What A 9 Day Water Fast Taught Me About Personal Limitations

“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or weeds.” — William Wordsworth

| Overview

• Our mind is a tool that is destructive or supportive.
• Excess saliva, energy drainage, “flatulence”, nausea, and dizziness are inevitable.
• Mental clarity becomes prominent within 5–6 days

| What Inspired Me To Do This?

Initially, it was intended to be 10 days, the title for this isn’t completely accurate — it was only 8 ¾. Elementary arithmetic taught me to round up, it doesn’t truly apply here, you know what though, it’s ok. Kelly Slater does this cleanse according to a TikTok video I came across. Apparently on the 9th day, if done properly (drinking a combination of water and Himalayan rock salt) my colon will go through a detox. Interesting — that little snippet of information plus the mentality training it takes to do a fast, got me to take the plunge.

| Day 1–5

On the first and second day getting into the grove is one of the most challenging aspects. Going from one hundred to zero throws off the eating habits our body is accustomed to. The third day gets easier, we’re committed, and the temptation for cravings is there, it isn’t gnawing at you mentally and physically. Between the fourth and fifth day, the mental clarity becomes noticeable, words and memories are quicker to recall, it’s a good feeling.

“Prove to your bodies through your mind that you can push yourself further than you thought possible” — Combat Training Footage (Srgt. In The Movie “Lone Survivor”)

| Day 6–9

After what was meant to be the halfway mark of the 10 day fast, my thoughts of food became more frequent, causing me to drink more water, which in return made more saliva imaginable and what I never thought would be a thing — resenting the taste of water. Between the 6th and 9th day, it was noticeable how fatigued my energy levels were. When standing up, holding a wall, and waiting for vertigo to dissipate was the only way to not faint.

(Also, a prerequisite to doing this). Nobody enjoys talking about stools, the ones your sit on or the ones we flush. If you do a water fast expect the worst because it will make its presence known. If you have gas, don’t force it. Over the course of this, I had to shower midday twice.

On the not-so 9th day, for hours on end, all that occupied my head were thoughts of food. Soup — that was what broke my fast. After eating it, disappointment set in. Going that period of time and caving with 30 hours left. It isn’t something to be proud of, though it gave me vital insight into how powerful temptation, suggestion, focus, and resistance is (all mental aspects).

| Giving Up Versus Learning

Doing this wasn’t only for the health benefits (colon cleanse), it was more about controlling my mentality, silencing the internal chatter, and accomplishing an intention.

Walking away from this proved that my mentality dexterity needs training. Throughout my personal life, noticing how a process goes unfinished on a micro and macro level: completing a thought process, cleaning dishes after using them, qualifying and presenting to a prospect and not closing, starting a fast with a specific timeline and not finishing, beginning a new endeavor and backing out when things got difficult — all have shown me that patterns on a subconscious level influence the results of everything and are created by me through my current and past levels of effort. Bringing this to my conscious awareness gives me a sense of clarity. Knowing where the limitation to success in all facets of my life comes from, resistance on the quantum and cosmic levels.

When we stop thinking about the outcome and do it, that’s when we learn what we are capable of. The gradient of accomplishment doesn’t end, it only stops at our current limitations. This threshold is conquerable through effort, not thinking. Find the baseline, make progress, and that’s the new foundation to a new personal reality. Dial-in on where we face the most resistance, that’s where untapped potential resides.