For the past few months, I have been training as hard as I possibly can for the New York Hyrox competition. Up to ten workout sessions a week. Every meal calculated. Sleep scheduled like surgery. No alcohol. Every variable optimized.

This effort has given me something that cannot be bought or borrowed: appreciation.

Now when I watch Hyrox elites compete, I see with different eyes. What once looked merely impressive now appears miraculous. Because I know what it feels like to push a heavy sled and then run a kilometer with burning lungs. I know the agony of picking yourself up after 80 meters of burpee broad jumps when your body is screaming to quit. I know how brutally hard it is to train for this event, day after day. I know these athletes have endured thousands of hours of unglamorous suffering. So while others might watch the best and feel impressed, I watch and feel genuinely awestruck.

This applies to any skill. I have never seriously tried to play an instrument, so when I hear a great guitar riff, I think "that's nice" and move on. But I have tried to be a great writer, and when I read exceptional writing, I'm genuinely amazed at how someone could arrange words so well.

If you want to experience that sense of awe, try as hard as you can to be great yourself. Pick something you truly care about, commit fully, struggle authentically, and that awe will find you.