The Essential Strength Podcast

Redefining What it Means to be Tough w/ Greg Everett

March 03, 2021 David Skolnik Episode 34
The Essential Strength Podcast
Redefining What it Means to be Tough w/ Greg Everett
Show Notes

Our guest this week is Greg Everett, owner of Catalyst Athletics and author of the new book “Tough”

As the subtitle of Greg’s book explains, this book is a guide to building true mental, physical & emotional toughness for success & fulfillment. It’s about a lot more than how to be the traditional vision of a “tough guy” - and in today’s conversation we talk about why clearly defining your values and purpose are foundational to becoming tough, the four C’s that define toughness for Greg, and why tough people should have a journaling routine.

To connect with Greg, give him a follow on Instagram where he is @catalystathletics and to order the book online you can check out becomingtough.com where you will find a ton of absolutely glowing reviews for this book. 

This conversation is not what you might expect.  A world renowned olympic weightlifting coach, on the Essential Strength Podcast, talking about toughness - and we’re having a conversation about fulfillment, empathy, journaling and discovering your true purpose.

But that’s the point - being tough doesn’t mean falling in line with some pre-historic definition of being the burly man who shoves their feelings down into the deepest recesses of their brain, carries a big stick around and pretends that nothing hurts. Being tough is about having the courage to identify what sets your soul on fire, creates that greatest good in the world and being tough enough to stay authentic to those things.

Action Plan

Your action plan this week is simple - start a journaling practice. Try it for at least two solid weeks. I know I was super resistant to this for a long time but in the last 4 weeks of podcasts, we’ve had an Olympic athlete, world record-holding powerlifter and author/weightlifting coach all have one thing in common - they are adamant about the incredible power of journaling. So start - TODAY - by writing down one thing you are grateful for and one affirmation - an “I am”, “I can” or “I will” statement - and do that each day for 2 weeks. I’ve been doing it for about 4 weeks now, not perfectly, but as many mornings as I remember too, and I can say the mornings I write down my gratitude and my affirmation always set me up for a great day.


Alright, that’s it for this week. Until next time, we wish you STRENGTH and GOOD HEALTH!