Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
Michael Jordan
Imagine sitting on your couch, not having run more than 1 mile in the last 6 months, and deciding you want to run an Ultra-Marathon, a race extending over 130 miles, through Death Valley in the middle of the summer. And just to have the opportunity to run in this, you must qualify through a 100-mile race in 3 days. Do you think you could run it? Well that’s exactly what the Navy Seal, David Goggins did.
After experiencing the loss of friends and fellow soldiers in combat in Afghanistan, he knew he needed to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a non-profit foundation that provides scholarships to the kids of military personnel killed in the line of duty. To fundraise, rather than doing a fun-run, he dedicated himself to endure the most extreme long-distance race in the world.
For those who don’t know, David Goggins is known as being one of the hardest people on the planet. He has pushed his body through some of the toughest environments on the planet and has proven time and time again that the human mind and body are capable of more than we think.
There are periods in our life where we face an uphill battle. We may be depressed or struggle to pick ourselves up after a failure. During these times it’s easy to throw in the towel, curl up in bed and toss on Netflix (at times I’ve certainly used this strategy). However, we all know this does nothing to help us.
Goggins came from nothing, grew up in an abusive household, put himself through numerous military training schools despite not knowing how to swim and ran on broken legs, and had all kinds of other obstacles in his path. None of this stopped him.
He pushed past his previous boundaries of comfortability and in doing so he created a great tool called the “Cookie Jar” method. I’ve certainly used this to help motivate myself when I’m doubtful of my path in life or what I’m capable of.
The Cookie Jar Method:
Go back over all of your most important past experiences. Look at both your successes and failures, pulling together the lessons learned and the obstacles you’ve overcome. Now what the most important aspect is as you repeat these “cookies,” don’t just say them, feel deeply into the experiences. Really feel the emotion associated with what you’ve done.
Some examples I like to use from my life include:
- Nearly failing out of school my freshman year at SMU due to illnesses and then graduating with honors, despite health issues.
- Growing 8 inches in 6 months when I was in high school, dropping to the last position on the varsity golf team, and two months later winning the state championship.
- Becoming sick and coming close to death only to discover where my true passions lay and what I’m looking for in life – giving insights into who I am as well as the confidence to pursue my dreams.
- Continuing to practice mentally (and as much as I physically can) despite my current liver failure and an enlarged spleen.
- Doing my visualization exercises each day even with the painful migraines/headaches and brain fog.
I pull one of these out when I think I’m in too much pain or too weak to practice, when I’m struggling to deal with mental fatigue or even just motivating myself up out of bed each day. Find the experiences in your life that have meaning to you and you’ll soon find they act as fuel to your fire.
Goggins used his cookies to find the emotional energy to run another 30 miles after the first 70 in his qualifying race to have a chance to run through death valley because he knew the cause was worth it. Although we might not be running 135 miles in the hottest place on earth, we can use this tool as a stepping stone to a better, more motivated life. Use it to get over both physical and mental obstacles and you’ll soon see that you’re capable of much more than you previously thought.
The cookie jar is a place in my mind where I put all things bad and good that shaped me. Some people try to forget the bad in their life. I use my bad for strength when needed, great lessons learned. In that cookie jar, I pull out whatever I need for the task at hand.
David Goggins