As the year comes to a close, Iet’s reflect on the 65,000+ words written (that’s a book) in 52 newsletters in 2023.

Think of this as a guide to help you get on the “Harder To Kill Highway”.

To stick with this highway analogy, it doesn’t matter what speed you are going. Just get your car (that’s you) on the highway and you’ll start going with the flow of other Men over 50 who are leveling up every day.

The categories below (think of them as lanes on the highway) contain brief summaries of previous issues. Skim this issue and pick a lane that appeals to you.

Before we get started, let’s level set things.

What Does Harder To Kill mean?

Every issue is aimed at helping you with one or more of the bullets above.

First things first: there are no health benefits to being weak and fat. In fact, if you want to reduce your risk for all of the top 10 leading causes of death, start burning off body fat and building muscle (this is what we mean by improving body composition). For more details read issue #007 “The #1 Thing Making You Easier to Kill”. 

If you are sold on the idea of becoming Harder To Kill and can only read one issue, read #035 “Health Journey for Men Over 50: A Roadmap to Success”. This guide will help you anticipate obstacles, plan for setbacks, and set expectations so you can achieve your goal. If you want to avoid the yo-yo, start/stop/start cycle, this issue is critical to your success.

With this as background, let’s get started.

One Year Ago

One year ago on December 31, 2022 issue #014 was released. The title “Toss Your Resolutions, Focus On This Instead.” The focus of #014 was about tossing your resolutions and getting dialed in on designing standards in at least one area of your life for one month. 

As you move from default to designed standards your life improves and these standards become habits. Once a standard becomes a habit, you raise your standards. This is a foundational piece of Argent Alpha and the Men who followed this approach since we started in January 2022 have had dramatic transformations. Men who have standards which they follow daily perform better in all aspects of life.

Mindset

Because all change starts with the 12” between your ears, it’s no shocker that the majority of newsletters in 2023 had to do with Mindset.

For most Men, Mindset is highly correlated with who they spend time with.

Issue #018 “You Need Friends Who Expect More Of You” was inspired by this quote:

“You are the average of the top 5 people you spend the most time with.” –Jim Rohn

No matter where you are on the health continuum, you'll get better results by working with a group of like-minded Men focused on improving performance. 

Issue #020 touches on the idea of changing the stories we tell ourselves.

In “Why You Need To Think Of Yourself As An Athlete we cover why we don’t “work out”, but instead train because we are athletes. Athletes train with specific objectives in mind and measure their effort and results.

Most men over 50 no longer view themselves as athletes and that is a story that needs to change. If you meet any of the veterans of our community, you’ll notice they aren’t the guys sitting on the Lifecycle for 30 minutes pedaling with a cup of coffee and the sports page. They are training with a focus on improving mobility, strength, stability, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

Related to changing the stories we tell ourselves, issue #022 addresses limiting beliefs  in “The Chains of Limiting Beliefs - How To Turn Them Into Opportunities”. We use the pull-up as an example of how to overcome limiting beliefs. We’ve had Men over 50 enter our program not being able to hang from a bar and within a year they are doing pull-ups. When you take on a challenge and achieve it, you prove to yourself you are capable of so much more in life. The pull-up becomes a metaphor for any challenge in life.

One of the keys to shedding limiting beliefs is taking Extreme Ownership of your life. In issue #024 “Extreme Ownership: Reframe the Blame” we touch on concepts inspired by the work of Jocko Willink.

Extreme Ownership is the practice of owning everything in your world, to an extreme degree. It means you are responsible for not just those tasks which you directly control, but for all those that affect whether or not your mission is successful. 

Own everything, blame nothing. 

Once Men shed the excuses (travel, business, kids, office treats, cocktail parties, old injuries, etc.) and take full ownership of their lives, breakthroughs happen. We hear it all the time in our weekly Zoom meetings. Language patterns shift from “this happened to me” to Men owning their week and living their lives with intention.

In issue #028, a related topic “Personal Integrity - The Missing Ingredient?” lays out 5 Ways To Increase Your Personal Integrity. One of my favorites is “Make Promises To Yourself And Keep Them”. If you are a golfer, you’ll appreciate the opening story about Bobby Jones. For Men who have struggled with sticking to any kind of health, fitness or nutrition program, results improve once they improve personal integrity.

In issue #057, “Reinvention vs Retirement: A Paradigm Shift For The 2nd Half Of Life” we go deep on why reinvention trumps retirement and the role a growth mindset plays in approaching your non-workforce life.

Learning, Planning and Reflecting

One of the themes you’ll hear regularly within Argent Alpha is “knowing and not doing is not knowing.” We spend a lot of time on execution because that is where results happen.

But execution without learning, planning and reflecting is short sighted and often misguided.

In issue #030, "Think Like a CEO for Better Health: Applying Business Frameworks to Your Life” we share how we apply the principles of a popular business operating system to our personal lives to achieve amazing results. 

The importance of lifelong learning is addressed in “Lifelong Learning and Longevity - It's A Thing”. Issue #064 outlines 8 reasons Men over 50 should be lifelong learners and shares some of the resources and methods we use to learn within Argent Alpha.

“Beyond the Checklist: Why Men 50+ Should Focus on Life Vision” delivers a practical guide for creating a vision for your life and how goals serve as milestones along the path to your vision, offering you clarity and direction.

Regular reflection is part of our daily routines (covered in issue #047 “Bookending - 10 Minutes To Move From Chaos to Control”) but we also recommend a deeper dive into reflection in “Disconnect to Reconnect: Your Ultimate Solo Retreat Guide” - issue #056. I took a solo retreat to the White Mountains in Arizona last month and followed our guide with great results. If you feel like you can’t get away for a weekend, that’s a key indicator that you need a solo retreat.

One of my favorite issues to write was issue #065 “How To Make 2024 Your Best Year Ever.” Going into 2024 with a month by month plan is empowering and exciting. We lay out 3 approaches to planning you can stack to create a powerful plan for 2024.

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable was a regular theme in 2023. 

In issue #017, “The Path of Least Resistance Is Shortening Your Life” we entered the realm of “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter and examined how taking the path of least resistance makes you easier to kill. Once you start choosing to do hard things, strength, resilience and grit all improve. 

Issue #049 Hormesis, “Roughriders and Discomfort: Why You Need To Do Hard Things To Grow” explains the concept of hormesis and the benefits of doing hard things. 

“Embracing "The Flinch": A Guide to Reinvention in Your 50s, 60s, and Beyond” tackles the natural inclination to avoid risk as the years go by. The instinct to protect ourselves from discomfort is also causing a decline in health. We lay out steps you can take to stop flinching and start growing.

In issue #052, I share 4 lessons I learned from publishing 52 newsletters in a row. Read the issue for the details, but here is a summary of the lessons learned (which you can apply to your life):

Harder To Kill Lesson #1: Getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things is good for you, no matter your age.

Harder To Kill Lesson #2: You are ready. Stop listening to the voices in your head and get started. You’ll figure it out as you go.

Harder To Kill Lesson #3: Focus on consistently making small, positive changes and you’ll achieve dramatic results over time.

Harder To Kill Lesson #4: Moving from a default identity to a designed identity transforms your future which in turn improves your present.

Nutrition

In issue #041 “Sweet Poison: Unveiling the Hidden Dangers of Sugar in Your Diet” I interviewed Suzette and Clint Murray (Clint is an Argent Alpha member and coach) about the dangers of excessive sugar, insulin resistance and the health risks of eating ultra processed foods.

“Food For Fuel: Sustainable Guidelines for Men Over 50” covered the Argent Alpha POV on nutrition and best practices for healthy eating.

Call To Action

Thank you for being a reader of Harder To Kill.

I have two requests for you:

Take action. I write every newsletter with the intention of making the topic actionable. 

This is your invitation to take action. Don’t wait until tomorrow or January 1. Do something today.

Make 2024 special. There is going to be a lot of noise next year, none of which any of us can control. But we can control where we invest our time, attention and resources. 

Share this newsletter with someone who needs it. Do you know a Man over 50? Share this newsletter with them and invite them to take action on their health.

Thank you for your support in 2023 and I look forward to hearing about your success in 2024!

We are accepting applications through December 31, 2023 and will reopen them sometime in the first quarter 2024. If you want to close the year on a strong note and go into 2024 with momentum, join over 50 Men over 50 and go to Argent Alpha and apply today.