Themes wonderfully woven within

Love the way this was written - you’re engaged with the story/ies and themes wonderfully woven within each story

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

eye-opening and inspiring

one of my new favourite books which I will no doubt listen to more than once. a perfect combination of inspiring and intriguing story coupled with science and research narrated in a captivating way

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Actually inspiring

This book has prompted me to do stuff and I’m doing it. Great book. It’s stuck in my mind for quite a while now.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Practical & encouraging book with a pinch of humor!

A unique book that combines the authors personal story, statistical data, and interesting information relevant to the topics addressed. It explains the benefits and rewards of getting out of one’s comfort zones.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Worth a Listen

Well written and spoken, and weaves a good narrative between the authors experience as a journey with additional interviews and side-passages throughout. The single-sided representation of the book makes it feel excessively preachy at times, but the core idea of the book is certainly an engaging topic

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I Can Listen To This Over and Over

The Comfort Crisis has given me a fresh outlook on how I am seeing my life. I see in my own life that the Comfort Crisis has been slowly taking over my world. Amplified by the restrictions of the pandemic, comfort has taken over my life. Instead of going to a climate controlled office, in my climate controlled car, from my climate controlled house ... I don't even need to commute any more. A daily run to the supermarket became my sense of an outing. Then I found myself going out the front to check the letterbox multiple times a day (even after I knew the window for the postman, postwoman or non-binary postal delivery technician had past). When the pandemic first hit it was in our Australian Autumn (Fall), and whenever I had a telephone call I would head out in to my yard and get some air and some greenery and take my calls. But, over time, that too faded. As someone who had been in to Cycling, Swimming, Walking and Life Saving, things were really off, and the weight was really coming on (fast).

Before getting my first car 23 years ago (WOW) I used to walk and take the train & bus everywhere. Lugging my back of books for University (NB in Australia it is not the norm to live on campus so it is like any other commute) was par for the course. And before that I was lucky to be a kid who walked to school (though high school was only 10min at best). Now, after many false starts I am taking up Rucking as described in the book. Even though I listened to the book several times now, getting out with a backpack loaded with weight left me feeling silly. But, I have pushed through that now and I think driving to the gym to lift weight in a climate controlled room is sillier (nothing against the gym and it's proven benefits that's just an analogy as to how I felt). I now Ruck between 30-60 minutes every day if I can. One other thing I had to get past was thinking, "I don't want to just walk around suburbia, that's not really inspiring." Now I use that time to listen to an audio book, or, observe people's gardens and see what planting is really working well in comparison to my own yard. The only thing is I live in a really flat location that is former grazing land. The nearest decent hill is a 30 minute drive. So that is my next goal.

It all may sound obvious, we weren't meant to live in a bubble. We all take fascination in looking at beach and pool scenes from the 60's and 70's and observing there are hardly any overweight people. And usually none of modern standards. For thousands of years we have gone along happily without vehicles, motorcycles or even bicycles (though the horse/donkey and cart had been around they still weren't available to everyone). So carrying a load of some description was the order of the day. It makes sense that as a meat eater you really should understand the act of taking an animal life. And balancing the emotion of knowing a hunted animal won't at least suffer the harshness of a wild death of a bear, a pack of wolves or drawing in a river crossing. And giving consideration to the fact that since the advent of the smart phone, so very few of us are ever truly left alone with out thoughts. We all know the feeling of being out without our phone, or the sense of foreboding when the charge is low.

Michael brings all this together, through his own experiences and learning outcomes, to tell us quite frankly what we all should know. Life, we're doing it wrong. There is nothing wrong with using all the wonderful tools of modern life (from cars to computers and all in between). But, there is something inherently wrong in not using our number one assets, our bodies. There is something inherently wrong in our diet. As a child of the 80's take out may have been a once a week treat. A block of chocolate was share between the family (Mum, Dad and Brother) watching the Saturday night movie on TV. These days we are bombarded with fast food companies ready to solve every craving (burgers, breakfast, tacos, coffee and even pizza). Treat foods have been made mainstream staples and concocted from anything but.

We are too comfortable too much of the time. We've all seen the image of escalators leading to a gym. For me it has been the welcome kick up the butt to lift myself off the couch and go for an evening walk with my Ruck (currently 22lbs/10Kg) and walk for 30-60 minutes. And let me tell you this is firing the muscles right through the body. At 45 I have regained a spring in my step. Thanks Michael for bringing your story in to the world.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Fascinating, highly enjoyable

I listened to this book because I thought the subject material sounded interesting, not for any sort of self help. But it's made me reappraise a lot of the things I do, and is already making a difference to how I spend my time.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Eye Opening

What an eye opener, most of the stuff you knew were good for you but explained why and how. Highly recommended!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

fantastic very interesting

the story and research spoken about link well. learnt alot and started implementing them

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Challenging

Was recommended to listen too and not what I expected - was better - challenge to stop accepting civilised life and get back to full health

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!