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When You Weren’t Given The Gifts, Work Every Waking Hour – How Hard Work Beats Natural Talent · Motivational Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Seems like a huge part of your process, maybe the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: entire process is it's all stick, no carrot. You know,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: you talk about the carrot, the positive thing, and then
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: there's the stick, the thing you're trying to avoid. I
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: feel like it's the way it's landing for me, is
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: it's all stick and gas pedal it. There's no carrot.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: You're not imagining. Oh, when I'm a paramedic, when the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: book is published, and obviously you set those goals and
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: you make those targets, but it's all stick, a stick,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: no carrot.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Think about that. I'm waking up right now, studying like
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I have a test tomorrow. All right, passed the test.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Think about that every day in my life. That's what
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: I must do just to retain what I learned. Four
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: hours plus a day, I go through and do that.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: There's no stick, or there's only a stick. There's never
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: been a carrot. Which is why when I speak to people,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I have to figure out a way to resonate with them,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: because all I want to say to them is, let
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: me teach you the real life how it really is,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: the reason why you're a loser and the reason why
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: you're not making it, and the reason why you're trying
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: to go through all these I go to all these conventions,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: speak all the time. I look into an audience, and
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: these people sign up, sign up, sign up. Can never
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: year go to convention thinking they're gonna learn something different. No,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: you're lazy. You know exactly what to do, exactly what
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: to do, because even me, in my state of I
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: can't read or write, I knew exactly what to do.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: It just sucks doing it. It sucks to do it.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: It sucks to wake up every morning of your life
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: and say, God, man, I'm I'm not smart. So guess
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: what I gotta do. I gotta I gotta study the
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: same I got one of the highest scores in the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: nation on and do it again, do it again, do
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: it again. It's not just there. It's not just there
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: permanently for me. So yeah, it's all stick. It's all stick.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: The only care that you have is like maybe maybe,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: because whenever I take these tests that are real hard,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: in the back of my brain is like, the good
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: chance you're not gonna make it, goggins. This ain't you, bro,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: This ain't you. You weren't born like this. This ain't you.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: The real you bro? Study all you want you, But
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the second that computer comes on with one hundred and
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: fifty questions, this ain't you man? And somehow comes back.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: I passed, passed again, passed again, but that ruled me
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: back here every time it's saying that ain't you, bro,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: that ain't you? And I have to outwork that voice.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: When I'm taking that test and I get to a
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: question I don't know the answer, I'm like, fuck man,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: and then he says, I told you, man, that ain't
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: you you? Three hundred pounds?
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Man?
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: You sit at homie, figure out how to do your hair,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: that's what you do. How to come to school with
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: the reverse baldness when you're sixteen. That's you. So there
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: is no getaga a free card. This is why I
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: say stay hard, because when you weren't given the gifts,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: the only thing you can do in life is stay hard.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: And I know people cannot stand me, they can't stand
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: this talk. This is all you can do. There's no
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: magic pill or a magic potion. All you can do
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: is out work the man that God created or woman
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: in you. And what that looks like is unfun. That's
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: why I said, do not do a documentary on me,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: because people will not see the truth. They will see
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: what they want to see is I don't want to
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: live like that. Good good, and you will live exactly
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: the way you live now, questioning who you are, wondering
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: what it's possible, wondering what you are capable of doing.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: That's how that looks, or you can be me? Which
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: am I happy? I don't know, never.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Thought about it.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: You don't really cared about it, because all I really
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: cared about was I looked in after the mirror. I
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: saw a piece of happiness. Wasn't on the mirror at sixteen,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: around three hundred pounds. It wasn't like, oh, I'm looking
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: for happiness. No, I'm looking looking at myself in the
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: mirror and say all right, motherfuck you did again today.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: You're a bad boy. Because that sucks. They have about
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: a couple of minutes of that. Right, got the carrot. Second,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: lay down and go to bed. The care is gone
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: because I'm waking up all through the night to check
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: the work I did that day. That get this drug right?
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: I get this right? I get that right? Would I do?
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm ready losing it.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Stick.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: You must take advantage of any opportunity to strengthen your resolve,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: because when life hits you in the mouth, you will
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: need that resolve. Of course, knowing that doesn't make it
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: easy to re engage when everything is actually getting out
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: there and running. The last one hundred and thirty five
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: miles demanded a level of focus and commitment that is
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: hard to find where you've been down and out for
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: half a day. Fortunately, I've been in a dup situation
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: so many times before I knew what to do. For starters,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: I had to stay locked in mentally. A lot of
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: people fall down when they get smacked, and when they
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: hit the ground they lose all momentum, not just physically
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: but mentally because they're humiliated. And when you are humiliated,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: it is impossible to make any sort of progress. We
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: must learn how to absorb life's haymakers without getting knocked down,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: because picking yourself up off the canvas is the hardest,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: longest step of all as you fight to regain your momentum. Yes,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I had to shut it down for half a day.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Yes all the goals I had for MOAP two hundred
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: and forty had been obliterated. Yes, my body was a mess,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: but mentally I was still on my feet and in
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: the race because I'm not living life for the same
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: reasons as almost everyone else. The rewards I seek are internal,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and if you have that mindset, you will find opportunities
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: for growth everywhere. During tough times, that growth can be exponential.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I wasn't going to win the race or finish in
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: a respectable time, but I had been gifted another rare
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: opportunity to test myself in adverse conditions and become more.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: If anything, my desire to finish had only grown thanks
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: to the mess I'd made. At the same time, I
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: needed to ease some of the pressure I'd placed on myself.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Pressure comes with high expectations, which is great because it
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: can bring out your best, but there are times when
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: it can be more helpful to offload pressure. When you
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: are exhausted. It is vital to remain in control of
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: your thoughts and emotions so you can make decisions with
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: your right mind. Choosing to relieve pressure allows you to
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: do that. When the pressure is high, you develop blinders
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: that limit perspective. That's great for certain situations that demand
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: hyper focus, but when you're engaged in something that demands
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: your maximum endurance, it's better to broaden your perspective and
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: your awareness to absorb more of the experience, which enables
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: maximum growth both during the event and in the days
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: and weeks to follow. Besides, if you allow that unrelenting
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: pressure to build, you're liable to snap and make a
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: bad situation a whole lot worse. Remember, the goal is
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: always to complete the mission, whatever it may be, with
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: no regrets and a clear head, so you can use
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: it to progress in life. Cultivating a willingness to succeed
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: despite any and all circumstances is the most important variable
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: of the re engagement equation. Your willingness to succeed builds
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: self esteem, it broadens your concept of your own capability.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Yet it is the first thing we lose touch with
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: when things go bad. After that, giving up often feels
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: like the sanest option, and maybe it is, but know
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: that quitting chips away at yourself worth and always requires
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: some level of mental rehab. Even if what forces you
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to quit is an injury or something else beyond your control,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: you will still have to bounce back from the experience mentally,
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: A successful mission seldom requires any emotional maintenance. In order
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: to execute on your willingness to succeed, you will need
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: to be able to form without purpose. You've heard of purpose,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: that magical missing ingredient crucial to landing a fulfilling career
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: and building a happy life. What if I told you
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: the importance of finding your purpose was overblown? What if
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: there never was any such thing as your good friend purpose.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: What if it doesn't matter what you do with your
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: time here? What if it's all arbitraryan life doesn't give
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: a flying if you want to be happy? What then
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: all I know is this, I am David Googgins. I exist.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Therefore I complete what I start. I take pride in
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: my effort and in my performance in all phases of life,
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: just because I am here. If I'm lost, I will
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: find myself as long as I'm on planet Earth. I
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: will not half asset anywhere I lack. I will improve
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: because I exist and I am willing. This is the
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: mentality we should all strive for when we're stuck, Because
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: when you're in the hurt locker, you must be your
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: own motivator, your own drill instructor. In the dark moments,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: you must remind yourself why you chose to be there
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: in the first place. That takes an edgy tone when
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: you're offked up and looking for more. The only tone
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: you should allow inside your head is the tone of
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: a warrior, the tone of someone prepared to plunge deep
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: inside their own soul to find the energy they need
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: to keep up the fight and prevail. It's funny how
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: our goals are only as elastic as our sense of self,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: of who we are and what we think we can accomplish.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: If all you've ever done is run three miles at
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: a clip, then a ten mile run can feel as
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: far as the moon. Your mind will compile reasons why
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: that distance is beyond you, and you may believe them.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: If ten becomes the new normal, then a half or
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: full marathon may be the next step. After a marathon
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: comes ultra. Each time you level up, your mind will
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: step in like an overbearing chaperone and try to shut
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: down the party. That very dynamic was playing out in
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: my own mind on the long drive. When I was
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: to swim as a teenager, I spent all my time
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: in the shallow end of the pool because there was
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: no fear there. Even after I've become proficient, I swam
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: laps in the shallow end because it soothed me. Knowing
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: that with each stroke I damned near scrape bottom. If
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I got too tired and wanted to quit, I could
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: simply stand up, and that gave me both comfort and confidence.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: It allowed me to work on my stroke without fear
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: getting in the way. There is nothing inherently wrong with that,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: as long as we are clear that the shallow end
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: work we put in is all about preparation for the
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: deep end. But that was not my mindset at that
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: point in my life. The way the pool complex was
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: laid out made it impossible to ignore the deep end.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Each day I left the locker room, I had to
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: walk by the ten foot section. Occasionally I stepped to
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: the ledge and looked down. That ten foot floor felt
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: bottomless to me, so I tucked tail and strolled toward
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: the cozy, little three foot marker. With each step, my
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: dread faded, while my comfort swelled, and that with my psyche.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: I did my best to clear it out of my
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: mind as I swam, but it lodged in there like
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: a thorn, lap after lap, day after day. When something
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: continually looms in the back of your mind like a taunting,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: that's in alarm. It's a signal that you need to
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: evaluate and address that issue, or it may become a
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: lifelong fear, looming larger each day until it morphs into
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: an obstacle you may never overcome. There is nothing wrong
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: with being afraid or hesitant. We all have our reasons
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: for remaining in the shallow end, but we must make
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: our shallow end a training ground. Too often we treat
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: our training terrain as a lazy boy. We lay back,
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: get comfy, and then have the audacity to wonder why
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: our lives aren't getting any better while we do the
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: same shit we've always done. I should have been using
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: my time and the shallow end as mental preparation, imagining
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: deep water. With every stroke, you have to train your
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: mind as if you are already there. If you get
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: tired while swimming laps in the shallow end, don't give
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: yourself the option of standing up in the middle of
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: the lane. Your only resting point should be the gunnell
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: at the other end of the pool. That way, when
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: you get to the ten foot end, you know from
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: experience that you can make the distance. But back then
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: I was merely a survivor. I wasn't a warrior capable
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: of thriving in discomfort. So I chose to bury my
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: dread and log my pool hours in the shallows with
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: no end in sight. A lot of us grow out
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: of life's shallow end, but stay there because we fear
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: the unknown. I'm thinking of those who remain in a
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: secure job they hate, instead of cutting ties and starting
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: up their own business or applying for a new position elsewhere.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Most are intimidated by an unknown future, filled with variables
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and consequences they can't control or foresee. I know a
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: person who ran other people's thriving businesses for twenty years,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: but was afraid to run her own. She knew every
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: aspect of what it took to become a successful entrepreneur,
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: but rather than acknowledge her experience and use it as
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: a confidence supply, she let her irrational fears keep her
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: running in place for someone else. You need to evaluate
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: what you are feeling. Not every emotion deserves to be ratified. Remember,
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: if you stay where you've always been, you will never
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: learn if you have what it takes to venture into
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: the deep water.