Energy Is the Original Currency
When you observe people at their peak physical fitness versus people who are struggling with theirs, you will instantly see the impact of physical health on the mindset.
A person at peak physical health complains less, focuses on opportunity, and is overall more disciplined in life. The struggle doesn't unsettle him because he has the capacity to overcome it. He doesn't hesitate to make long-term plans because he trusts that he will see them through. He doesn't shy away from experiences that enrich his worldview. His health cultivates an inner confidence through which he engages freely with diverse minds and unfamiliar people.
Contrast this with someone struggling with his health — he is often found complaining about everything. A person in persistent pain sees a problem in every obstacle because he lacks the reserves to overcome them. He bristles at all manner of hardship, from the unevenness of stairs to the sluggishness of a lift to a contrarian political opinion. Observe him carefully and you can almost predict where he stands politically.
And this compounds. Once you lose the ability to struggle, to endure hardship, your ambition contracts significantly. Your creativity dulls. Your surface of opportunity shrinks. From that point, you need blind luck to carry you to success. This is why youth feels so electric — as though the world is there to be conquered — because that energy genuinely makes you feel like you can conquer it.
People in their twenties are told to work hard for good reason. Because they can absorb failure. They can endure struggle and hardship. They can afford to fall hard and still believe they will rise. They are told to do whatever it takes for material success because by the time they arrive in their forties or fifties, that same energy will not be there.
There is a kernel of truth in that. But only because people have neglected their physical health for so long. You need to be mindful of what goes into your body. Instead, we have labelled healthy eating as sacrifice. How can something that benefits you be a sacrifice? How distorted has our definition of joy become?
Even if the gym isn't for you, find a way to engage in high-intensity activities — tennis, badminton, football, whatever suits your temperament. If you cannot run, walk at least 10,000 steps. If you cannot walk for two hours, you are in serious trouble, my friend — you really are. It's perfectly fine to be tired afterward, but that baseline endurance must exist.
Sadly, the endurance most people are building is measured in how many beers they can down or how many tequila shots they can stomach. Enjoy yourself once in a while, fine — but real endurance comes from physical fitness, and that is what forges mental strength.
Mental strength is deeply underrated. How many times you can rise after falling is directly tied to how strongly you believe you deserve to. And that belief is only possible when you feel, at your core, that the prize is worth taking the punch for.
The sheer ability to put up a fight is a mark of toughness. But how will you understand toughness if you have never felt what it actually looks and feels like? You have to become tough first — and only then do you understand what that means, and begin to carry that same intensity into everything you do.
If you are in your thirties, I urge you to prioritise physical fitness. I am not selling a gym membership or a diet plan — there are plenty of those out there — but do find a simple, sustainable way of becoming fit. There are no deadlines. You are doing this to feel the high energy alive in you, not to win trophies or impress anyone.
Go to any AI chatbot, lay out your routine, and ask it to build a plan around your life. It is designed to do exactly that. Then close your eyes and picture the strongest version of yourself as you follow through. I wish you strength, discipline, and relentless ambition.