The World's Strongest Librarian, Josh Hanagarne

One blogger I’ve just started following is Josh Hanagarne, who is known around the web as the World’s Strongest Librarian. Josh is a big guy, but his stature pales in comparison to his passion for helping others discover their innate and abundant potential. He writes about strength, health, getting what you want out of life, and his past struggles and recent triumphs with Tourette’s syndrome. I rarely encounter someone so authentically engaging on the Internet, and I want all of my readers to get to know this inspirational guy. After you’ve met him once, you’ll never forget him.

Here’s an interview we whipped up today (he’s punctual, too!)…

1) What’s your story?

That’s a big question. I had an English professor say there is only one story: someone wants something they can’t have and they are trying to get it. They either succeed or fail.

I believe that. In that context, here’s my story: for the last 27 years, I have wanted nothing more than to just sit still. I have Tourette’s Syndrome, which I won’t get into too much detail about—here are the broad strokes. TS makes people either move or vocalize involuntarily usually it’s mild.

In my case it has resulted in a hernia, broken teeth, a dislocated thumb, three years without being able to talk much because of an experimental botox procedure, an abysmal amount of self-loathing and depression, and many other challenges.

For the last 27 years I’ve had one goal: sit still for one minute. Doctors said “deal with it.” Neurologists said, “Here, have some pills.” They never helped me at all.

A couple of days ago I sat still for four hours without one tic. Over 14,000 seconds. That’s the story to date. What’s next is curing myself, replicating it with others, and annoying my underdelivering doctors.

If I have a “Life’s Work,” it is to spread kindness, compassion, and convince people of how much they are worth, especially when they are down on themselves. Continue reading Interview with the World’s Strongest Librarian, Josh Hanagarne