The 110% Theory: How We Stretch Our Limits Until Life Feels Easier
If you’ve played sports (and we’re any good lol), there’s a moment where the game suddenly feels slow.
The basket looks bigger.
The golf swing feels smoother.
The field looks calmer.
Nothing outside changed, we did.
It’s like flow state.
That’s the 110% Theory.
It’s the idea that we purposely stretch our limits, step into slightly more pressure than we’re used to, and let our mind and body adapt… until the things that once stressed us at a 10 now barely register as a 2.
This isn’t about flow state.
It’s about stress inoculation, like a mental calous.
Stress inoculation: raising the tides so the waves feel safe
Think about the first time we ever drove a car.
Heart racing.
Both hands gripping the wheel.
Every noise felt like danger.
Now?
We drink water, change the song, think about our day, and don’t panic at 65 mph.
The car didn’t get safer.
We just grew into the stress.
The same happens everywhere:
first sales call vs 100th
first presentation vs 10th
first breakup vs healing later
first $1,000 earned vs first $100,000 earned
first cold plunge vs week three of doing it
We didn’t eliminate stress.
We outpaced it.
“Game speed” vs “practice speed”
Athletes know this.
If we only ever train at “comfortable speed,” the game will always feel fast.
But when we push:
110% sprints
full-speed drills
harder shots
tougher scrimmages
The game slows down.
We’re not overwhelmed anymore, we’re prepared.
Life works the same way.
Raise your stress in controlled environments
→ meetings feel lighter
→ conversations feel easier
→ pressure feels normal
We don’t avoid intensity.
We train for it.
Why 110% matters (not 150%, not burnout)
110% is intentional.
Not panic.
Not overwhelm.
Not wrecking our nervous system.
Just slightly past comfort.
Enough to stretch us.
Not enough to break us.
Go just beyond where we normally stop:
2 more reps
5 more minutes of focus
one more uncomfortable conversation
send the message we’re scared to send
post the thing we’re scared to post
Do that consistently…
and our old “limits” become our new warm-up.
This is the golf swing. This is basketball. This is life.
In golf:
Swing faster than you need to
→ actual swing feels smooth.
In basketball:
Practice at full speed
→ game speed feels slow.
In life:
Operate beyond comfort
→ life feels lighter.
Stress isn’t the enemy.
Under-exposure is.
If everything feels like “too much,” it usually means we just haven’t trained at a higher level yet.
The moment everything changes
There’s a quiet moment we all experience:
What used to break us
now barely bothers us.
Same problem.
Different person.
We didn’t pray for lighter problems.
We became someone who could carry heavier ones.
Repeat these long enough and what used to be your mountain… is now a tiny speed bump. Your old “limit” becomes your warm-up.
Final thought
Most people wait for life to get easier.
But life isn’t supposed to get easier.
We are supposed to get stronger.
Go 110%.
Stretch the boundary.
Let stress become familiar instead of frightening.
Then watch how what used to be “overwhelming”
becomes “just another Tuesday.”
We’re already in the game.
We might as well learn to play it at full speed.
