Pertinacity. The Stoic Seneca (and I paraphrase) said: “the foundation of living a good life, happens when doing what’s best for you is what you enjoy most.”
That’s why our tagline to Lifestyle Coach is Live a Better Life!
As one of my coaches Brian Johnson, founder of Optimize, has taught:
Seneca taught us how awesome it is to pursue the straight course to reach the destination where doing the right thing is the thing that gives us the most joy.
In his words (one more time): “How much better to pursue a straight course and eventually reach that destination where the things that are pleasant and the things that are honorable finally become, for you, the same.“
How do we do that?
Well, Seneca has an answer to that question as well.
He says: “You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good.“
Uh…
Huh?
Can you please repeat that, o’ wise Seneca the Younger?
Yes. → “You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good.“
First: Let’s define “pertinacity.”
It means: “Holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action” as in: “He worked with a pertinacious resistance to interruptions.“
So, we need to work with stubbornness and strong discipline until our WILL to do the right thing leads to a DISPOSITION.
So, we need to work with stubbornness and strong discipline until our WILL to do the right thing leads to a DISPOSITION.
We’ve all had someone come up to us and say, “I don’t know how you do it,” “how you stay so disciplined” in one domain or another, in response to something that we love to do that we do so well and so routinely.
Nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to the various lifestyle domains, from getting to bed early, rising early, eating in a genuinely healthy way, exercising regularly, and so much more.
Well, as it turns out, you only need to be deliberately “disciplined” for some time before what you usually need to do intentionally (and admittedly at times, not enjoyably) because you have to face your actual condition, becomes more and more enjoyable.
When what you do also becomes less and less a periodic state, but rather a trait; it’s because it’s something you love to do and part of who you are.
We’ve all had someone come up to us and say, “I don’t know how you do it,” “how you stay so disciplined” in one domain or another, in response to something that we love to do that we do so well and so routinely. Nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to the various lifestyle domains, from getting to bed early, rising early, eating in a genuinely healthy way, exercising regularly, and so much more. Well, as it turns out, you only need to be deliberately “disciplined” for some time before what you usually need to do intentionally (and admittedly at times, not enjoyably) because you have to face your actual condition, becomes more and more enjoyable. When what you do also becomes less and less a periodic state, but rather a trait; it’s because it’s something you love to do and part of who you are.
Are there challenging moments?
Sure, but when you live a performance lifestyle, you are not a one or two or three trick pony. During those times, you also have the other practices you were once disciplined around, which move you forward. Pertinacity; that’s why a Performance Lifestyle is the practice of all essential practices; an obstacle in one aspect of lifestyle is the open door for another part of the lifestyle to help you overcome the obstacle.
That’s where we want to get to, and that’s what we’re going to help everyone get to in 2022 as we gear up for going beyond trying to eat healthier and exercise and get an extra hour of sleep here and there to living your full potential.
Living your full potential is not something you can do when you are a “one, two, or three trick pony.” If you want to look, feel and perform at your best, you’ve got to have a whole lifestyle that supports you and what you are up to in your life– family, career, business, sport, or creative pursuit.
Do you want to live in a good mood, or do you want a good life?
Are you chasing peak states?
Trying to feel better, and if you are don’t feel like you’re in a peak state, you’re not going to do what you know is best for you? If so, then what is best for you has not yet become the trait I mentioned earlier, and developing traits is what lifestyle training is all about.
It’s about developing pertinacity, and habituating success so that it’s routine, the natural result of how you think and live, your mindset, and your skillset. You live a better life when you start acting this way, and everything spirals up!
As “client zero,” entrepreneur and Lifestyle Coach John Allen Mollenhauer, known as John Allen or by his initials “JAM,” was desperate to figure out how to achieve his goals without burning out and trading his health for success despite being proficient in nutrition and fitness.
As a result, over 20 years, he made the most significant lifestyle change one can make, learned how to manage his energy, and step by step produced the never-before-assembled formula for living a balanced and healthy high-performance lifestyle. Today, he’s still an in-the-game lifestyle entrepreneur and a pioneering Performance Lifestyle® Coach.
He is the founder of LifestyleCoach.com, where subscribers discover how to achieve even their most ambitious goals while living in balance with vibrant health and peace of mind. Discover the 3 lifestyle Strategies that Drive Your Success, Without Burnout out or trading your health for success, and get on the path to developing a performance lifestyle you can call your own.
