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#44 - Night Ops: Navigating by the Compass of Discomfort
29 Plays5 days ago
At 4:00 a.m., under the green glow of a headlamp, I took the road most people avoid—straight into the dark. In this episode, I break down why “night operations” sharpen your edge, how the Compass of Discomfort always points to the work you’re dodging, and why discipline isn’t a mood—it’s a mission. We’ll talk training in total darkness, choosing friction on purpose, and building the kind of internal GPS that drags you toward hard things until they feel normal. Listen in, then set your alarm early, step into the cold, and move. The dark is where standards are forged.
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Transcript
Introduction and Recap
00:00:21
Speaker
What's up everybody, welcome back to Mindset Mutiny. I am your host, Mike Ivanov. So if you're just catching up, last week we talked a lot about macronutrients, kind of where I'm going, how I've been recovering.
00:00:37
Speaker
I touched on quickly that I had been on a pretty awesome run that I wanted to share with you, but I just didn't want to share it right then. so I want to share it today. And listen, I will do it pretty quick. I don't want you to if you don't like running, to click off the episode. So I'll run through it quick, but then we're going to talk a little bit about discomfort and discipline.
00:01:00
Speaker
um I'll give you kind of my my thoughts on it. um There's a quote that I'll share with you as well. But so let's get
Inspiration for an Early Morning Run
00:01:07
Speaker
started. So last Sunday, i woke up at 3.30 in the morning.
00:01:14
Speaker
Got over to the local trails at 4 a.m. I had foot on trail at 4 a.m. and it was in complete darkness. So that had come as an idea for me in the middle of the day.
00:01:28
Speaker
was coming back from the coffee shop. I've been journaling and I passed by this farm that I typically run at, obviously, during the daytime. And I was like, man, you know what? Like, be fun to take it up a notch and and kind of go run in total darkness.
00:01:44
Speaker
So as soon as those types of thoughts come in my mind, I have to kind of act on them.
Experiencing the Darkness
00:01:50
Speaker
Um, and I touched on this last time, but you know, right as I'm trying to get ready to go to bed, that bitch voice is coming on telling me to not do it and, uh, take it easy. No big deal. You don't have to wake up that early, do it later on.
00:02:05
Speaker
But, um, You know, that's just like temporary. I really wanted to do I thought it'd be a fun experience. So set the alarm, got up, 3.30 in the morning, headed over there, step out on the trail, and it's beautiful.
00:02:18
Speaker
It's quiet. All you can hear is the birds or the... crickets and and just nature. i don't know exactly what was like chirping away, but it was definitely loud and I was definitely super alone and there was nothing but moonlight there to kind of light the path. So I brought a headlamp with me.
00:02:40
Speaker
Amongst some water and and some things to eat I knew I was gonna put in at least five miles so I've been practicing eating and running because that's gonna be required for the 20 miler so I've been kind of practicing my carb intake calorie and sodium intake while I'm moving.
00:02:57
Speaker
So it was just kind of a, an exercise I was going to run through. So took the headlamp and I threw it on, I have like a green, it's like a green light, like kind of ah a light you see used in the military, um, or like in low light environments. Uh, it doesn't dilate your pupils as much as other types of light that will be used at night.
Journey through the Farm and Woods
00:03:16
Speaker
And also, don't want to say unbeknownst to me, but, um,
00:03:23
Speaker
Trails don't really open up until sunrise and I was at least an hour and a half before sunrise so i figured I'd keep the impact low just run under the green light so I'm not easily spotted out there you know running through the field with the with the white light going and I knew once I hit the woods you wouldn't be able to really see me because there's absolutely zero light and visibility in there at that point.
00:03:46
Speaker
um So I have to run down through a working farm through like, it's like a tractor road. You it's kind of beat up gravel. So I was running down through there and ended up scaring some of the pigs.
00:03:58
Speaker
I was actually terrified because I was coming like literally three minutes into my run and I start hearing all this like galloping or and scaring. Kind of snorting and you know, i didn't know it was pigs at the time, but I jumped the mile i Able to collect myself real quick look over and see that you know the pigs were running away I scared the shit out of them just like they scared me. So I was like great way to start Start the day with quite an adrenaline rush So I just kept kind of chugging away, made my way through the prairie, came into the woods.
00:04:29
Speaker
And as I enter the woods, you you go up against this rock wall that separates you from this beautiful prairie. um And it's the rock wall, and then it's the like deep woods. So kind of chugged through that path up that way. I had to turn the white light on for a minute or two because I could barely see. And it's heavily rooted section, and I didn't want to fall.
00:04:51
Speaker
um for obvious reasons so so made a corner at the end and headed down towards like there's some wetlands had to cross over like some wetlands in a prairie area and um i kind of just took a minute to stop and turn my light off um and it was complete darkness All you could see
Crossing the Prairie and Facing Fear
00:05:10
Speaker
was the stars. I couldn't see like the hand in front of my face.
00:05:13
Speaker
It was pretty cool. It was also a little terrifying. I could feel, actually, it's kind of interesting to mention, I could feel my nervous system was a little bit of like a little bit elevated. it was kind of telling me like, hey, dude, like we're out here. We haven't been out here before.
00:05:27
Speaker
you know, pay attention. just Just be alert. And I've been in the woods a bunch of times in my life. You know, done all the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, done a lot of backpacking with my family as a kid and you where you'd be hanging your food in the woods so the bears don't get it. And then like, you know, you come out of the tent, and you make sure to clap your hands to scare anything away when you, if you gotta go and go the bathroom or when you first wake up in the morning.
00:05:47
Speaker
So i was just, was just alert, right? And it was weird because I could try, so I turned my light back on the green light and you know, I'm sweating, but I can see my breath, but it didn't feel like cold enough to see my breath.
00:06:01
Speaker
it was just interesting. There was some moisture building up on the grass. I could feel that as I was running through kind of the single track. There's some real nice single track trails there that I really enjoy. So I come up through there and make a right into this like wide open prairie. So the woods kind of breaks and there's like a prairie that's like literally probably two football fields wide and probably a football field long.
00:06:24
Speaker
And it just looked like, i don't want to say it looked like an ambush, but it just looked like, you know, something's hiding out there, right? I'm not alone. I've been hearing coyotes like howling the entire time, you know, which didn't really bother me. I just feel like they weren't going to be a problem for me.
00:06:39
Speaker
So I run through the prairie area, i start to clap. right So I'm clapping and I look to my right and my green light lights up. One, two, three sets of eyes all kind of spaced out looking at me.
00:06:53
Speaker
And they all were kind of locked still staring. Probably didn't know what that was. Probably smelled me but didn't like the light probably confused them. Then I looked over to my left and there were two more sets of eyes and I was like what the fuck man.
00:07:05
Speaker
So i just kind of slowly proceeded past and continued my run. But I'll tell you, that was a little startling, you know, especially kind of after the fact that when I was in the situation, I was kind of like, yeah I don't know, probably just some animals. But, you know, theyre the eyes were in the front of their heads. You know, I didn't think it was deer. It didn't seem, they seemed a little bit, you know, like they seemed like it was like waist height, little bit higher than waist height were the eyes.
00:07:30
Speaker
um which seemed kind of too low to be a deer and obviously like not tall enough. um Like a rabbit's going to be way down low and you wouldn't even see that. So let's say about waist height. I'm not sure what it was. I've talked to a couple of people about it. Maybe coyote, maybe something like that.
00:07:47
Speaker
Who knows? But I didn't really grasp the... don't grasp it at the moment, but it was kind of cool. little scary at the same time. I kind of kept on kept on running running, chugging away and hit up some more trails through there and then hit an access road on the, through like, it's kind of like a dirt road. There's like maybe one or two houses on it, no street lights.
00:08:09
Speaker
So I hit that road for a couple miles, headed back around the kind of the perimeter of the property.
Reflections on Solitude and Perspective
00:08:16
Speaker
I ended up chalking up like seven miles. I think it was like three to four on the trail and then um and then on some roads on the way back. But i didn't see a soul. I didn't see anybody.
00:08:26
Speaker
Got seven miles in before the sunrise even really started. But it was really, whole point is like just how it feels, you know, to be out there alone. I think that's something that everybody should experience. And people are like, wow you know why would you go do that? Why would you waste your Sunday to wake up and do that?
00:08:41
Speaker
I don't know, because I just wanted to feel a little bit different. You know, i just wanted a different environment. Like when you're running, ah like taking a different route. It's like the brain enjoys it more and then, okay, well, let's make it harder, you know, so let's go do it at night and and see what that feels like.
00:08:56
Speaker
But I just felt really alive and I felt really alone and I felt like the world is a much bigger place than we all think it is, right? We all think we're, have this self-centeredness about us, like the world revolves around us. But when you're out there in the woods in the middle of the dark,
00:09:11
Speaker
you realize how small you are. um and ah And it's kind of a good feeling. I kind of like it. And it's also kind of something that people should think about, like how small we are in the grand scheme of things, but yet we're all like worried about what people will think about us if we put ourselves out there. So realize how big the world is and how most people don't even really care to even think about what you're doing, but we create this thing in our heads that we think people are watching and judging and, you know, whatever.
00:09:38
Speaker
So that's just a takeaway for me, but amazing run. i had a great time, happened to catch the sunrise right as I was getting back to my car. Beautiful fog coming up over the field with the sun lighting it up.
00:09:50
Speaker
um It was really special. So also what's really great about it is when you wake up at 3.30 and you're running at 4, you know When you're in the middle of the week and you got to wake up at 5 and start running it you know by 5.15, it seems like you slept in.
00:10:06
Speaker
So it's kind of like how I dimension it like in my mind. So it's like, oh man, really don't want to wake up this early, but
Challenge to Embrace Solitude
00:10:12
Speaker
it'll make it feel easier during the week. So I had a nice run this week um as well, 5.30, clocked another seven miles, got to see the sun come up.
00:10:22
Speaker
I think it's just really powerful. And I would challenge all you to get out there and just... Like go for a walk at night, you know with a light and like go for a longer walk not like 50 yards up the street and turn around like Put on a couple miles and just be out there in silence alone obviously if you could use a sidewalk use a sidewalk like You know, be smart about it, but I'm just feel like it's something that most of us don't get to experience or wake up super early in the morning before you go to work and just go for, you know, a two mile walk.
00:10:52
Speaker
There's something really calming about it and really kind of liberating um and nobody else is up. So like for me, when I'm running down the street at five o'clock in the morning and nobody's up. It's empowering for me.
00:11:03
Speaker
You know, I feel feel like, hey, listen, I'm the 1%. I'm out here getting it when everybody else is in bed. um It's a level of discipline, you know, that i that I carry that, you know, when I put these things out there that I'm going to do, it's kind of the law to myself, right? And that's how you build that confidence. People are always like, oh, how yeah you know, I want more confidence, blah, blah, blah. It's like, yeah, building more confidence is about keeping the promises you made to yourself.
00:11:28
Speaker
And those promises kind of become like the law of how you live. And that's what kind of shuts that doubt down that most people have pop up that creates that lack of confidence. So, you know make a promise to yourself. You're going get out in the morning and you're going to walk before the sunrise comes up.
00:11:44
Speaker
and you're going to do it for a week. And I think that if you actually go and do it, and I know there'll be a lot of people that don't even care to do it, and some will try to and make an excuse just why they can't, then maybe one or two will.
00:11:57
Speaker
And for those one or two people that do, um your perspective on everything changes. And I know it sounds so simple. Mike, how's a a walk before anybody wakes up? going to change my perspective. Well, the proof is you going to do it So just go do it and I think you'll realize everything I'm telling you um is exactly right.
00:12:17
Speaker
So anyway, I had a good run this week as well, not just on Sunday, I had it had another good one um on Wednesday, which is great, but I was able to get my fueling down. i was able to hit my targets for my calorie intake, my sodium and my carbs, including my water intake. So for about an hour 11 minute run, was about seven miles, I was able to get 18 ounces of water 410 calories, grams of sodium and carbs.
00:12:46
Speaker
That came in the form of G1M Sport. It's a scoop of carbohydrate mix for my drink. That's a BPN product. BPN Go Gel, Honey Stinger Waffle, Rice Krispie Treat, and um a scoop of electrolytes from BPN. Now, the only problem with that is that if I'm going to repeat that process for five hours,
00:13:06
Speaker
I'm gonna need to do it with some real food so some not to start considering some bananas some English muffins with peanut butter on them some different things to try to fuel the body that won't cause the stomach to flip on me but But anyway, just excited.
00:13:21
Speaker
Great week. um Macros are locked in as well. Get my protein number like I need to, and I can see the body starting to change a little bit. So that's ah some great news.
00:13:32
Speaker
But I came across just like a, not a quote, but it was like kind of a little dissertation um that, know, it's from a UFC guy, uh, Khabib, which most of you, if you watch UFC, probably know, uh, I
Khabib's Message on Discipline
00:13:48
Speaker
don't watch a lot of UFC. I'm just, um, I know a few guys that have fought in the UFC, um, that I met throughout my jujitsu journey, which is really kind of cool.
00:13:58
Speaker
Um, they're special people, um, with great determination and a great love for what they do. Um, So, you know, this kind of dissertation that this guy put together carries some weight because these people that do with this are high-performance individuals, fearless, um and extremely, extremely dedicated and disciplined. So you'll know Khabib from UFC 229 where he beat Conor McGregor by submission.
00:14:25
Speaker
So that's how most of you will know him. um So this is how he kind of starts off. And... It's in a little bit of broken English, but I'm going read it exactly how he said it because it's powerful and resonated me and hopefully it'll resonate with you.
00:14:40
Speaker
So here we go.
00:14:44
Speaker
Every man addicted to something. Some smoke, some drink, some chase girls, some waste time. But real man, he addicted to discipline, to early wakes, to prayer, to training, to silence.
00:15:00
Speaker
Discipline, no need motivation. Discipline, move without feeling. Discipline, say I go anyway, even when tired, even when lonely.
00:15:11
Speaker
Discipline is best addiction. You want strong life? Discipline, build it. You want peace? Discipline, protect it. You want respect, discipline, earn it.
00:15:24
Speaker
No shortcut, only work. Be man with control, not man with excuse. No cry, no blame. You want better life, start with better habits.
00:15:35
Speaker
Discipline every day until discipline become you.
00:15:42
Speaker
I love that. I wrote in my journal because that's a message I'd like to continue to carry and to continue to review.
00:15:52
Speaker
And, you know, i'm not a UFC fighter by any stretch of the imagination, but early waking, training, silence. All that stuff resonates with me. It's ah very similar to my journey.
00:16:07
Speaker
I ah want a better life. I used to dream of a better life and look at other people and say, oh, why not me or must be nice. But then I decided why don't I enforce some discipline and build a better life?
00:16:20
Speaker
And I did.
00:16:23
Speaker
There's no shortcut to anything in life, okay? Only work. It's about the truest thing out there. The more people look for a shortcut, the further off they get from the path and the further away from their goals that they are.
00:16:42
Speaker
When he says no cry, no blame.
00:16:47
Speaker
It's very powerful um for me.
00:16:53
Speaker
The crying and the blaming is just a distraction is a waste of energy.
00:16:59
Speaker
You need to understand that if you can enforce a level of discipline on yourself and on your life, everything becomes so much clearer. All the distraction burns away.
00:17:11
Speaker
All the excuses disappear. Because what you realize is that there's nobody out there that's going to come help you or save you. It's up to you.
00:17:23
Speaker
But what's so great about it is you know what you have to do. It's just doing it daily and consistently, which is where that level of discipline comes in.
00:17:36
Speaker
Most of you that have been listening to podcast know that I have been on a journey myself, had a really bad mental health problem at one point in time my life.
00:17:48
Speaker
And also really kind of boiled down to is I was living a life that wasn't disciplined, was living a life of trying to find comfort around every corner.
Transformation through Discipline
00:17:58
Speaker
I was living a life just of emptiness of drinking alcohol and trying to numb my pain and my insecurities.
00:18:08
Speaker
And then i started finding a little bit of discipline. And the first thing and people hear me talk about this all the time. The first thing I started doing was drinking a gallon of water every single day. And now it's turned into running at 330 in the morning in total darkness.
00:18:24
Speaker
You have to start with some small steps that you can measure. that are strategic and that you continue to do without anything else. Like there's no excuse.
00:18:37
Speaker
You have a written routine and you execute every item on that routine before you go to bed. And that just becomes who you are. And then as you get really good at executing that written routine, you start to add things to it.
00:18:50
Speaker
And it starts to evolve over years. It starts to change. And as you can, the more discipline you can enforce on yourself, the easier your life gets, the better it looks.
00:19:04
Speaker
So came across another really kind of interesting paragraph that I want to share as well because I've talked about, I've talked to, actually talk about a lot with a lot of my clients.
00:19:19
Speaker
We all get stuck thinking about like money, you know, chasing money and being rich and all these things like a lot of young men are are pursuing that. um But where they fall off track is they pursue that before they pursue themselves.
00:19:34
Speaker
Right. And if you meet anybody of measurable wealth, they will tell you that the money doesn't mean anything. I'll tell you that the things that matter are the person that you've created, the journey that you've been on, that's developed you into the human being that you are today, your ability to be able to look at your deficiencies, address them, and pursue that as a passion.
Self-Development vs. Financial Success
00:20:02
Speaker
And I've had these conversations with these type of people and it's been very liberating for me and it's confirms a lot of what I believe at this point in my life.
00:20:14
Speaker
If you build a man, the money will come. If you build that man or woman, the money will come. The problem is, is people try to get to that money first and they think that it's going to save everything about who they are and it's going to fix all their problems, but it just amplifies everything.
00:20:29
Speaker
So here's the kind of the paragraph. It's called earned worth. I've learned this the hard way and I want you to hear it straight. Meaning isn't handed to you.
00:20:41
Speaker
It doesn't arrive with applause and it sure as hell isn't free. You buy it and the price is steep. You pay in the early mornings when your body begs you to stay in bed.
00:20:52
Speaker
You pay in the quiet sacrifices no one will ever see or thank you for. You pay in the choices that cost you comfort but build your spine. And you keep paying day after day until the man you were can no longer recognize the man you've become.
00:21:10
Speaker
When that day comes, you'll know you've earned something no one can take from you. This, that's the only kind of wealth worth having.
00:21:24
Speaker
It resonates with me. And I hope it does for you.
00:21:30
Speaker
So I have ah way that I operate that I share with people. It's called the compass of discomfort. So I talk about the written routine. And the first thing about the written routine is it's your map.
00:21:42
Speaker
Okay, you can't operate without a map. If I took you and dropped you in the middle of the country from a helicopter with no map, and you're blindfolded, you'd have no way of finding your way out.
00:21:54
Speaker
You'd have no way of getting to the X.
00:21:58
Speaker
But if I handed you a map, dropped you off with a compass, you might be able to find your way along that path.
00:22:12
Speaker
So the way I look at it is I have a map. I've written down where I want to go. I've written down what that trail might look like. Of course, it'll change.
Compass of Discomfort Philosophy
00:22:20
Speaker
You'll hit roadblocks. You'll come across river crossings. you know you'll You'll find peaks in your way that maybe you've got to walk go around versus climbing over them, or maybe you come up to certain things you just need to blow a hole in the wall.
00:22:35
Speaker
But you'll never do that unless you follow the compass of discomfort. So for me, I've developed this over time, this idea. So I always execute what I call as a war map.
00:22:48
Speaker
And that's kind of my entire journey where I want to go, what I want to do, ah addresses all the doubt, fear and insecurity in my life is all written down the war map. And then I take the compass. All right.
00:23:00
Speaker
Which instead of pointing north, my compass points to discomfort. So I point that compass
00:23:09
Speaker
and I walk towards a discomfort. So anything in my life, that's how I measure it. So I have a bunch of things I want to do or there's some events I need to go to or or challenges I need to take on or whatever direction I need to go on this map is the one that points to the most discomfort.
00:23:29
Speaker
So my map is kind of written with the idea that The journey of discomfort is the most pleasurable one.
00:23:39
Speaker
ah So I've kind of made my mind kind of digest that and say, hey, listen, Mike, like we know that you need to walk towards discomfort to be better and to grow and to yeah to hit the goals that you need to hit, right?
00:23:52
Speaker
So why not? Let's just break the compass so it only points at discomfort. So any type of situation in my life, any type of big event, any type of, when I say event, I don't mean like a formal event. I mean like any sort of thing that is measurable that could bring change in your life, right?
00:24:11
Speaker
I point that compass and I say, all right, whatever way this comfort points, whatever way this compass points is the way I'm going and it's always the most uncomfortable path.
00:24:23
Speaker
And I've been doing that for the last five to six years. And I get better at it, right? So, you know, I would initially start pointing that compass and I'd, you know, convince myself that the compass was wrong.
00:24:34
Speaker
And, you know, now where I'm at today, sometimes i don't even need the compass. I have a feel for it, right? So, you know, just like you when you're driving, you don't always need the GPS. You got to feel for where you're going.
00:24:45
Speaker
So when you get really good at walking into discomfort, you just get a feel for it. And then you kind of start to crave it. And that's kind of that reason why, you know, you go for a run and in the darkness at 3.30 in the morning.
00:24:57
Speaker
Because you're looking for that discomfort because you know that it might bring something of value to your life. And it's the same thing with everything. It's any conversation you have with a new like ah ah new person that you meet. um It's anywhere around you, discomfort. It's just we get really good because we're at at ignoring discomfort and trying to get away from it because that's how we're programmed.
00:25:17
Speaker
So you have to counter program your mind where we all know you want to go seek comfort. That's how we all are, ah unfortunately. But when you have that compass that points to the discomfort and you just make this agreement with yourself Enforce that discipline that hey, whatever way this compass points is going to point at the most uncomfortable way That's the way we're going to take because that's where the biggest return on investment is that's where all the growth comes from and With no no doubt in my mind, the only things that have ever brought a lot of happiness to my life were through the most uncomfortable paths.
00:25:54
Speaker
Anything that's easy isn't worth it.
Embracing Discomfort for Achievement
00:25:58
Speaker
It's fleeting. And it fades really quick. I was telling somebody this the other day. It's like, you know what you go and buy a new car and how quickly does that new car not do it for you anymore? Right?
00:26:10
Speaker
But you go out and you run a marathon or you get your master's degree or you enter into some conversations that you've been running from for so long and they go your way.
00:26:25
Speaker
Like that feels a hundred times better. That level of accomplishment and and reward and growth outweighs anything else.
00:26:37
Speaker
So walk towards the discomfort.
00:26:41
Speaker
Grit your teeth.
00:26:44
Speaker
Don't think about how scary it is. Just do it. You just have to start walking.