Challenges in our 30s

How are you challenging yourself outside of family and work in your 30s+❓

For me, it’s Muay Thai.

Rugby was my first sporting passion. For decades I poured all of my free time and energy into chasing an egg around a field with my mates. Rugby was the foundation for my understanding of teamwork and leadership. But after 9 years in the infantry and 3 major surgeries, I hung up my boots.

When we stop playing the games that delight us as children, we create a vacuum in our lives. This can be an intentional decision to prioritise other commitments, but it can also be a mistake.

So what?

Since 2019 I have committed to hundreds of hours, cuts and bruises to learn Muay Thai. Beyond the obvious health benefits, the following stands out:

💥 Nudge: A new hobby or skill needs time to develop the reflective system before it can be assimilated into the automatic system. Just because we have reached ‘adulthood’ does not mean that we have become omniscient. Put plainly, I had to become a novice again. Initially, I focused solely on learning drills. No ‘ring time’. No ego.

There are no belts in Muay Thai. Just an acknowledgement that you can progress from striking air, to bags, to being struck, to striking back. Painfully, my new hobby has been a great reminder of the humility required to learn a new discipline. For more info – see Thaler & Sunstein’s “Nudge”.

💥 Why zebras don’t get ulcers: Not all stresses in life are equal. Being in the ring is a stark reminder that some ‘lions in the room’ will bite harder than others and in the case of Muay Thai, the lion with the strongest bite might be the unassuming 5ft4 opponent (books and covers and all that…)!

Muay Thai is a great way for me to maintain perspective about life’s artificial stressors.

If you are reading this you are probably doing okay on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When I feel I am getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, sometimes getting hit in the face at 06.30 in the morning is a good reminder that I am doing okay. For more info – see Robert Sapolsky’s “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers”.

💥 Play: Although Muay Thai certainly is a martial art, at my humble level it really is just a hobby. Time in the ring and on the mats is a voluntary choice.

It promotes many qualities including but not limited to freedom from time, and a drive for continuous improvement. For more info – see Brown & Vaughan’s “Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul”.

I could write multiple pages on the virtues and values of Muay Thai. The beauty of the art form, the personal discipline and intrinsic motivation and the culture underlying it, but I will stop here.

Muay Thai is the most amazing discipline for me, but that doesn’t mean it is right for you.

My initial question remains: How are you challenging yourself outside of family and work in your 30s+?

My next ‘new hobby’ is going to be surfing 🏄‍♂️ Watch this space!!