It wasn’t just about building up his physical strength. He was also building up his mental endurance. Tell someone to do thirty reps of push-ups or run five miles and they’re already anticipating the finish line. It’s well defined. You know what to expect. It’s much harder when the endpoint is unknown—it changes the game. When you tell someone to chop wood without stopping or hike up and down a mountain—a distance he can only guess at—he’s either going to crash and burn or find the psychological fortitude to endure. The trick is to bring him as close to breaking as you can in order to help him
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