You’re not broken — your brain’s just too comfortable.

Here’s how to rewire your brain for discipline, grit, and unshakable strength. How Comfort made me weak. Science showed me why.

Johnny Trayes

Jun 15, 2025

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If you’re not doing hard things you hate, you’re not getting stronger.

A letter to the part of you that knows you’re meant for more.

I used to think comfort was the ultimate peak of life—

To do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want.

No stress. No worry. Just comfort, 24/7.

I was wrong.

Comfort made me soft.

It left me with a strange kind of emptiness.

And the more I chased it, the more hollow I felt.

Because here’s the truth:

We’re built to endure.

And - it’s - that exact capacity to endure that keeps us strong.

The Feedback Loop of Growth

Everyone knows the workout formula:

Effort → Recovery → Growth.

It’s the rule of three.

You train. You fuel. You repeat.

You can’t out-train a bad diet.

You also can’t randomly out perform, poor discipline.

Even if you’ve got intense workouts and perfect meals—if you only show up when you feel like it, you’re halfway there at best.

Strength—real strength—comes from a complete system.

Ignore one pillar, and the whole structure collapses.

What Builds Mental Toughness?

So what about willpower?

Resilience?

Mental toughness?

Tenacity the thing called grit.

Is it built from hard workouts alone?

Nope.

Not even close.

Here’s what science and ancient wisdom now agree on:

Doing hard things you don’t want to do… and doing them consistently—

That’s what builds real mental resilience.

And it physically rewires your brain.

The Anterior Midcingulate Cortex (AMC)

Where strength is forged in darkness.

Science now shows us that the Anterior Midcingulate Cortex, or AMC, actually grows and strengthens when you consistently take on tasks you dislike—especially the ones that require effort, discomfort, and presence.

This is the part of the brain responsible for:

Willpower
Motivation under stress
Perseverance
Emotional regulation
Decision-making in chaos

It’s the battlefield control centre of the mind.

And it develops… in the dark.

Just like how photos used to be developed in a darkroom—

Real strength is built where no one can see it yet.

No audience. No applause. Just you versus the resistance.

Comfort Is the Enemy of Growth

You don’t build resilience by staying comfortable.

You don’t build courage by doing what’s easy.

You don’t get strong doing what you like.

You grow when you face the “I don’t want to” list—and act on it.

Even if your favourite workouts are intense, if you love them, they’re not challenging your AMC the same way.

That’s not discomfort—it’s just exertion in familiar territory.

Too much comfort shrinks the AMC.
Too much ease makes you mentally weak.

You need friction. Resistance. The act of choosing challenge.

Do what you dislike.

Go find that thing and do it anyway.

My Running Story: How I Met My Gremlins

I used to think running was ridiculous.

Like… what are you even running from?

Then, around 2022, I laced up and tried a 5km run.

I went hard—and only made it 4.95km. Didn’t even realise I fell short.

I hated it. Not just because it hurt—

I simply didn’t enjoy it.

But I had been watching Goggins for years.

And a good mate—who later became my running partner—helped push me.

We call him Captain Bosh he knows how to lead and he is one hell of runner.

We escalated quickly:

From suburban jogs…

From 3:30am winter trail runs in total darkness with only headlamps to guide us…

To summer storms and 30-degree heat,

We run — hard, relentless, all out.

No excuses. No spectators. Just the suffering of effort.

This is how we forge strength in the chaos.

Then eventually, to marathons.

I faced my inner demons. I call them Gremlins.

“Why are you even doing this?”
“Just stop.”
“This is pointless.”
“No one cares.”

I heard these thoughts in the middle of the run, and in the middle of life.

They were always there. Still are, sometimes.

Total Gremlin Unit — full Squad.

But now I know who they are and what they are:

The mandatory friction required for maximum growth.

The call to battle. Part of the team.

The AMC switch being flipped and adapted.

The Truth About Desire

Comfort is a temporary reward—and that’s how it should be.

But turn comfort into a full blown lifestyle?

You’ll start to feel dead inside.

Trust me—I’ve been there.

I bought things, ate things, drank things… just to feel something.

But the more you feed that thirst, the more it grows.

“You start needing to quench a thirst of desire—like drinking salty sea water on a hot day.”

The more you consume, the thirstier you become.

Even the word desire tells this story.

It comes from Latin: desiderare — “to long for,” (deh-zee-deh-RAH-reh)

Which traces back to sidera — the stars.

To desire… is to feel the absence of the stars.
To crave something distant, unreachable, beautiful—often illusive.

The Obstacle Is the Way

“The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Your suffering isn’t the enemy.

It’s the signal.

I don’t like to have

Cold showers at 5am.

Early wake-ups.

Tough conversations.

Hard runs.

Working Out.

Clean Meal Prep.

These are reps for the mind.

And every time you do it—especially when you don’t want to—you’re growing the AMC. (Anterior Midcingulate Cortex)

You’re growing the best part of you that handle the toughest parts of your life.

Effort ≠ Growth. Specific Resistance = Growth.

(🔊Special Additional Side Note Included Here Only On Audio 🔊)

It’s not about how much effort you put in.

It’s about where the resistance is.

Love working out? Great.

But where’s your edge?

Where’s the thing you don’t want to do?

That’s where the magic lives.

That’s where the reward is.

Want more love? Be more loving—especially when it’s hard.
Want more courage? Show up—especially when you want to quit.
Want more strength? Train—especially when you feel weak and don’t like it.

Simple. Never easy. Always worth it.

Comfort Is a Silent Assassin

Comfort kills dreams.

It’s like junk food—fine in small doses, deadly if it’s your diet.

Celebrate with comfort.

Recover with it. Especially when its earned.

But don’t build your life around it.

Because if you do, you’ll find out one day:

The mansion didn’t fix the emptiness.
The yacht didn’t erase the anxiety.
The luxury didn’t give you peace.

Only built character can hold those rewards without being consumed by them.

It’s the man who built himself and built his business who deserves the yacht.
Not the man who needs one to feel like somebody.

Your AMC Hit List

Make your list.

(Especially if you don’t want to make the list)

Write down everything you don’t like doing.

Everything you avoid.

Everything you know would benefit you, but you always put off.

That’s your AMC hit list.

Start today. Or tomorrow.

Or… if you really don’t feel like it—you know what to do.

Start now.

One Final Truth

Your willpower is a muscle.

Your resilience is a muscle.

And your AMC is the gym where it’s trained.

You don’t need hacks.

You need reps.

Daily. Raw. Repeated.

Find your edge. Face it.

That’s where the strength is.

So this newsletter you now know what the AMC is how it works what its job is how to make it stronger so you can develop these strengths..

Willpower
Motivation under stress
Perseverance
Emotional regulation
Decision-making in chaos

Thanks for reading.

If this makes sense, share it with a brother, a mate, or someone who needs to remember what they’re made of.

See you next week

Stay strong.

Stay uncomfortable.

Or in the words of David Goggins:

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Next time you hear your self say “I don’t feel like it” thats your cue you know what to do.

And keep levelling up.