Husky H3 - Motivation – Honest Learners and Leaders who are self-motivated and self-directed
Imagine not eating for a day. Hungry. Now imagine not eating for 5 Days. This is exactly what I did 1 year ago. Seek Discomfort. This is the motto of the increasingly popular YouTube channel, YesTheory, The channel is made up of four highly motivated individuals who are on a mission to inspire the masses into doing something that they are not accustomed to. From things like running marathons to ice baths, and living like you only have a day left to live to exploring new countries with no money in your pocket, the members of this YouTube channel form the epitome of a self-motivated and self-directed individual, that pushes one to their limit. Self motivation is doing things with your own volition. Self direction is leading yourself to do new or unpopular things. In one of YesTheory's videos they did a 5 day fast. No food, and only drinking water. It clearly showed that the individual, Matt, was suffering through the pain of his body craving food. However he persevered and overcame his bodily temptations and went the full five days. What intrigues me though, was that he said that after four days, his body seemed to have adjusted to the lack of food, and that he felt productive, and frankly, not bad. By the time the fifth day had come around, Matt found himself enjoying the fast, and had developed a small distaste for food. After watching this video, I was hooked. I wanted to do this. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and lead myself into new experiences. I texted my friend Haru and we decided that we would go for 5 days without food, and be there for each other to motivate and check in on how each other was doing. Before starting the fast we researched up the effects of fasting, and acknowledged that if any bad symptoms arise, we would quit. We found that fasting also has some positive benefits, such as detoxing and elimination of fat reserves on the body through a process known as Autophagy. A week later, we embarked on a journey without food. Only water. On the first day, it was quite easy avoiding food, and I focused on doing other things, such as reading and studying to keep myself occupied. My family ate dinner without me, but the smell of the dinner did smell quite good. But I remained motivated to pursue my self directed goal of 5 days no food. On the second day, hunger set in. I was getting hungry and I could feel my body getting colder in the toes and the fingers. I got in bed and tried to warm myself up. I couldn't concentrate on studying anymore, and my mood was shot. Haru and I texted to each other how hungry we were, but then we visualized how nice it would be after 5 days to conquer and achieve our lofty goal. On the third day, I died. Inside me my stomach was empty, and I could feel the hunger literally take over. I was thinking about food all the time, I could not study at all and to make matters worse, this was the week of Christmas, and I had a Christmas party to attend. I stared longingly at the food but didn't eat. I had made a goal for myself, and I committed to pursue it. I went to bed hungry. On the fourth day I woke up and discovered something alarming. I was 4 days in, yet I had no hunger. The pain of the hunger I felt before had dissipated and through this I felt an increased motivation and desire to achieve my goal. Later in the day I went downtown, and I noticed how many food options there were in Sapporo, (so many, its ridiculous.) At this point I realized that eating three times a day is healthy, but not necessary. People were spending so much money on food, I started to wonder how much money was spent on unnecessary food around the world. I realized we were privileged people to be eating three meals a day. On the fifth and final day I felt amazing. I counted down the hours with Haru, down to the 120th hours of our fast. And on the final minute of the fast, we called and we ate food together. We ate the best grapes, apples and bread that I have ever tasted. I also finished a whole thing of hummus and cucumber. Together we reflected on our seemingly impossible journey, a five day fast. We were so proud of having conquered ourselves and felt that we had successfully been self motivated and self directed. This was an experience we would never forget. Above are pictures that I took to document my fast. It shows the food I ate after the five days, as well as pictures reflecting the mood I was in during the ordeal. Through this experience I learned the importance of choosing to do things we have never done before. These experiences are the ones we never forget. And to do this, we must persevere by being self motivated and self directed. No one is going to do that for you, as it has to be done by you. I was able to take away from this experience, a story that I can tell others and an experience in which I gained self confidence that I am in control of my own desires and actions. I would like to do this again sometime, but now I am focusing on other goals, such as working out. If I fast again that would mean a huge loss of muscle. This was a good experience, and now I am looking forward to accomplishing other goals in which I can conquer myself.
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Tadashi ShichidaSenior @ Hokkaido International School Archives
June 2020
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