

I said it a long time ago in Twenty observations from 20 years on Earth, and I said it more recently in the issue where I discussed how a great many the things that I value are the ones that I’ve been consistent in outputs within for a number of years.

There aren’t many that have persisted for a third of my life though, and I’m so grateful to lifting weights. It seems shallow on the surface, but it goes much, much deeper than just having thicker biceps.

I hope that by making my case in this issue, you believe it too,

— Theo

Last week’s issue (extended cut)…

Read the issue - 088 • Book a long trip to get work done

Talking a little about the journeys that I’ve been on and the ideas that I’ve come up with during this time. Foremost of these is the PARAZETTEL Community, which is now live.