Within my first year of moving abroad living on my own, my sister got ill – she got cancer – and at the same time, my mum got cancer, and she passed away. I think at that time it was a hard challenge for me to deal with it, but in a way, I have always taken strength out of anything that has come at me.
My knee is as strong as it was before, if not stronger, and it’s a matter of getting my leg strong. I lost six years of strength in about six month’s time, so it’s going to take another year or two to get that leg back up to full strength, but I’m good to go so far.
Being a strongman is a real test of functional strength. What can you pick up, carry and how fast can you move it. It’s not a weight room strength, it takes brute strength and power to lift, carry and pull all types objects from fire engines, Mack trucks, transport planes and large stones.
People are deeply interested in rewriting the established narratives and challenging what we see as the norm in every way. We want to see a new definition of beauty and sexy. We want to see different people look vulnerable and show strength and redefine what it means to be strong.
Vampires are so old that they don’t need to impress anyone anymore. They’re comfortable in their own skin. It’s this enigmatic strength that’s very romantic and old-fashioned. I think it goes back to something of a Victorian attitude of finding a strong man who’s going to look after his woman.
Strength of 100 men? I’d probably just get mad and hurt somebody and end up in jail. I think invisibility would probably be the best thing. I could be like, ‘You know what, let me just see what these folks are talking about over here.’ Then you could sneak into Rams cheerleaders’ locker room.
I train twice a day, and I make sure I eat right. I’m an avid tea drinker, and I enjoy the benefits of drinking MateFit. It gives me energy, speeds up my metabolism and helps me shed excess water weight. I also do everything from MMA sparring to strength and conditioning. I make sure to do a combination of different things with my training.
I have the deepest admiration for Angela Palmer and her work so having my helmet as her subject has been a true honour for me. I think the sculpture is stunning and very striking, it’s the most incredible combination of strength with fragility.
Then when I went to Iraq and saw the strength and character the men and women in our military service exhibit every day and their belief in what they’re doing, I knew I wanted to get that on film and share it with everyone. They are my inspiration.
I think the biggest difference is that I’ve noticed Western parents seem much more concerned about their children’s psyches, their self-esteem, whereas tough immigrant parents assume strength rather than fragility in their children and therefore behave completely differently.
People say, ‘Where do you get your strength from?’ Well, where does an ape get his strength from? They are 20 times stronger than humans, and they don’t rely on a meat-based diet. They eat plants all day long. It’s a myth that you need meat for strength.
As I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve come to appreciate – and really value – the other attributes that define a company’s success beyond the P&L: great leadership, long-term financial strength, ethical business practices, evolving business strategies, sound governance, powerful brands, values-based decision-making.
I have a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), which has affected my growth and bone strength. In short, people with the kind of OI I have generally experience hundreds of fractures in their lifetime and use wheelchairs for mobility.
The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.
The fact that we’re going through a crisis is an opportunity for Europe to be more coordinated and more integrated. We’re actually talking about a European Monetary Fund or euro bonds, about guarantees for countries, about economic governance in the European Union. That shows the strength of Europe.
Whereas nationalism still seeks power, honour, and glory through means that endanger other countries, patriotism knows that a country’s strength and honour can only be permanently safeguarded through concourse with other countries. And whereas nationalism scoffs at the idea of international laws and regulations, patriotism seeks to create such.
When I write down my thoughts, they do not escape me. This action makes me remember my strength which I forget at all times. I educate myself proportionately to my captured thought. I aim only to distinguish the contradiction between my mind and nothingness.
Increased spiritual strength is a gift from God which He can give when we push in His service to our limits. Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our natures can be changed. Then our power to carry burdens can be increased more than enough to compensate for the increased service we will be asked to give.
I am just so thankful that my mom was a fantastic mom. She wasn’t a stage mother; she didn’t push me. She was happy if I was happy. We are so different. I was very shy; my mom did all the talking. She was my strength. She never expected that I would be this ballerina.
I’m used to very strong women because my mother was particularly strong, and my father was away all the time. My mother was a big part of bringing up three boys, so I was fully versed in the strength of a powerful woman, and accepted that as the status quo.
I read everything, but generally more fact than fiction – especially autobiographies and biographies. I’ve read ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela at least twice on holiday. Every time, I’m totally awed by his vision, strength and forgiveness. I feel honoured to have got to know him and his wonderful wife Graca over the years.
But when I lived as a monk, solitude is often spoken of as a strength. And so the first thing I’d recommend is finding one thing that you can do every single day that brings you joy. It may be reading a book you love. It may be looking at a beautiful piece of art.
I don’t think you necessarily have to be crazy-fit for freeskiing. So much of the sport has to do with agility and nimbleness and flexibility and other things. It’s a lot of muscle memory – it’s more like dance, in a way – it’s technique more than strength or endurance.
You can only see ‘Star Wars’ for the first time once, and people are watching it again and again and again, and it’s a testament to the strength beyond the plot twists that it has. The narrative strength that it has is that it can be enjoyed even though you know the biggest plot elements in it.
I must thank my good friend Nigel Brennan. His strength of character in the midst of extreme hardship inspired me during the darkest days. Despite our separation, he always managed to find small ways to remind me that there are gentlemen in the world, even when I was surrounded by just the opposite.
