“The most frustrating thing in the world for me, is when normal people judge a man like myself on what it really takes to extract greatness from nothing. It takes every bit of who you are.”
— David Goggins
Willpower is a muscle, just like lifting weights. Just like a muscle, in order to build it up, you must actively do things you do not want to do.
If you’re an athlete, you already understand this to an extent. When you’re training to run a marathon, you’re not training your physical muscles, as much as you are training your mind to overcome that barrier. When you progressively run more distance, and perhaps some days take it a bit easy, that’s a muscle.
Still don’t believe me? Don’t worry, the neuroscience is still new. It’s entirely possible I’m wrong. :)
I’ll start by sharing the podcast which made me realize this is an actual muscle:
https://medium.com/media/8ee564a66edae48d09412033fdadecf2/hrefI’d encourage you to take the time and watch that podcast in its entirety. It will answer any remaining questions you have about David Goggins.
In case Goggins is a bit too crude for you, I’ll share the following quote from Dr. Huberman in that exact episode:
“In humans, not some mouse, when people do something they don’t want to do, it’s not about adding more work. It’s about adding more work that you don’t want to do.”
He also introduces us to the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex.
“But Simon, you don’t have a doctorate. How do you know about this?”
I just showed you. The video is linked above. :)
The Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex is the part of your brain dealing with willpower. We now know we can measure it, how it’s related to the pleasure center of the brain, and even that it’s related to neuroticism. Decision-making skills? Yep.
As you can probably see, the science on this is incredibly new. If you’re in a position to fund academic research, please, graciously go fund research on this part of the brain. I genuinely want to see if someone can give me an agreeable dissent.
In the meantime, I’ll lean on psychology here:
https://medium.com/media/fcadeff588931b9ed5982bce2e058a3b/hrefI’m human, just like you. I can’t tell you to do things you don’t want to do. I’m also not right 100% of the time. In fact, if you’re okay reading the Bible, I’d recommend you read Matthew 18:3–5. It will explain a lot.
In short, your motivation and willpower has to come from you.
Not me, not Goggins, not Jocko, not Peterson. It has to come from within. I’m not talking spiritually here (again, does not replace the underlying spiritual motivators), but rather, mentally.
I walked 15 miles last week.
Did I want to walk 15 miles? Nope. It hurt.
Did I do it anyway, because it was sunny outside and I’ve been sincerely focused on improving my habit structure? Yes.
Did I inspire tons of people to start walking in a healthy way, just by leading by example? Yes.
My advice to you all is, remember to take your day off. That doesn’t mean a lazy day:
https://medium.com/media/e4eff5dc25bd5d9dfdb27acfd29b8be4/hrefMeaning, be responsible. Just know your own limits. Know your own personal local minimums and maximums. Know your absolutes, too. Show love to others; don’t hit them with a hammer from my toolbox, please.
That’s all for now. Be well. This week doesn’t have a theme; now I can finally write about more of the technical topics! :D
New month, new mixtape, by the way.
from Planet Ubuntu https://ift.tt/ZnPyUd7
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