My health coach Chris wrote an essay about being a man who's hard to kill.
A man who's hard to kill is resilient, mentally tough, and can withstand adversity.
Looking across the animal kingdom, humans are easy to kill.
No thick skin like a rhinoceros, no sharp teeth like a shark.
But being hard to kill is an irresistible idea.
"Hard to Kill" was a movie starring Steven Seagal, and what man wouldn't want to be an action hero?
How does a regular guy become a man who's hard to kill?
In addition to fundamentals like Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual, I'll add three more categories:
Humans don't have thick skin or sharp teeth, but we have big brains.
Our big brains allow us to work with other humans, build superior technology, and multiply our efforts exponentially.
That's the power of communication and leadership.
Smooth-talking your way out of a sticky situation.
Listening, building rapport, knowing what makes people tick.
Being able to motivate, to persuade, to inspire.
In his book Humans are Underrated, Geoff Colvin argues that in the 21st century humans will prefer to receive empathy, leadership, and storytelling from other humans rather than computers.
These may be the most important skills in an age of AI.
If other people want to join you, that makes you hard to beat.
2) Privacy & Security (Hard to Find)
Strong, unique passwords—for everything.
Two-factor authentication on critical accounts like email and banking.
Full-disk encryption on your laptop.
Using end-to-end encrypted messaging instead of regular SMS text messages.
Getting as much information out of the cloud as possible.
Getting your personal information off the internet as much as possible.
Criminals, scammers, and hostile nation-states are looking for easy targets.
Locking down your privacy and security makes you hard to find.
3) Money & Options (Hard to Catch)
Investor and author Codie Sanchez put it this way in a recent interview: "If you have money, you're a lot harder to kill. You're a lot harder to push around."
Skills that are in-demand and allow you to work anywhere you can get a stable high-speed internet connection.
Multiple streams of income, not being dependent on any one customer or client.
Having a cabin in the mountains for when the shit hits the fan.
The apex of this category is having a passport portfolio with permanent residences and citizenships in multiple countries.
As Mindvalley founder Vishen Lakhiani would say, you're "unfuckwithable."
If you have zero savings and five figures of credit card debt, you're easy to kill.
Having money in the bank and options in your pocket makes you hard to catch.
Hard to Kill...and Ready to Die
There's a tension between being Hard to Kill and being Ready to Die.
As all professional athletes know, Father Time is undefeated.
Death is coming for all of us.
But that doesn't mean curling up in the fetal position and giving up without a fight.
This is what poet Dylan Thomas means when he says, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
I can be ready to die, but I don't have to make it easy for Death to take me out.
A man who's hard to kill is resilient, mentally tough, and can withstand adversity.
Looking across the animal kingdom, humans are easy to kill.
No thick skin like a rhinoceros, no sharp teeth like a shark.
But being hard to kill is an irresistible idea.
"Hard to Kill" was a movie starring Steven Seagal, and what man wouldn't want to be an action hero?
How does a regular guy become a man who's hard to kill?
In addition to fundamentals like Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual, I'll add three more categories:
- Communication & Leadership (Hard to Beat)
- Privacy & Security (Hard to Find)
- Money & Options (Hard to Catch)
Humans don't have thick skin or sharp teeth, but we have big brains.
Our big brains allow us to work with other humans, build superior technology, and multiply our efforts exponentially.
That's the power of communication and leadership.
Smooth-talking your way out of a sticky situation.
Listening, building rapport, knowing what makes people tick.
Being able to motivate, to persuade, to inspire.
In his book Humans are Underrated, Geoff Colvin argues that in the 21st century humans will prefer to receive empathy, leadership, and storytelling from other humans rather than computers.
These may be the most important skills in an age of AI.
If other people want to join you, that makes you hard to beat.
2) Privacy & Security (Hard to Find)
Strong, unique passwords—for everything.
Two-factor authentication on critical accounts like email and banking.
Full-disk encryption on your laptop.
Using end-to-end encrypted messaging instead of regular SMS text messages.
Getting as much information out of the cloud as possible.
Getting your personal information off the internet as much as possible.
Criminals, scammers, and hostile nation-states are looking for easy targets.
Locking down your privacy and security makes you hard to find.
3) Money & Options (Hard to Catch)
Investor and author Codie Sanchez put it this way in a recent interview: "If you have money, you're a lot harder to kill. You're a lot harder to push around."
Skills that are in-demand and allow you to work anywhere you can get a stable high-speed internet connection.
Multiple streams of income, not being dependent on any one customer or client.
Having a cabin in the mountains for when the shit hits the fan.
The apex of this category is having a passport portfolio with permanent residences and citizenships in multiple countries.
As Mindvalley founder Vishen Lakhiani would say, you're "unfuckwithable."
If you have zero savings and five figures of credit card debt, you're easy to kill.
Having money in the bank and options in your pocket makes you hard to catch.
Hard to Kill...and Ready to Die
There's a tension between being Hard to Kill and being Ready to Die.
As all professional athletes know, Father Time is undefeated.
Death is coming for all of us.
But that doesn't mean curling up in the fetal position and giving up without a fight.
This is what poet Dylan Thomas means when he says, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
I can be ready to die, but I don't have to make it easy for Death to take me out.
