COVID-19 exposing weakness... when did we get so soft?

Am I the only one sick of the endless rift of complaints coming from college students and recently graduated young professionals about the "hardship" we're facing by adhering to social distancing protocol? What a privilege to consider 3 months of sitting on your couch taking online classes a hardship - that's truly some soft ass shit. It's exhausting hearing people complain about distancing while there are thousands of healthcare workers grinding like mother fuckers for a check we'd consider measly; all the while, we're sitting on our asses bitching that we've had a few liberties temporarily revoked. It's time someone told you that makes you a pussy - fuck that shit.

This isn't the convenient truth that everyone is hoping for, and everyone seems to have drawn out some best case scenario in their minds, reinforcing the belief that we'll be out on beaches having beers with our friends in the coming months when the curve has significantly fallen and protocols have been eased. Let me guarantee everyone who reads this one thing: there is no way in fucking hell that will be the case. It will be a long, long time before we're back in the routine of wiping sweat off our faces with scented towels fresh out of a cycling class before heading out to a busy bar to meet our friends. To think that our daily lives will even come close to resembling our "normal" pre-COVID routine is laughably naive. With that being said, you better get used to enjoying time with yourself. Here are my thoughts on how we can hopefully improve time spent largely in solitude.

Find ways to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Look at yourself in the mirror and take an inventory check: what don't you like? Tired of having gangly arms, a flabby stomach, or not feeling healthy? If you're like a majority of the people I see working in finance, that's likely the case. Get down and crank out some burpees; go run 5 miles; find a bar and commit to 100 pull-ups and don't walk away until you finish. Here's the problem with the gym and routines in general: we gravitate towards what we enjoy doing, which is usually easy and something our bodies have become accustomed to. Improvement comes from pain; pain is not something we gravitate towards, but it hardens our bodies and our minds. Pain, naturally, lies well outside our comfort zone; get off your couch and get in pain every damn day. It's no wonder people seem so miserable during this. Going to bed without having accomplished anything and without a sense of deserving rest would suck.

Two people will come out of this: savages who took a genuine look at themselves, identified what they can improve, and fucking did it; fairies who self-pitied and massaged their sorrows by indulging in the very things that make them so uncomfortable with themselves.

If you feel like you have trouble keeping company with yourself, odds are you're not happy with yourself. Without a constant faucet of validation from our peers, I guess that's understandable. This is the perfect time to harden your mind and make yourself someone you're content spending some on-on-one time with; this ain't going away anytime soon and pitying your own company for a year or longer won't be any fun.

Getting into these habits where peer validation is nowhere to be seen will reinforce unbreakable habits. When you become your own source of accountability, you're unstoppable. Give yourself something to accomplish and beat yourself up until it's done. Learn to enjoy being beaten and battered physically, otherwise you'll only keep battering yourself mentally.

 

100% agree. Every instagram post and snapchat I see of some puss complaining about the affect this is having on them makes me wish our generation would have been mandated to an annual basic training...

 

It’s worth noting that some of these people, if they are young, are worried about their close ones, who might not be able to practice self-isolation or might be in a risk group. Even if you’re sitting on you ass all day, or maybe even because of it, you are likely to worry about these people’s health. On top of that, making fun or complaining about people who are not as able to endure self-isolation as easily, is certainly not helpful. The lack of human connection can certainly take its toll on anyone’s mental health, and that’s not something we should stigmatize, especially in industries that often disregard workers’ mental well-being, such as IB.

 

It sounds like you've found a way to justify it in your head, which is cool. I just see the situation differently. I'm not making fun of anybody. I don't think encouraging people to face the hard truth and do everything possible to use this circumstance as a reason to improve is "making fun", but not everyone looks for the opportunity in pain. Call me an ass hole, insensitive, bully, whatever you can think of - I care more about what you call yourself. Good luck out there.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
 

You're conflating social distancing with quarantine (which I have done, too). There is mounting evidence that mass quarantines are not productive. In the coming weeks as more analyses come out demonstrating that quarantines are unproductive, people will have more and more reason to clamor for an end to them. That said, there will certainly be changes to civil society for a while.

Array
 
Elite_Bulge:
Two people will come out of this: savages who took a genuine look at themselves, identified what they can improve, and fucking did it; fairies who self-pitied and massaged their sorrows by indulging in the very things that make them so uncomfortable with themselves.

I get the point you're trying to make but realistically the vast majority of people will basically come out of quarantine the same way that they came in. The world isn't so black and white.

That being said I'm definitely in the same camp as you. I'm always trying to better myself so Quarantine is honestly a god send haha, more time to do shit.

 

I see this never got a reply, let me chime in

tldr - calories in must be less than calories out, exercise however you want, just be disciplined and data driven

source - I helped my mother lose 20% of her body weight and my father lose nearly 40%

calories in must be less than calories out. how you do that is up to you. it depends a great deal upon your starting point. both of my parents were sedentary and hadn't properly exercised in decades, if ever. if you find yourself in this boat, start small. use myfitnesspal or something similar to count your caloric intake. do some basic research on what your latent caloric burn is based on height weight age etc, and you'll find the gap. in one case, one of my parents was eating 2000 calories but their latent burn was 1500. the good part about these calorie counting apps is you can plainly see where you're consuming excess calories. is it in the 2-3 beers a night you're drinking? is it in some of your sugary snacks? or is the whole diet FUBAR and needs a complete reset? hard to say, but step one is getting the data on the diet down. step 2, starting small with exercise. get a baseline. can you do a pushup? can you do a situp? if I was in my parents' shoes, I'd start with the very very basics just to get the blood moving. go for a brisk walk around your neighborhood, do pushups & situps to near failure, and throw in some bodyweight squats, pullups (if you have access to a bar, if not just do a bent over row with something containing weight like a suitcase or backpack), and deadlifts (use a suitcase, couple backpacks, laundry basket, etc). your goal here is not to impress with the weight, it's to get your body used to the movements, so err on the side of no weight to light weights. you will be sore in places you forgot existed for at least the first 2 weeks, maybe the first month. stretch at least 30 minutes nightly before bed

once you have a good idea of where your problem points are and your body is used to some amount of exercise, you can ramp it up with cross training and exploring different workout disciplines. did your walks turn into runs and you enjoy that? great! there's your cardio, now just throw in some pushups, pullups, squats and deadlifts and you'll be fine. you can maintain a helluva body with just those 5 things (run, squat, dead, push, pull). hate running but have found some instagram bodyweight workouts that work well for you? great! have access to some weights and love getting a good pump in? great! the key here is find something you can do at least 3x a week (ideally more, but that's a good baseline) and not be so sore you cannot complete a workout. having discipline is more important than the discipline you choose. what I mean by that is I'd rather have you do a workout of nothing but brazil butt lift with a light jog at a 12:00 pace 5x a week than do some jocko willink pushup challenge and be hurt so bad you can't muster so much as a sun salutation 3 days later. your exercise journey will evolve over time, so be curious, be open to trying new stuff, but discipline and form are the only things that are absolute must haves.

tracking - I mentioned calories before but not since, why is that? well, you'll need to get an activity tracker if you really want to crush this (in my opinion). sure, you can likely just go for runs, do some bodyweight stuff, and improve your physique, but your results will be lumpy. you'll have no clue how many calories you're burning during your workouts so you may overeat because you're tired and think you've earned a double hamburger dinner when really all you earned was the meat, or you undereat because you're worried about calories, forgetting you just burned 800 and now tomorrow is going to royally suck because your body doesn't have the nutrients it needs. I recommend myzone, it's what I use, but there's a whole thread on this stuff here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/best-fitness-tracker.

last words - use instagram and other platforms like it for workout ideas, not comparison. I know a couple of fitness people on there, the only difference between them and you is genetics and discipline. I've seen firsthand people turn flab to fab, but you won't go from ralphie may to joe rogan overnight, it will take a while. took my mother maybe 6 months, took my dad over a year.

if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask, always happy to help

 

Unfortunately much of what I'm doing is basic CICO and eating clean... all home cooked meals, portion control, etc. I can't work out at the gym so have taken my calories down a lot, and am trying to supplement with body weight exercises I've been ignoring for a while.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Place a ziploc bag full of water in the freezer. Take bag out of freezer. wait fifteen minutes. Slip bag of ice in between your fat rolls for 30 minutes.

Just kidding don't do this...

 

Honestly I had no goal whatsoever, but I had been bulking, lifting really heavy, caloric surplus, etc. for a while before this virus hit so got really much too big (5'11 196lbs). This made losing weight (likely a lot of extra muscle but definitely fat as well) pretty easy as the calories needed to sustain that weight just aren't there when I am cooking healthy, reasonable portions at home with essentially no sugar, little salt, no snacks etc.

I had totally neglected any bodyweight exercises before but am trying to be creative at home (yoga, pullup bar, pushups, situps, squats, lunges, planks, dips between chairs etc.). No doubt I can't get close to my max weights lifted anymore but I can at least be athletic and more comfortable in my own body. Also have been chasing my kid around the house which is an underrated form of exercise.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

I agree that the young generation is too soft. But it's also true that students are getting screwed over pretty hard by the pandemic. Their job prospects went from great to total shit in the blink of an eye, as our economy went from extremely strong to being on the verge of a great depression due to the china virus. And taking online classes is clearly not the same experience as being on campus and interacting with classmates, friends, faculty, and being involved in extracurriculars. I'm hoping they will get a partial refund.

 

The way I look at capitalism is that it is the best economic policy we have that actually works in a modern society.

But I am all ears for a new form of economic policy that does not involve depressing individuals freedoms.

Capitalism has some Darwinian aspects that may seem to be inherently evil. Ex (targeting media to middle class households, targeting cigarettes to low income households)

 

I agree with what you're saying for the most part... entitled American kids are spoiled, narcissistic, privileged beyond understanding, and yes, very very soft. All of that is being highlighted during this lock-down. And is it annoying to see unnecessary, repetitive posts from hyper-privileged rich kids? Absolutely. But certain once in a lifetime hallmarks of peoples' lives may have been abruptly stripped (ie. graduation ceremonies, job opportunities, friends they may not see for years, graduation trip, etc.), or may have found themselves in tough financial situations. I think it's fair for them to publicly express some wholesome emotion to people who choose to follow them on social media and for others to show compassion if they choose to. Some might argue that it's even a good thing so long as its more of a constructive appreciation for the friends/opportunities/loved ones/this country and not solely bitching.

I'd also be careful in marking everyone who doesn't have the type-A, hardcore, diehard investment banker attitude as a pussy. Ultimately, people can do or say whatever they want to do. If they want to bitch, they're allowed to do so, and I'd just accept that not everyone has the same grind all day mentality that you (or me and other bankers) might have.

It's a bit extreme (and just confirms the "hardo" stereotype of bankers) to be saying things like "Pain, naturally, lies well outside our comfort zone; get off your couch and get in pain every damn day"... Truth is, 90% of people would think this is going way too far and that people aren't meant to be robots in isolation. Not saying you can't use this as an opportunity to better yourself. Just my two cents to be mindful that many people probably wouldn't agree that this is best for them.

 
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I think introverted people who can telework (many people on WSO, Twitter, Facebook, etc. who are virtue signaling over C19) and who live in a big city with easy access to supplies have shown an egregious lack of empathy during this crisis for the tens of millions of people who have lost their livelihood. They think to themselves, "This isn't so bad. I roll out of bed, do some push-ups, work on my laptop while I watch Netflix, get delivery from my favorite restaurant, and take a jog in the evening. My paycheck is still rolling in." When the reality is wildly different for countless millions who have lost their ability to earn a living and are essentially banned from going to look for a new job. The virtue-signalers can't put themselves in the place of a young person whose economic prospects were just obliterated in the blink of an eye, or the father who feels the humiliation of not being able to support his family, or the businessowner who is now facing bankruptcy, or the college students who are drowning in debt to attend a world class university told they are getting no refunds and are losing their experience, or the high schooler who will miss her prom.

I think the people showing no empathy for these people, frankly, make me sick.

Array
 

RIght. I saw someone mention capitalism. How is it capitalism when the government made it illegal to work basically and then shut down the businesses so you can't even find a job?

 
Controversial

Ah "virtue signaling", the most overused word in conservatism (or whatever today's GOP is) since "trickle-down".

I'll tell you what's virtue signaling. The "pro-life" party saying we must Die for the Dow and immediately re-open businesses while we're still dramatically undertesting and Covid Round One hasn't even peaked yet. The protest in Michigan yesterday was disgraceful. No one wants people out of work, and I'll fully agree this shutdown is hitting certain parts of the economy harder than others. But the virus does not care about your 401k or bank balance. If we re-open too soon, or too recklessly, this will only prolong the shutdown.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

I agree with you on 99% of that, but despite feeling sorry for the engineers / equity analysts / marketers / etc, I can't bring myself to feel the slightest bit sorry for the young investment banker who can now no longer be an investment banker. At least this way they might now have the chance to do something remotely productive for the economy by getting a different job at some point

 

Perhaps a steady relationship would be a better idea ? Commitment and discipline, etc ?! Perhaps playing around will be dead in a world with Covid ...

 

i dont have access to a gym, thats a hardship if i ever knew one. and this is coming from someone who was in iraq, surrounded by enemy combatants, low on ammo and most of my teammates killed on the xbox

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

We are soft because success made our lives easy. I was joking with my colleagues the other day, it took us 2 hours to set up a fire for the barbecue, we wouldn't survive a complete civilization breakdown. We are a bunch of spoiled brats. Most young adults until the generation of our grandparents fought a war and saw people die. Most of us would need a psychiatrist if internet shut down tomorrow and we still wouldn't figure out how to find one without Google.

There's a fundamental problem with technology making your life easy and that's becoming dependent on it and utterly worthless without it.

Never discuss with idiots, first they drag you at their level, then they beat you with experience.
 

100% agree with this. So many people I know keep complaining about how Zoom is "SO annoying" to me and these are people who I know are fine otherwise. I think the reason we are so soft is due to the hypersensitive culture at large. Tell someone they are fat, you'd immediately be told you are not being "inclusive". If you say that you think homosexuality is wrong/odd, that's it immediately you are a "homophobe." It's idiotic terms like these that have never left people's emotions hurt or challenged. Most social media platforms don't even have downvotes (other than WSO which is one of the main reasons I use this). What toughens someone up is facing adversity or having people confront your views. Without that, there's nothing.

 

All points raised are valid. Only aspect I disagree with is the length of time before things resume as pre-covid. I might be overly optimistic, but I have a hard time justifying the reliability of these models. Granted, they're overstated to provide a buffer.

Am I wrong for thinking a BB analyst would never be so off on a model? Only kidding.

 

There are 6 components to this pandemic that people are experiencing to various degrees that is driving different perspectives and responses.

1) Comfort of your shelter-in-place accommodations 2) Employed 3) Employed from home 4) Savings to weather this storm 5) Healthy 6) Alive

Many on this forum thankfully check all six boxes. Be thankful for as many of these as you can, and have empathy for those who aren't as fortunate.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

100%. Even beside the fact that we all have different chemical complexes to our brains that dictate how we respond to things emotionally, each person's external circumstances vary based on family situation, career/job, finances, personal relationships, etc. to the degree that not everyone can just be lumped into one of a few boxes. Of course push yourself to improve physically and/or mentally and "harden your mind" as OP says, just be understanding that not everyone's circumstances may allow them to use the situation in the same way

Array
 

I agree that people are complaining too much, but it’s hard to say that this is necessarily driven by weakness.

High expectations drive dissatisfaction, but that’s a source of strength for a lot of people. While it’s easy to be discontent and act to improve yourself (most on this forum), this situation is different because a lot of people feel powerless. Unlike your career, social life, and health, we can’t take immediate actions to improve our situation. This isn’t something we can fix.

 

The hell? This sounds like a rEaL MeN DoN'T crY and boomer complains about soft millenials post. Let me invalidate the suffering of millions of people and tell them it's their own fault.

 

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No pain no game.
 

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