The Badass Project

Hustle. No Excuses.

Badass Posts

You Already Are

By John Muldoon

It doesn’t matter what you call it…

How do you become a badass? Or a Wild Woman?

Are you fucking kidding me!?

This is the wrong kind of thinking. This is the trap, and the lie. The idea that you can become someone else. Something outside of yourself. It’s not true.

It’s the opposite of the truth. That’s why so many people are stuck and feel like shit. This lie is the reason for so much depression and anxiety.

Almost every time I’ve fucked up in my life, almost every time I’ve done something or tolerated something that a badass would never tolerate… it’s because of all the layers of bullshit on top of the core of who I am.

These layers we all live with… shame, fear, guilt, stories we tell ourselves about what we “should” or shouldn’t do, all the bullshit limits you put on yourself, all the judgements of other people, all the expectations of others, the fear of disappointing people or being judged…

None of it is real.

It’s all bullshit. And this bullshit piles on top of us our whole lives. Sometimes it’s shoveled onto us by other people, or we absorb it by the culture we’re born into, or maybe you put this stuff on yourself.

Freedom. That’s what you really want. That’s what makes you a badass.

That’s the key to the lock of the prison of bullshit that exists in your mind.

So, how do you use the key? First you have to find it, to uncover it. Dig it out from under all the lies, the fear and stories you live with.

You dig it out by staring those lies in the face until they vaporize. You dig and dig, and sometimes you need help from someone else, and sometimes you hit a wall and have to dig in a new direction, but you keep digging until the only thing left is yourself.

Until the only thing left is a badass, a person who is truly free.

You don’t have to “become” a badass. Because you already are.

 

I Made Up A Workout

By John Muldoon

I think I might be going a little bit crazy. That’s how it can feel when everything seems so simple.

What do you want? Go get it.

That’s it.

There are no rules.

There are no limits.

Pick something, anything, that you don’t think you can do, and then do it.

The fog starts to lift.

This little piece of the world that you’ve been living in, this realm that you thought was the whole world is just nothing. It’s a tiny sliver.

It’s the same way with potential.

Your potential exists in your own mind. It’s so much bigger than you can imagine. You can’t see it from where you are.

Even your physical potential. It’s just an idea. So, wipe the slate clean. Unlearn all the stories you’ve heard and repeated and told yourself. Rip out the pages of the notebook until you find one that is truly blank. That’s where you should put your goal, where nothing has ever been before. Beyond anything you can imagine.

I made up a workout because I hate how complicated everything else is. It’s all too complicated and too easy, so I made one that was simple and hard.

  • 100 Push Ups
  • 100 Sit Ups
  • 100 Pull Ups
  • 100 Squats
  • 100 Kettlebell Swings

500 Reps 

It’s the pullups that really fucking kill you. 100 is a lot. They’re hard. They get hard for me at 60, and that’s when it all starts to matter. That’s the bottom of the climb.

I hope my self doubt goes away someday. I hope I learn how to really wipe that slate clean. It’s going to take some scrubbing. Some sweat and blood and tears.

It’s really not complicated.

You have to climb the mountain in front of you to be able to see the mountain inside yourself. That’s the climb that really matters.

That’s the mountain that will teach you everything. You cannot know yourself unless you make the climb.

“Mostly, we defeat ourselves. We don’t believe. We second-guess. We over-think. In the mountains I rarely failed from the outside. But I sabotaged myself plenty of times.

“Swing this Kettlebell until you can’t” One guy made it to 400. I haven’t seen or heard of anyone else making it past 150. I haven’t seen a KB dropped though. I haven’t seen a man drop. No, everyone just quits. They decide on a number in advance, hit it and maybe do a few more, and then they stop.

Cowards.

Chasing the number not the experience. A number won’t change you. An experience will transform you. So what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of being transformed? Scared that a shift in the status quo might trigger desires that are too great to handle? Then why bother? Why sharpen the edge you will never use? Why forge a blade that is just for show?

Make the cut. Deep. A nick or a tickle won’t do. Get bloody. Cut off your own head if you can’t unfuck it because you and your thinking are the biggest barrier to your own progress.”

– Mark Twight, Climber, Founder of Gym Jones, Badass

A Tribute To Discomfort

By John Muldoon

A Tribute to Discomfort: Cory Richards from Blue Chalk on Vimeo.

Blue Chalk worked with National Geographic Creative photographer and North Face athlete Cory Richards to create a promotional piece to demonstrate the scope of his work and the passion and athleticism that accompanies him in the field. A Tribute to Discomfort brings the viewer through Cory’s stunning work, his unique sense of humor, and his quest to create photographs that relate a common humanity.

Original Still Photography: Cory Richards/National Geographic Creative
Co-Director, Producer: Catherine Yrisarri
Co-Director, DP, Editor: Rob Finch
Assistant Camera: Jamie Francis
Original Music: Elizabeth Lim
Sound Design: Chip Sloan, Digital One
Additional Footage: Keith Ladzinski, 3 Strings Productions

Created by Blue Chalk Media http://bluechalk.com

What You Really Fear Is Inside Yourself

By John Muldoon

One of my favorite scenes from Batman Begins is all about fear.

You’ve traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer your fears. But the criminal is not complicated. And…

What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own power. You fear your anger. The drive to do great or terrible things.

Now you must journey inwards. Breathe in your fears. Face them.
To conquer fear, you must become fear. You must bask in the fear of other men. And men fear most what they cannot see.

You have to become a terrible thought. A wraith. You have to become an idea.

Feel terror cloud your senses. Feel its power to distort. To control.

And know that this power can be yours.

Erase your worst fear. Become one with the darkness.

Focus. Concentrate. Master your senses.

Is that how you want to spend your life?

By John Muldoon

This is a really helpful question you can ask yourself, especially when you catch yourself making a compromise that doesn’t feel right.

Sometimes life throws you a curveball and it’s no big deal. Your inner badass comes out and takes care of it. You swing and miss, or you just let it go by without worrying, or maybe you even hit a home run. No big deal.

But sometimes life is hard because of something bigger. Maybe your job is wearing you down, or you come to realize that your relationship isn’t truly making you happy, or your health and fitness habits have gotten a bit bad and you’re paying the price for it. I’ve been there. You feel really stuck and hopeless.

If you have too many bad days in a row, ask yourself, “Is this how I really want to spend my life?”

If the answer is no, you need to do something about it.

You need to change your habits and change your life until you can answer that question with a resounding YES!

That’s your purpose in life. That’s what badasses do. They spend their life feeling good about their choices. They learn from their mistakes and push forward. They never give up.

So, sit back and take stock of your life. Are you spending it the way you want to? Are you going to look back and regret the leap you didn’t take? Take it now.