Endure: How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering

by Cameron R. Hanes

It is a very rare person who can lie down at the end of a day with full confidence that they have done their absolute best, and an even rarer person that can do that consistently, day after day, year after year, until the

days of laziness and self-pity are but a distant memory, drowned out by the years and years of action and discipline.

the art of the maximized life. In this work, layers upon layers of effort and discipline create a depth and texture to the life that’s lost during a cursory examination by a person who doesn’t know what they’re seeing. It is an art form, with only the people who are also out there grinding truly understanding and appreciating how amazing this consistent effort is.

In his world there are no days off. Days you are not getting better are days wasted. The hammering never ends, and the inner bitch never has a chance.

“Nobody cares, work harder.”

It’s not about somebody else. It’s about you.

Train for misery and embrace the pain. This is my approach, because you know you’ll experience it in the mountains.

Either you quit or you push through the aches.

Family might provide an outlet and friends may prove to be motivators, but ultimately you have to decide to dream. You are the only person to push yourself.

I believe the only limits we have, both physically and mentally, are those we place on ourselves.

The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they’re exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they’re obsessed with improvement. And that obsession with improvement stems from an unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all. It’s anti-entitlement. People who become great at something become great because they understand that they’re not already great—they are mediocre, they are average—and that they could be so much better.

We all have routines. They can be productive or they can be poisonous.

Weak people hate success. I just kept hammering.

It’s one thing to find your true passion in life, but what about your poison? What is the one thing or multiple things that hinder your ability to achieve the type of success you desire? Who or what is preventing you from fulfilling your potential?

You don’t need a big break to “make it.” You need to just take one small step. Then another. And another.

IF YOU’RE NOT OBSESSED, YOU’RE GOING TO BE MEDIOCRE.

If you want something badly enough, you will find a way to make it happen.

What I learned quickly was, the harder you push, the more people you leave behind.

The farther you go, the fewer who will be willing to go with you. The reasons why they quit are simple: They can’t handle it, or they don’t want to. Will you continue on, even if alone?

The mind is powerful and can actually create issues that aren’t even really there,

Everybody has an excuse. Everybody has a reason. You can always come up with a reason to not go after a challenge. So I’ve learned to never care what the excuse is. It’s never valid. That’s my attitude, and that’s my edge. It’s how I’ve built endurance and fostered resiliency. There are no rest days in my schedule. And that is the reason I excel.

“I don’t have talent. I have tenacity.” —Henry Rollins

Discipline and excellence aren’t something you can just think about and achieve. Decide to do something every day for a year. Whether it’s running a mile, reading a chapter, writing a paragraph, eating breakfast, or drinking a gallon of water: find something that will help you improve yourself and do it every day for a year. That’s how you build a work ethic.

Whatever it might be, whether it’s becoming a solo backcountry hunter or a doctor or a musician, just know that all rewards have to be earned the hard way. There are no shortcuts to success in the mountains, and in life. Those who work the hardest are successful, period. Get to work.

No one tells an epic story about an easy path they’ve traveled.

“Train hard, hunt easy” means I want my training to be so hard that even the most difficult of hunts are easy by comparison. Long mountain runs make me dig deep in training and give me mental strength and physical endurance.

All men dream: but not equally.

All I know is you don’t need anyone to believe in your dream. With tunnel-visioned focus, you can be whatever you want to be.

Greatness only comes with grinding it out.

Yesterday means NOTHING. Give all you have to today. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

I had a lot to learn. And as the famous Michelangelo quote goes, “I am still learning.”

“It’s all mental.” I say this all the time, and it’s true. If you believe you can do it, you can. We all have virtually limitless potential. Our bodies are capable of so much more than what we ask of them. Take off the mental handcuffs, get out there, and start on your way today.

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

“I believe that the mind powers the body, and once the mind says we want to do it, then the body will follow.”

Visualize success.

Easy seldom makes memories.

Anything, and I mean anything, is possible.

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

No matter how bad things are going, smiling always helps.

“It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

Forward Progress.

Earn your breaks. Hone your skills. Develop a talent. Eventually your dreams will become a reality.

The lesson I learned was even when you feel like you’re done, you’re not done. Endurance means you’re never done.

To endure means to never end, to know the journey is long, to bear with the long days and weeks and sometimes even years. The miles mean something, each step means something. Life is all about endurance and forging on even when you’re beaten down.

Dare others to doubt your abilities.

With that I’d rather be dead. Because what’s worse than unfulfilled potential?

“I refuse to give my physical pain any value,” Courtney told Zach Davis of TheTrek.com . “I shove the pain aside, focus on something different, and force myself to keep moving … I keep repeating over in my head, ‘Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.’ Or sometimes it’s, ‘You’re fine. You’re fine. You’re fine.’ If I’m being nice to myself, sometimes I will cheer myself on and repeat, ‘You’re doing a good job. You’re doing a good job. You’re doing a good job.’”

What I’m good at is not a talent. I’ll just do more and work harder than most others are willing to.

I know what it’s like to be average and to define myself by my limitations, but over the course of my life, I’ve pulled the curtain back on the people who push boundaries. They are freaks, but they’re human too. We’re the same species. And now I’m running and training and learning from those freaks.

First, you have to work, sweat, and bleed with unbridled passion. And you have to exhibit tunnel-visioned focus on your craft. Second, you have to change the way you think and believe that with every single breath you take that you are the best you can be.