Provoke

CHAPTER 8 Drive and Adapt: Taking Control

For a couple of guys who spend a lot of time together and who think very similarly, we have wildly different tastes. Steve likes to listen to instrumental jazz; Geoff is obsessed with live jam band music. Sidle up to a bar with us and Geoff will likely have an IPA in hand or a glass of whatever gin's lying around (ice optional); Steve prefers a finely crafted bourbon cocktail. So it comes as no surprise that we discovered another stark difference when we were discussing times when we each had to literally force our bodies to go do something while every instinct said, “Don't do it!”

When Geoff first heard about Gym Jones from Steve, he was pretty sure they were talking about a cult leader who precipitated a sequence of terrible events in a South American jungle in the late 1970s. Turns out, in fact, that the modern incarnation is even more terrifying to some: a private collaborative of ultra-fit trainers and training houses around the world who take on only those willing to work hard – and suffer – as their belief is that there are no shortcuts to physical fitness. Famous athletes, secretive military operatives, and sculpted movie stars have made the cut in the past. So has Steve, Geoff discovered.

The story came up because we were wrestling with what a “when” provocation would feel like if brought to life in the physical world. What does it feel like to overcome extreme cognitive dissonance to force your body to do something it doesn't ...