Modern Wisdom Podcast with Chris Williamson – David Goggins – How To Master Your Life
- David Goggins (Twitter: @davidgoggins, IG: @davidgoggins) is a retired United States Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner, triathlete, public speaker, and author of the best-selling book Can’t Hurt Me. He is also the author of a new book, Never Finished.
- In Goggins’ first podcast appearance in four years, he and Chris Williams discuss what he has been up to the last few years, the dangers of success, Navy SEAL selection, the most painful pursuit of his life, what people get wrong about motivation and discipline, his morning routine and typical day, being studied by Andrew Huberman, and so much more
A little too harsh SEAL training
- SEAL training is for the 1%, so some of the things that occur in the training program should seem excessive to the 99%
- It takes a very unique person and mind to do some of the jobs that necessary in this world
- Mental toughness is a perishable skill
- You must continuously requalify mental toughness or you lose it
Keep running even if there is no marathon coming up
- It is important to continue to perform when there is not an upcoming race or exam – calls this “performance without a purpose”
- If you are not constantly performing without a purpose, then you are not going to be ready when there the race or exam does come up
- The purpose to perform is always there, regardless if is there is a race on the schedule or not because you are the purpose
- If you wake up in the morning and do not want to do something, you do not care enough about yourself
- The number one purpose in life is to better oneself
How to overcome a bully
- The best approach to “solve” bullying is to study the bully
- Whether you have been bullied or not, there will come a time when the brutality of the world reveals itself to you
- Build a person who can withstand the pressure of whatever may come to them in life
- Trauma and devastation will come; you cannot allow it to be a barrier to whatever it is you want out of life
- Do something that sucks every day to prepare for the unchosen suffering of the world
The David Goggins One-Second Decision Theory
- The David Goggins One-Second Decision Theory says that it only takes one second for you to fail at what you are pursuing
- In the 130 hours of Hell Week, there are tons of one-second decisions about whether or not to quit
- If a person fails at any one of those one-second decisions, they will not be a Navy SEAL
- It is hard to process information during pain
- We all want to quit when experiencing extreme discomfort or pain
- The One-Second Decision is about gaining control of your mind, putting things back in the proper perspective, and then saying, “I really do want to be here”
- Do not let your mind take control of you during that one-second
The phone is the biggest distraction in the world and constantly takes you out of the present moment
I’m not one that likes to hear himself talk a lot. I’m about action.
Who are smokejumpers?
- David started a new career as a smokejumper in the past year
- Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who are called in to provide initial attack response on remote wildland fires
- Smokejumpers jump out of airplanes so they can land in the remote area of the fire that a vehicle could not get to
- Smokejumpers will be out in the wilderness for days until the fire is put out, and they are often the only ones responding to the fire on the ground
- David got into smoke jumping because he is “always looking for more” and the next thing that will help him grow
- He did not want to sit back and enjoy his military retirement; there is no growth in that
Success can me you soft
- You have to learn to cap success to prevent it from making you soft
- Take what people say with a grain of salt
- Stay hungry, but more importantly, stay humble
- You lose the second that you look at yourself as better than someone else
Motivation is misunderstood
- People erroneously think that motivation is a constant; nothing is permanent, including motivation, which tends to come and go
- You must learn to train your mind so it does not rely on motivation
- Learn to be your best self when you are least motivated
- Organize and compartmentalize your mind before you rely on discipline
You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Outwork your self-doubt.
Your mind must always be clear. That’s why I meditate two hours every single night.
The mixtape of hate messages
As you become more successful in life, the number of your critics will also increase.
- You will never meet a hater doing better than you
Some reasons why people hate Goggins:
- They are probably comfortable in a warm bed watching him do challenging things
- They are probably an underachiever
- They do not want to do anything with their life
- Other peoples extreme success makes people question everything about themselves
Build unshakable confidence
- If you have calluses on your hands, you do not need to pound your chest in the mirror
- Confidence comes from the thing that you built; you must build belief and confidence
- It is good to dream, but work must follow the dream
- Do not let dreams become your master, but become the master of your dreams
Don’t ever be ashamed of anything you’ve ever done in your life. Face it, fix it, make it better.
You do not just wake up and “Rocky” your life; there is a process to getting better, and that process is never finished.