It has always been my fantasy to live life on my own terms. There was a point in my life that I was obsessed with watching "day in a life of a CEO" videos on Youtube. It showed me what was possible. It taught me that there was another way to create a life without doing the 9-5 job.

After a couple of years working in corporate, I decided to go full-time as a Financial Advisor in a life insurance company.I feel like, this decision would support the kind of lifestyle that I want. The thing about working as an insurance agent is that you don't enjoy the security of a constant salary. Yes, there is no ceiling on how much you can earn but there is also no floor. What you get is highly dependent on the amount of effort you put in daily as well.

Without the structure of a corporate job, there isn't much external accountability I could depend on to keep me in check. I had so much freedom that even if I don't do "work" for a day or two, there aren't any immediate consequences. It was easy to put things off that I found myself slacking for weeks. The slightest inconvenience would easily derail my momentum. That took a hit financially. However, it made me aware of my lack of grit, discipline, and that I was too dependent on the external factors to keep me accountable. It made me realize that if this is the lifestyle I want, it is clear to me that mental toughness was something I needed to develop.

Mental toughness is about consistency, being positive, pushing past failure, among others. While I was scrolling through Tiktok (which is what I do in my free time now) I came across this content creator named Anthony Perschon. This was the first time I was introduced to the #75Hard Challenge.

WHAT IS 75HARD?

75Hard was first introduced by Andy Frisella in his podcast REAL AF. Basically, 75Hard is a mental toughness challenge that involves 5 tasks you need to do for 75 days straight. These are:

1. Exercising twice a day.
   There is no specified workout routine but one of these sessions must be done outside.
2. Drink a gallon of water.
3. Follow a diet and stick to it. Again you can do whatever you want but be mindful of the purpose of why we are doing this in the first place. So even if you do calorie counting, it is still best to avoid junk food. Also NO CHEAT MEALS and *NO ALCOHOL. *
4. Read 10 pages of a non-fiction book.
5. Take a progress picture

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If at any point, you forget to take your progress photo, or you're 1 page short in your reading, or any deviation from the specified rules above, you have to restart and go back to day 1 regardless if you just started or you're almost done with the 75 days. Here's the thing, no one is watching, no one can verify the slip-up. That means you have no one but your integrity.

MY IMPRESSIONS SO FAR

As much as I can, I try to avoid fitness challenges because I know after the last day there is a high probability that I'd still go back to my old self. I gave 75Hard a chance because the approach is different. Now I'm on my 30th day.

What I like about it is the focus on the mental aspect rather than the physical. If it were a physical challenge, I'd be more mindful of the changes in strength and weight loss which would be a little frustrating for me since, as we all know, these parameters might fluctuate and is not the best basis if considered alone.

I procrastinate heavily. Since the exercising tasks require a huge amount of time in the day, it forces me to consider finishing tasks as early as possible. That made a good impact on my productivity and headspace.

In terms of diet and exercise, I'm quite enjoying it. I feel that this is a stretch from not doing anything at all but it's also not too ambitious that it becomes unsustainable. I still see myself continuing in the next weeks.

The first few weeks were a little bit challenging since I was still adjusting to incorporating the tasks (especially the exercise) into my daily routines. The progress shots, reading, and the drinking of water were very simple tasks that they pose a risk of being forgotten. So the first weeks, I was on my toes. I find myself doing a mental checklist before I sleep just to make sure I got everything covered.

FINAL VERDICT

It's been 30 days and I'm not hating it. I still see myself finishing the challenge and it makes me excited to know who I come out to be after the 75 days. I've learned to push myself to show up and that experience made me see the value of being committed and staying in integrity even if no one is watching. That to me is points towards becoming the person I want to be. It's a shame I couldn't show you what it has done to me inside, but here is what it did to me outside: