If you can see yourself doing something, you can do it. If you can’t see yourself doing it, usually you can’t achieve it. – David Goggins
David Goggins is a Navy Seal, endurance athlete and all around hardcore dude you probably dont want to mess with. I could talk about him all day, but this video does a much better job with a lot less words. Take just 6 minutes and watch this video. We’ll be talking about it the rest of the post.
David Goggins – Human 2.0: The Long Run
There’s not much I don’t like about David Goggins. He’s doing impossible things, shattering expectations, pushing his limits and doing it for a great reason (raise scholarship money for children of fallen soldiers). However, the greatest takeaway I got from David was this quote about how he manages to keep going, despite the mental and physical walls that crop up during something as tasking as his ultra-endurance events:
In a race, you hit several walls. Every time you hit a wall, it’s a big deciding factor in that race, or in life, if you’re not running. You have a big decision to make. You can either stop at that wall and go parallel left or parallel right. You are looking for that door. When you get to that door you have another decision to make. Should I open it or should I keep it closed. If you keep it closed you made the decision to quit. If you open that door you made the decision to carry on, to continue on your journey or mission, whatever you’re on. I always open that door! Once you open that door, and you go through it, your mind resets and it gives you a few more miles.
I love it.
Your limits don’t exist. They’re just a wall…with a door in it. Keep moving until you find the door. You might go left for a while, you might go right for a while, but if you keep going, you will find that door. And then you get to choose…
I know times where I’ve hit a wall, found the door and kept going. There’s also a few times that I can point to where I’ve hit the wall and found the door and called it quits. I didn’t go through that door.
Those memories suck. Because I know you missed an opportunity. To push my limits even further. To see what I was really made of. To see if what I was doing was really literally impossible.
Don’t miss an opportunity.
WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE DONE YOU’RE ONLY 40% OF WHAT YOUR BODY IS CAPABLE OF DOING. THAT’S JUST THE LIMIT THAT WE PUT ON OURSELVES. – David Goggins
When you hit a wall. Keep going, even if you can’t go forward anymore. Go to the right. Go to the left. But keep going. Eventually you’ll find a door. And when you do find it. Go through it. And don’t stop. Ever.
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NerveRush
The David Goggins video featured in this post is one of many like it that you can find at NerveRush. NerveRush is a joint side project I created with Alan Perlman (also known as the worlds most mysterious man) focused on compiling the most gut-wrenching and thrill-seeking video clips into a collective mishmash of adrenaline. If you love adventure, adrenaline and endurance, you’ll love NerveRush. If you’re interested, take a shot of adrenaline and let us know what you think. If adrenaline isn’t your thing, no worries, there are a lot more projects in the works.
Impossible League Community
Speaking of projects, we have over 120+ people in the Impossible League community. We’ll be talking about challenges next week and we’ll start our first 30 day challenge at the beginning of October. It’s gonna be awesome. Join in the league and don’t miss out.
Impossible T-Shirts
Also, a lot of people have been asking me about Impossible t-shirts. They should be in by next week. I’m probably mord excited to unveil them than most things in recent memory, so give me a few days to wrap things up and I’ll have them ready to go. And they’ll be awesome. Like really awesome. Promise
Your timing w/ the Goggins clip is impeccable. I have my longest training run tomorrow morning (running towards Mt Rainier). After a less than stellar performance during a 10k last weekend, my brain has been hyped up over my long run all week. I’m shooting for 11 miles tomorrow and I’m pretty sure I will find that wall and when I do, I’m going to replay this clip in my head. Thank you. 🙂
I hope you rocked your training run! Remember, when you think you are done, you’re only at 40% of what your body is capable of.
I did! 11 miles with a big jump at the end in celebration. 40%… wow, so my 1st half should be in the bag!
At that pace, you could do 27.5 miles :). First FULL marathon in the bag!
Why the flip am I sitting at my computer when I could be moving?! This is a FANTASTIC post, Joel, and David Goggins is an inspiration.
He is borderline human :). Makes me feel like I need to step my game up!
Are the three missing “e” letters in the last paragraph some kind of secret code?
I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.
Recently had hit a metaphoric wall after ending a long term relationship – didn’t want to do anything – somehow managed to pick my self up and keep going, this is a beautiful reminder to keep on keeping on.. Signing up for the league now (“,) – Thanks for sharing
Awesome. Glad to have you Zulu. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!
Thanks for the motivation! as soon as I saw the video I got up and almost sprinted 5 miles thinking of this! There’s a month left for the MC Marathon, so with David Goggins motivational speech, it should be a walk in the park.
Thanks for posting!
When I watch this Video I always want to punch myself because it just makes it stone cold clear that I am not working my limits. Damn, I’ll go for a run now.