Naked Man Moleskin

15 Miles a day.
Today, December 14, 1911 Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first human to reach the south pole. How he did it is a testament to the daily red pill.

It was actually a race. English explorer Robert F. Scott was also headed with the aim of reaching the South Pole. In October, both explorers set off—Amundsen using sleigh dogs, and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen’s expedition won the race to the Pole and returned safely to base camp in late January. Roald Amundsen and his team of five men skied and sledged for 5-6 hours and went an average of 15 nautical miles a day.

Fifteen nautical miles represents one-quarter of a degree of latitude, and Amundsen realized that knocking off one degree of latitude every four days and being able to imagine themselves inching their way across the map would be highly motivating for the team. One-quarter of a degree of latitude every single day: this was Amundsen’s clear performance marker.

It was a pace that was doable in fair conditions as well as foul; whether it was calm or foggy or freezing, whether it was smooth sailing over flat terrain, or a team member and his dogs fell into a crevasse and had to be pulled out…on the men went, getting in their fifteen miles a day.

Scott, on the other hand, did not have a consistent goal for how far he hoped to go each day — letting the daily weather conditions and his fluctuating feelings of motivation dictate the pace. On a day with ideal conditions, he might push the men to trudge for 9 hours at a time. When the weather turned ugly, he might decide to not leave his tent at all, even though Amundsen was out in similar conditions.

The motor sleds broke down, the ponies had to be shot, and the dog teams were sent back as Scott and four companions continued on foot. On January 18, 1912, they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by over a month. Weather on the return journey was exceptionally bad—two members perished—and a storm later trapped Scott and the other two survivors in their tent only 11 miles from their base camp. Scott’s frozen body was found later that year.

The point here is sometimes steady, hard work, rather than extreme push of exhaustion everyday, is the key. Set a pace that is hard enough to stretch you when conditions in your life are ideal, but still doable — as long as you exercise grit and discipline — during times when the shit hits the fan, or you’re simply not in the mood.

F3 calls this the daily red pill. Sure – they may be times you’re called upon to give maximum effort, but keep to the daily red pill. No matter what. This could be exercise, this could be a work ethic, this could be specific actions you take with your family – every day. Just don’t give up, and keep the pace.