There is a quote that I believe holds true:

"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times." - Michael G Hopf.

Now, let’s first assume that “men” applies to “mankind” as a whole.

While you may be going through hard times, or face challenges as we all do, we need to remember that in 2025, life is relatively easy to the circumstances in which we evolved:

• We don’t have to hunt for food

• We don’t have to worry about shelter from the elements (most of us)

• We aren’t worried about predators

• We are (locally) not worried about being attacked for our resources.

… the list goes on.

For all intents and purposes, we are living in good times.

I am of the personal belief that fulfillment in life comes from seeking out challenging things and overcoming them.  This is why I set goals for myself and always pursue opportunities to improve on things I suck at.

This was a major reason for my recent venture into shooting sports - I am not proficient, but through diligent practice, I can improve my skills and eventually become proficient.

I did the same thing with powerlifting - over 15 years I went from a young strength coach to one of the strongest people to ever walk on this planet.

Here is something that I don’t think gets spoken about enough - your goals don’t matter.

Yes, I said it - the goals themselves do not matter.

What matters is the journey you navigate in order to achieve them → The struggle you endure.

Manufactured hardship creates strong people.  

No, I’m not saying you need to be David Goggins and MF yourself out of bed every morning… in fact, quite the opposite because I think that guy is a loser (that’s perhaps another newsletter topic).  I believe that the hardships that we WILLINGLY engage in hold the power to elevate us as people, improve our fulfillment in life.

This is the mission of “Raising the Bar” that we hold at Master Athletic Performance.  We seek opportunities to endure hardship through nutrition and training interventions, yes to improve health and get super strong and jacked, but more so to seek to develop as people and be better versions of ourselves.

When times are good and life is easy, we see the same pitfalls all the time.  People resort to drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, insert any dopamine-seeking behaviour to distract and disconnect.

We don’t stand for this - we stand for struggle.  We stand for manufactured hardship.  We stand for the willingness to endure challenges to be the best versions of ourselves and connect with our lives more, not distract from them.

So, if you’re in a rut, remember that a good life is not easy and strength is only built through struggle.

You don’t need easy. You need a challenge. Let’s find the right one for you. Book a call with me or one of our coaches at www.masterathletic.com

Stay Strong,

Paul Oneid, MS. MS. CSCS

Founder and Head Coach