Welcome to this week’s issue of The Adventure Capitalist! Every Thursday, you’ll receive a jolt of inspiration to live a bigger more adventurous life.

Here’s what you can expect this week:

• Why you should tap into the power of hard

• A modern-day Tarzan is our savage of the week

• An assortment of links that will get your blood flowing

Let’s go.

The Power of Hard

Last summer, my friend Anthony Gustin mentioned something intriguing to me. He had run a marathon a few days prior, without any training.

When I asked him why he did it, he told me he felt he was becoming soft and needed to test himself.

Anthony didn't tell anyone he was going to do it, not even his wife. It wasn't until the packs of the carb goo he was going to eat started showing up to their house that she learned about it.

On a scorching day in Central Texas, he rose early, parked his truck by the river in Austin, and began his challenge. He trudged in suffocating heat back and forth between his truck and and some arbitrary marker he'd set on the trail for 26.2 miles just to prove to himself he could.

I asked him how it went and he replied, "It was wonderful, I live for the pain."

Anthony's a sicko and I love him for it. He's also one of the most successful people I know so when he tells me something I take note.

As he told me the story I couldn't help but begin fantasizing about my own challenge. Life was changing rapidly for me, especially with a three-month-old son. It was time for my own personal test.

So last September, I made a decision – to hike a 3-day backpacking circuit in one day.

The night before, I ventured deep into the woods of the Olympic National Forest, and camped. The next morning, with instant coffee in hand, I strapped on my headlamp and hit the trail before daybreak.

I was confident my body could get it done but nervous I'd take a wrong turn and end up sleeping out there. Over the course of the day, I hiked and ran, covering 22 miles and scaling well over a mile of elevation gain.

Plenty of people run this amount all the time, but it was well out of my comfort zone and it pushed me to my limits. It was also not without adversity.

My camel back leaked and I ran out of water about halfway through the hike like an idiot. Thankfully, I met a legend of a man on the trail who let me use his water filter to pump a full bag out of one of the alpine lakes.

Then came a heart-pounding standoff with a bear that popped up from a blackberry bush about 15 feet in front of me. I'm not sure who was more nervous, him or I, but after about 20 seconds of looking at each other we both slunk away.

During the final six miles, my determination surged, and I kicked up my pace to a full-on run, emptying my tank both physically and mentally.

As I hit peak exhaustion and my body was breaking down a strange thing happened – I found my heart was filled with gratitude. Gratitude for my family, for my work, for my body, and this incredible life I live.

As I sat alone on the trunk of my car, sipping on a cold beer, a profound sense of release washed over me. I returned home inspired and proud of myself.

It reminded me when you make room for the hard in your life, it opens up things in a way you won't expect.

Deep within you lies an untapped reservoir of strength, and your life only gets easier when you do hard things.

Keep pushing the boundaries and embracing the power of the hard.

Onward,

Austin

The Weekly Savage:

This week’s savage is the one and only Jon Brown. I know very little about Jon except that he builds the most insane obstacle courses I’ve ever seen just for the pleasure of it.

You can watch it here.

Jon isn’t training for anything in particular he just loves what he does. In my mind this is the most impressive type of savagery. He’s just a man who loves to do crazy shit in his backyard that would kill most people.

Hats off to you Jon, you are an absolute savage.

The Lifestyle:

🌎 Global Adventure:

“Get rich and get off the grid”…turns out you don’t have to be that rich (link)

Need an inspiring book? Here are the top 10 adventure books I’ve read (link)

💰Wealth, Business, and Life

Almost anyone can burn bright for a few days. But few can burn bright for years. Here are secrets to sustainable excellence (link)

Scraping by on $500K per year: Why it’s so hard to escape the “rat race” (link)

🚁 The Best of the Best

I love grilling over an open flame, but it’s a pain in the ass to travel with a grill. This is the most badass portable charcoal grill I’ve ever seen in my life (link)

I received this manual coffee grinder as a gift for Christmas. It fits in my bag and I can make a mean pour over anywhere (link)