Adapting to Constraints, Taking Control, and Achieving Escape Velocity For Success

11km/s. That is the speed required to break through Earth’s atmosphere. It is known as escape velocity and for many of us, it serves as the threshold for success. While we all come from different backgrounds, we all share the potential of learning how to adapt to the constraints of our environments. The process can be easier for some and harder for others, but sometimes, when the going gets tough, people rise to the occasion and reach escape velocity. In today’s episode, I discuss the importance of mastering one’s environment, exercising daily adaptation, and building the framework to push past adversity.

Adapt to thrive, win to survive, and defeat adversity.

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Transcript

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” – Walt Disney

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How’s it everyone, my name is Mike Cabuco, and welcome to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast, your creative space for amplifying greatness through gratitude.

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 So get this. I encountered the silliest thing at work today and no, it wasn't a fancy squirrel wearing a winter scarf, a Boston scally cap, and pair of bright shiny red mittens. Woah! That came out of nowhere! But we have this cafeteria at work. The cool kids call it le cafe and it's stocked to the brim with snacks, drinks, and hot meals ready to go. And typically, I use the cafeteria as my emergency caloric stockroom. If, for whatever reason, I'm really struggling with my energy levels, I'll make the trek, the arduous journey from my office to the cafe and hopefully expect something different. Something opposite of a paradise of overpriced goods galore.

The cafe might as well be lit up with neon signs and laced with 24K gold because everything they sell seems like it brushed up against Midas and got bedazzled with gold. Coffee is overpriced. Soft drinks are overpriced. And get this. For an excellent price of $4.50, you can purchase a small cup of 60 calories of mixed fruits. Seriously? Are you freaking kidding me? I could buy 4 tubs of strawberries for $4.50 at my local grocery store! Now that’s a bunch of…

 Anyways, there's more. The cafe markets itself as this healthy executive order, but I bet you a million dollars that even First Lady Michelle Obama would disapprove of this cafe's initiative. 80% of the cafe's inventory is made up of sweets and snack bags and then there's this one little tiny selection of protein bars and some pistachios if you're lucky. And I'm not afraid to say it, but the cafe is literally a scam! But, as much as I whine and complain about it, I’ve fell for it on numerous occasions. And then, right after I leave the café, buyer’s remorse sneaks up on me and I start to question my actions.

"Well Mike. What do you expect? This cafe is pretty much a 5-minute walk from your desk and you don't have to drive to the closest grocery store, waste a bit of gas, and lose your prime parking space." Yea, yea, yea! I hear you Mr. internal dialogue. You're right, and, okay, I should just deal with this first-world problem. But, why does it have to be that way?

 It’s just business.

Ugh. I never liked that saying. It just makes the whole transaction feel so unethical and increasingly impersonal. It' just business. It's just work. It's just a thing that people do because they know that they can play a better game than you. And that's the thing. It turns into a game and in the end, only one person rises above and the other one trips on a banana and faceplants hard on the ground. Yet, intertwined between the threads of conflict, just like any game, rules still do exist even if it looks like one side has the inevitable advantage.

However, before I get carried away, I really should stop grumbling, protesting, because let’s be honest people. I'm the one who moseyed my way down to cafeteria in the first place and put myself in that position. I’m the one who invited the temptation and fed into my cravings. I’m the one who didn’t prepare well enough to counter-attack my natural tendencies of being a “normal” human being. And really, I can’t blame the business for being good at making a profit and mastering the art of marketing. However, it may not seem that obvious, but we do have control over the situation and if we can tap into that mindset, my dear friends, you’ll unlock a superpower that many wish they had.

So donuts. I love them all. I play no favorites. Glazed, sugar-coated, Persian glazed, bear claws, donut holes, you name it, but my ultimate favorite donut is the iconic maple bar. There’s just something so elegant as a finely done maple bar especially when their baked right. Like soft puffy texture paired with a nice even glaze of maple frosting. Man, that’s heaven baby! And I love maple bars so much that I even roughly memorized the macros just so I can fit them into my weekend bulk diet. 379 calories of epicness spread across 20g of fat, 43g of carbs, and 5g of protein. But when it comes time to decide to take a big bite out of that maple bar and put it into my belly, I experience controlled chaos. I get to make that decision. And I determine if that maple bar is worth it in the moment. And yes, there are days where I love my treats and it does give me a mood booster, but then there are also days when I need to go work and stay focused on my nutrition. In the end, it’s all about the experience and making sure you get what you need without compromise.

So, whether it’s overpriced fruit bowls or elegant maple bars, our environments play a great role in personal growth. They can make us or break us and, in a way, it modifies our ability to control the situation that we are in. However, once we acknowledge our environments and accept our constraints, then we allow ourselves to better utilize our energy for strengthening our internal systems for adaptation.

Now all this talk of environments and growth remind of a great podcast episode I listened to recently. So, the crew at 3DMJ had a pretty solid Q&A episode and one of the listeners asked about body re-composition, which is the process of losing fat while gaining muscle. Eric Helms posed a great point, that while body re-comp can be done, it really isn’t the best environment for expediting muscle growth.

So in order for muscle growth to occur, the body must be in an environment viable for growth. And it’s easier to talk about muscle growth when we observe what happens to our bodies when we cut weight and place ourselves in a low calorie/low energy state.

The caloric restrictions that cause fat loss biases our system into tapping into our body fat reserves. However, by doing so, we also effectively tamper with homeostasis and that causes a number of side effects. Your hormones, which function as your body’s chemical messengers, tend to run sluggish which in turn affects your sleep, performance, and behavior. And then, fatigue starts to creep in followed by bouts of being a bit moody and then you find yourself 8 weeks into a weight cut hoping the madness would end. I’m kidding, it ain’t that bad, but it definitely shakes up the body’s definition of work life balance.

So, to ask your body to lose fat and build muscle during a cut is a huge favor. It’s like running a company and asking your employees to work on the weekends on top of working overtime throughout the week. Don’t expect a happy set of employees and most importantly don’t expect to see any sort of jaw dropping fantastic results. It’s just too much to ask for.

In contrast, when you place your body in a high caloric state, you’re making the job of muscle growth much more predictable. When we introduce calories slightly over maintenance, we are supplying the body enough fuel to get the job done and more. The extra calories reset our chemical imbalances and allows us to perform optimally. You start getting better sleep, better social interactions, and you begin to notice your physical and emotional performance improve by tenfold.

Now, I can attest to that because as you all know, 2 weeks ago I finally started my lean bulk diet and I’m feeling pretty good. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good and all it took was eating at maintenance plus calories. My training is going up, my progress is progressing, and as my friends would say, “Mike’s got a little bit more pep in his step.” And it all brings it back to the idea that environment affects the rate of growth, overall happiness, and personal fulfillment.

I’m lucky. I had a very good upbringing. I went to schools that helped me become a better person. And I’m fortunate that the only problems that I had to deal with were mainly first-world problems. However, not everyone is lucky as I am. Some people have to deal with the darker aspects of life. Some people just don’t have it good, and their environment impedes their growth. And it makes me wonder. If our environment doesn’t serve our greater purpose, then is it even possible to visualize success?

11km per second. That’s the amount of velocity needed to escape our planet’s gravity which is also known as escape velocity. I like to think that we all have our own interpretation of escape velocity. For some, escape velocity is just managing to get out of bed and start living. For others, escape velocity can resemble a mini goal that leads into a much larger goal. For me, escape velocity is about mastering your environment to achieve your ultimate vision.

And recently, I’ve been applying that concept to my training. So, leg day. It ain’t everyone’s favorite cup of tea, but for me, I look forward to that one day. That one day where I can squat 225 lbs. That’s two 45 plates on each side of a 45 lb barbell. Now, I’m not there yet. But there’s two way to go about it. The brute force method involves loading the bar with your target goal and praying that everything will be A ok. Yea. Don’t do that. That’s the quickest way to get yourself hurt. The better way is to progressively add weight over time until you hit your target goal. You make a plan, you execute it, and then you hit escape velocity.

But what if escape velocity seems impossible? I mean, what if someone is in a position where life is like seriously pegging them with lemons every single minute. I mean seriously chucking lemons at them at the speed of an MLB pitcher. Or when someone is down on their luck, lives paycheck to paycheck, and struggles to find time for personal improvement. When life is really not working one’s favor, is it even possible to dream of a better life?

Years ago, I made friends with a janitor at work. Hold up, I know it sounds strange, but I’m a friendly guy and I’ll talk to anybody. I also have the utmost respect for people who make a living cleaning up after other’s people’s mess. But anyways, my friend the janitor always had an upbeat attitude and looked like he really enjoyed his job. And one day, I gave him props about his positive attitude and then he told me a story that I did not see coming.

A decade ago, he and his brother entered the US, let’s say it, illegally. They crossed the border from Mexico into the United States. But he came from a place that wasn’t viable to live in anymore. He came from a place ruled by violence and those who had money could make the rules. If he stayed any longer, he was afraid that he and his brother would be forced into living a life that they could not be proud of. So, they both made the decision to take the risk and make the journey into the United States. And at one point, they had to cross a river so deep that the water line kissed the tips of their chins. And there were times, when they had to submerge their heads into the water to hide from the border patrol spotlights. And their arduous journey wouldn’t end once they made it into the US. They would encounter many more obstacles until they could finally say that they finally reached escape velocity.  

He risked it all, but he played the game to the best of his abilities. He knew what he needed to do for the sake of his family and despite the legal risk and the hardships, he still took that chance. I have no right to judge him for making the most of his circumstance. But when I heard his story, it made me realize that there’s no excuse for delaying our deepest desires.

So, as I record this podcast episode, I’m looking at all these post-it notes that decorate the bottom of my computer screen. They’re all sayings, love notes, love notes for life, and goals that I want to eventually accomplish. Every time I get to work, I first look at that row of post-it notes and reinforce my vision. I remind myself of my purpose and why I put in the work that others aren’t willing to do. It reminds me that I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m willing do what’s necessary to turn those dreams into a reality.

So if you have a vision, I encourage you to not hold back, but rather identify the constraints and learn to leverage your current situation. We all share the potential to get one step closer to our vision through incremental changes. Want to get better at your sport? Practice one skill that makes you better. Want to get better at your job? Practice one task that makes you better. Want to break a bad habit? Practice alternative habits that make you better. And lastly, want to improve your environment? Surround yourself with people that are better than you, that inspire you, that elevate you, and build success by drawing knowledge and experience from them. Personal growth and success are built upon the foundation of others. Build the framework and do the best with what you got.

So, the next time you find yourself in the trenches of environmental constraints, welcome the difficulty because this time around, you’ve got the superpower to break through 11km per second of escape velocity.

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Thanks, y’all for tuning in to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast. I look forward to continuing this conversation of awareness and amplifying greatness through gratitude. If you’re enjoying the Love Notes for Life podcast, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, and other major podcast platforms. The Love Notes for Life apparel and book is now available at lovenotesforlife.com. For the latest updates be sure to track the mindset by following me @mikecabuco on Instagram or Twitter.

Thanks, y’all for the support and always remember, “There is beauty in knowing that there is only one of you.” Take care.