This is a reminder to myself much more than it is for you, so be forewarned.

This weekend I was in Kansas City as one of the Esteemed Exhalted and Beneficient Speakers for The Fitness Summit. Truly it’s a highlight event for the year and one I was sad to miss for the first time in five years last year.

And while there is always something to gain from those who take the podium, they’re true experts after all, the formatting and packaging of a presentation usually means that it’s not something you can’t get from articles or books they’ve written.

So I’m sitting in the back of the room having a great conversation with James Clear and I’m remembering, for the thusandth time: it’s the people.

The genuine connections and conversations you have with real live people can’t be replaced with facts and charts and tables or articles for that matter.

Time and time again I need the reminder that people are the key to everything.

Apple and Microsoft didn’t change the world, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates did.

The Southern Leadership Christan Conference didn’t change America, Martin Luther King Jr. did.

University of Zurich didn’t change physics and science, Albert Einstein did.

And so on and so on.

You gotta remember this. People are the answer.

One of the core pillars we identified at Man Camp (the annual event I host with John Romaniello for men and those who identify as men who want to improve their lives) is that of skill.

After physical culture I believe acquiring and building skills is one of the most fundamental things you need to do if you want to live your best life. Some people go really deep in one particular skill or set of skills and perhaps be the best at it. Others, which is the camp I fall into, are more interested in developing a wide range of skills and abilities. I don’t think I’ll ever be the best at anything, except maybe the best at getting good at a lot of things.

This is the first in what I’m hoping will be a series you all enjoy. I want to take you along for the ride as I explore new or interesting things. My hope is that it might give you the spark of an idea or inspire you to step into the discomfort of learning new skill.

You know, people usually say dilettante like it’s a bad thing. I’m thinking we take it back.

Read enough articles about training and you might start to get the idea that training is a process by which we force the body into submission while it’s inherently resisting change. And to some extent this might actually be true – homeostasis is the tendency for things to remain relatively stable or in equilibrium despite being upset by influences in the outside world.

How then, if the body always wants to remain stable, do people end up with poor posture and tight hips from sitting a desk all day? They’re certainly not putting any effort into it. How does one gain a hundred pounds of body fat without making a concerted effort to do so? I know a couple people who have gained a hundred pounds of muscle and they’ve dedicated their entire lives to the pursuit.

The reality is that adaptation never stops. It can’t be stopped. Well it can, but then you’re dead.

Homeostasis is the tendency to return to equilibrium but the catch is this: you never return back to the exact same state. Yes, the body will find balance, but the balance will be in a new place.

Adaptation is like compound interest: It’s either your best servant or your worst master. It’s either working for you every minute of every day without you paying any attention to it growing your capital, or it’s working against you draining you of every last penny.

If you can’t stop it, and it doesn’t need to be forced then you can actually completely change your paradigm by which you approach training.

No longer is it a battle that needs to be won.

All you need to do is apply a stimulus.

Just enough to nudge yourself out of homeostasis and let those processes take over to find your new point of equilibrium.

How much easier can you make training if you don’t have to force it?

Make it easy, comrade.