Bman wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 3:16 pmI'm very much for leveraging your mind for great impact and production (and consequently more money). However, I also believe every man would benefit from working manual labor and subjecting themselves to hard things. It can't be understated how much mental fortitude is built when you have busted your ass for 12 hours, its 2am, all you want to do is sleep, but there is still a job to be done. I promise the satisfaction you will feel physically seeing something built in front of your eyes, knowing you and a group of others put their blood, sweat, and tears into this, is a bliss worth feeling.
Most of my work now is knowledge work. However I still periodically subject myself to hard, physical endeavors. For example, I will periodically do volunteer work helping to setup events or some physical labor. I'm always down to help friends move. I do cold showers every morning, lift heavy in the gym, periodically fast and do hot saunas. I, by choice, don't have a car so I pack 2 weeks worth of groceries in a hiking backpack and two 5 gallon jugs of water on the bus and down the street.
This post is great - balance in everything. Physical labour is great but it's hard on the body too, it's important to get those high value skills, I've seen too many late 40's builders/tradesmen with totally fucked bodies.
One of the most pivotal experiences I had was working building dirt roads when I was 16 - backbreaking work in often horrendous conditions carrying rocks around on the side of a mountain, for very little money. Definitely focused the mind on "I need to get skills so I don't have to rely only on my physical abilities". To have the option to do it is great, but when it's all you have it's not.
