It was the day after Christmas in 2004 when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake hit the Indian Ocean, triggering massive, 100 foot tall waves that would later became known as “The Boxing Day Tsunamis.” The tsunamis took the lives of 227,898 people in 14 countries that day. Many drowned immediately or were swept away by the rapid flooding. Bodies were piled up on beaches everywhere. It was officially one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history.
But the most chilling part of this tragedy is the footage. It was one of the first events of it’s kind where humans had the modern technology readily available to record it. I’ll never forget seeing a video from one of the tourist beaches in Thailand…
Everything looks normal at first. You can see all the families enjoying the sun and the sand — most of them vacationing. None of them have a clue about what’s going to unfold over the next few minutes.
At one point the water starts receding from the beach, stranding fish and leaving people looking around confused about what’s going on with the tide…You can see kids running around the fish and laughing at the phenomenon. That’s when a few people start to notice what’s coming on the horizon.
The wall of water starts to come into view…
Then you hear screaming…
People are panicking, calling out to their friends and family…
But what happens during the next 240 seconds is what makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
It was just like a movie. Most of the people start running for their lives… moving in droves toward higher ground. But others are just standing there. Frozen with fear. And as the massive wave hammers the beach, that first group is consumed instantly.
Next, you can see the water rushing inland, quickly overtaking most of the people that were running. They just couldn’t make it. They weren’t fast enough. Then, you start to see a few people here and there. The ones that made it to safety.
Some of them scaled nearby cliffs. Others climbed two stories up to the hotel balcony. Still others somehow managed to get to the top of the palm trees with their loved ones in their arms.
But they were alive.
Only a small percentage of the people that were standing on that beach 240 seconds earlier had lived. Somehow, they had saved their own lives and the lives of others.
I couldn’t help but think, how were they able to survive one of the deadliest natural disasters of our time? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there were a lot of factors involved, as well as some luck for sure. But what I’ve come to believe is: the people that survived were ready. They were just plain ready to get away from that giant wave in those 240 seconds.
In a moment of unforeseen tragedy, one of the deadliest natural disasters of our time, they had the physical ability, awareness, and mental toughness… to save their own lives. They ran fast enough, or climbed high enough, to get to safety before the water could get to them.
Moments like this in history have given me massive respect for the idea of being “Always Ready.” And it’s at the core of what we want to help people with here at MTNTOUGH.
“Always Ready” Moments
You hear more and more stories similar to this on the news all the time, like the three guys who stopped a terror attack on a French train in 2015.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guard Spc. Alek Skarlatos, and civilian Anthony Sadler, all childhood friends from California, were vacationing in Europe when a bad guy with ties to radical Islam opened fire inside a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris carrying 554 passengers. They tackled him, knocked him unconscious, and held him there until authorities arrived… with Spencer receiving multiple lacerations from a utility knife.
Or there’s the story of backcountry elk hunter Todd Orr, who was mauled by a Grizzly Bear, twice in the same day in the Montana backcountry. With major injuries & lacerations, he still hiked three miles back to his truck and drove himself to the hospital. He even turned down a ride from a local rancher and returned to elk hunting the following fall.
Or there’s the story of Jeff & Robert Olson. Jeff, Robert’s son broke his leg in a nasty rock slide 5 miles back into the Idaho wilderness. They were hunting alone and had no ability to contact search and rescue. Robert eventually had to carry Jeff out, by himself, making sure he got back home safely to his wife and newborn baby.
You just never know when a natural disaster might strike… or when danger is lurking around the next corner… or when those you love the most are going to need you. And that’s when the principles of “Always Ready” really matter.
What does it mean to be “Always Ready”?
“Always Ready” was born out of the military DNA here at MTNTOUGH. They’ve taught us that elite soldiers can’t afford to do things like “get in and out of shape”… because when our country needs them, they need to be ready RIGHT NOW. We’ve adopted this same mentality as civilians, because when your family needs you…
Or your kids need you.
Or your hunting buddy needs you.
Or you draw the tag of a lifetime.
Or that bull comes out of nowhere.
Or you need to save your own life.
You have to be ready.
When you adopt this mentality, your old definition of “Goals” becomes less important. Your perspective changes. Things like “Diets” become less important. New Year’s Resolutions don’t matter. You stop saying things like: “it’s time to get in shape for hunting season.” Instead, you start thinking bigger.
Always Ready becomes your lifestyle.
It becomes your way of living. And when you’re “Always Ready”, you do things like train all year long so you’re not getting “in shape” for any one thing. You already eat right eighty percent of the time, it is a lifestyle, so it’s not a “diet” anymore. You stop training one-dimensionally and instead begin to focus on cardiovascular endurance, strength, power, and agility so you have truly usable, functional fitness.
You train to be ready mentally and physically for whatever life may throw your way.
So when you want to run a last-minute 5K with your daughter on a Saturday morning, you go. Or when you want to crush a Spartan Race with your friends, you do it. Or when your buddy calls to pack an elk out of a gnarly hell hole, there is no hesitation, because you are ready. Always Ready is about being the best version of yourself all the time… and continuing to get better every single day.
This Is The Year
I’m writing this on January 1st, 2019. New Years Day. All around the world people are committing to new things. They’re feeling inspired to change. And I hope they succeed, I really do. However, if you’re reading this right now, I’m not writing this to motivate you. Instead, I’m writing this to invite you into a different way of looking at your life and how your training fits into it.
This is the year of being “Always Ready”, and at MTNTOUGH, we want to recruit as many people as we can to start thinking this way. To start training this way. To start living this “Always Ready” lifestyle.
So starting today… Commit to these three principles:
- NO EXCUSES – Too many people make the mistake of making up the story in their minds, they are “not worthy”. For example, I am “not worthy” to climb Denali because I am 44 years old with a time consuming career, I am “not worthy” to run the NYC marathon because I am a busy working mother with two young kids at home, I am “not worthy” to hunt out 7 days in the Montana wilderness because I am out of shape with two bad knees. We construct a reality in our minds, and then process information that fits that reality. But if we are TRULY lucky…someone comes along and interrupts our story, the reality we believe about ourselves, and through their story they dismantle our current belief system, ignite our spirits and transform our lives. Like Zion Clark, the Kent State University college wrestler, who was born without legs. Or L’Damian Washington, whose father was murdered, his mother died of a stroke, orphaned with 3 brothers but then he became the first kid in his family to go to college and is now a wide receiver in the NFL. These stories are all around us and they teach us that excuses are fabrications, and we can truly speak our future into existence if we so choose. Being “Always Ready” means having No Excuses, and altering our personal expectations will reshape the trajectory of our entire lives.
- ALWAYS LIFT THE HEAVY BOX FIRST – This isn’t about the box. It is a metaphor about micro-decisions that we all face each and every day. Every day we all face thousands of micro decisions and we typically have two options…the easy choice or the hard choice. “Always lift the heavy box” is a mantra to remind you that the hard choice will make you better every single time. Mentally and Physically. It is about doing what is right, not what is easy. Think about the most mentally tough person you know, I would be surprised if they didn’t have this key trait. This is a ethos you nearly always find in the world’s most mentally tough individuals. Plus the cool thing about mental toughness is once you push a threshold once, it is easier the next time. After a while, you won’t even think about it, and will start racing for the “heavy box”, before anyone else gets it before you do, because you have learned it makes you better every time!
- LIVE FEARLESS – My good friend keeps a coin on him that says “Memento Mori”, it’s a Stoic Latin saying that basically translates to “remember that you have to die.” It is a daily reminder to live fearless, because when this game of life is over, everything goes back in the box. Eventually, this all ends. It is hard to be “Always Ready” when you are bound by fear & anxiety. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this training in “The Lab” here in Bozeman. Individuals scared to try, push hard, and just plain terrified to fail. The cool thing is to witness them finally break this chain, and when they do, watch their minds & lives transform. What I do know, is God places the best things in our life, on the other side of fear. I have experienced this too many times to doubt it anymore.
Start 2019 with these principles in your life. Adopt them. Make them your new mentality everyday and see how your perspective changes. Then build on them. Start to define what “Always Ready” means in your life… because you eventually have to make it part of your own story.
Being “Always Ready” This Hunting Season
With the focus on being “Always Ready” in 2019, we wanted to put together a digital coaching plan for the backcountry hunter to translate this new mentality into hunting season. Nothing tests your physical and mental capabilities like the mountains, and that is why we put together The MTNTOUGH Backcountry Hunter Bundle.
The Backcountry Bundle is a complete 8-month training system & community to give you the mental and physical toughness you’ll need for the demands of the backcountry. We’ve combined our two most effective backcountry training programs to give you every workout you need from now until this fall, mobile ready so you can train anytime, anywhere:
- Winter Training: The Backcountry Hunter Postseason Strength Program
- Spring and Summer Training: The Backcountry Hunter Preseason Prep Program
With both of these together, you can start training today and be completely ready for whatever the mountains throw at you during hunting season.
Whether you decide to use our online programming or not, I appreciate that you’re part of this amazing MTNTOUGH community as we go into 2019!
Happy New Year!
