For those who prefer to listen, the author has recorded an audio version
Remember 2020? Remember Lock-downs? I’ll never forget that politicians brazenly closed society including green-spaces, parks, and playgrounds. I’m an avid trail runner and the tyrants had the audacity to close the provincial park I run in every weekend. I vividly recall every time I ran past their ‘park closed for C-19’ signs flipping two birds. I relished climbing to the top of the cliffs to an amazing lookout where I could see the far-off city of Toronto, Ontario, the home of the government that thought they could control a virus by destroying normal life and common decency. Every time I would SCREAM down on them “You are going to lose, we are going to win, team love will conquer team hate.” Without the strength and dedication I learned from years of running trails, I wouldn’t have found the strength to DEFY. If you also remember 2020, you’ll need all your strength to fend off what’s coming next.
In 2024 you don’t have the option of living on the sidelines. The political and cultural chaos keeps intensifying, divisions in society are crystallizing, and the stakes of the game are rising to alarming levels. But how do you ensure that you don’t fall victim to the pressure to conform on one side or the other? How do people who value individuality, liberty, and personal responsibility navigate these turbulent waters? I have a prescription for you: Athletic Training
Hold on a minute, is that really the solution? How does training my body in the gym or in sport help me live a life of deep purpose and conviction? How does having strong muscles equate to having a strong will? Can I really use my body as a source of evidence to combat societal pressures to conform and give in? The short and long answers are both: YES
This isn’t a new idea but instead a rediscovery and adaptation of an old idea, one that stretches back thousands of years to the same intellects that gave us some of the strongest building blocks to build societies around the dignity of the individual. "We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage." - Aristotle
The Classical Greek philosopher Aristotle spelled it out clearly over 2500 years ago. The above quote gives us the blueprint. When we engage in actions related to specific virtues, we can generate those virtues in ourselves. But it’s not an automatic process. This is where most people stop when it comes to the ability of sport and training to create moral goodness in its practitioners. It’s obvious that just working on the body doesn’t create a strong character willing to stand up on principle. How many pro athletes refused the jab or lock-downs even if privately they didn’t agree? We know the answer unfortunately.
So how do we aim physical training towards strengthening our characters? Aristotle again gives us the answer. It’s all about our intention, motivation, and conscious understanding of our actions.
"If we consider the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate principle; if this is the case, human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue." - Aristotle
Playing sports and physical training can enhance your character and allow you to live a life of principle but only if you play them in accordance to their nature and aim at it with our hearts.. So what is the nature of athletics and how do we aim correctly?
To uncover the nature of athletics we must return to their original source: Classical Greece. The famous poet Homer gives us a sense of the immense weight attached to athletic potential in his epic poem The Odyssey, “There is no greater glory that can befall a man that what he achieves with the speed of his feet or the strength of his hands” But why this greater glory?
Athletics were linked to spiritual practice and reverence for the gods. The most prestigious athletics festivals were known as ‘crown games,’ contests dedicated to the gods where contestants only won a natural crown of olive branch, no money. Why? Because through athletic training and competition an individual developed their character to the utmost of it’s potential and then bravely subjected that character to public scrutiny.
Above all the Ancient Greeks prized virtue, and they had one word for the ‘most excellent virtue’ arête. A word difficult to translate, sometimes directly as ‘virtue’ or ‘excellence’ itself, but essentially meaning, ‘the combination of body and mind to aim towards spiritual righteousness.’ What other activity could accomplish this better than sport?
The diligent training, wilful sacrificing, attainment of skill, pursuit with passion, submitting to the contest, winning with grace, losing with honour, bringing the best of oneself to the activity, and the sheer inspiration of watching athletic greatness positioned the athlete as a moral paragon of heroic endeavour in a culture famous for its heroic mythology.
No one can say it better than Socrates, and his ancient wisdom is precisely the modern tonic individuals who care about defending liberty need to take. Without a capable, fit, and strong body, we simply CANNOT be at our best in wit, mind, courage, and fortitude. It’s a long quote, but it reveals everything we need in the modern world to harvest from ancient physical culture:
“For in everything that men do the body is useful; and in all uses of the body it is of great importance to be in as high a state of physical efficiency as possible. Why, even in the process of thinking, in which the use of the body seems to be reduced to a minimum, it is matter of common knowledge that grave mistakes may often be traced to bad health. And because the body is in a bad condition, loss of memory, depression, discontent, insanity often assail the mind so violently as to drive whatever knowledge it contains clean out of it. But a sound and healthy body is a strong protection to a man, and at least there is no danger then of such a calamity happening to him through physical weakness: on the contrary, it is likely that his sound condition will serve to produce effects the opposite of those that arise from bad condition. And surely a man of sense would submit to anything to obtain the effects that are the opposite of those mentioned in my list.”
If the current political battle is a test of remaining true to ourselves during a disorienting flux, Socrates’ advice takes on even bigger relevance. Social media manipulates our emotions with rage bait, engagement farming, and downward spiral debates in the comments. Politicians and media capitalize on chaos to harness the fears and dreams of the confused for their own agendas. And all the while the people become poorer in material, spiritual, and physical health.
So how do you use the physical as a means of guarding your mental and spiritual fortitude in these chaotic times? It’s a topic I’ll be expanding on specifically in many upcoming articles, but here’s the basic outline of things you can start doing TODAY.
Rediscover the Joy of Motion
Aristotle teaches us that internal motivation is the key to unlocking the moral potential of any activity. When it comes to athletic training, that means playing a sport or training in a movement that you love. For most adults, we’re told that exercise is a means to an end, to become and stay fit. I want you to instead start from the premise that we aim at creativity, passion, joy, and love FIRST knowing that the physical and health benefits will follow.
Make a conscious connection between Body, Mind, and Spirit
Once we aim at the spirit first, we need to make explicit the implicit lessons physical training gives us. For example, the workouts we want to skip but manage to make teach us about resilience and determination. It’s an honest example of ‘not quitting when it’s easy’ that we can then transfer to other areas of our lives. The more we recognize this process, the easier it becomes to transfer it outside of the training arena.
Create communities anchored in physical challenge aimed at self-actualization
It’s not enough to go at it alone, you need a tribe, a group, a team to support and surround you. Environment dictates action. If you’re surrounded by people who try to suck you back away from your own progress, and into the mud with them, you aren’t going to be able to ascend and dictate the change you desire. But having a supportive community, online or in real life, can make all the difference in the world.
This is my opening salvo on how I believe people who care about the truth, individual dignity, and human flourishing can productively navigate the political chaos in front of us.
I’ve studied politics and history, I’ve engaged in protest and stood up on principle as a university prof, and I coach individuals in life and fitness.
Theory is nice, ideas are great, conversations are impactful, but ACTION dictates the future. And if we are to act as powerfully as possible, we need our bodies to match the fitness of our minds and spirits to stand up and have our voices heard.
Jordan B. Goldstein | The Athletic Philosopher
On X @JB_Goldstein
Former Prof | Fitness and Life Coach | Tribal Training Endurance and Mindset Coach | Family Man | Trail Runner | Podcaster | Teach Sport's Beauty | Dream BIG
Riley Gaines comes to mind.
Absolutely incredible Jordan