Transcription
I'm going to share a little Neuroscience
tidbit but I think it's one that you'll
appreciate um most people don't know
this but there's a brain structure
called the anterior mid singulate cortex
but what's interesting about this brain
area is there now a lot of data mhm in
humans showing that when people do
something they don't want to do like add
3 hours of exercise per day or per week
or when people who are trying to diet
and lose weight resist eating something
right when people do anything that 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 yes this brain
area gets bigger yep now here's what's
especially interesting about this brain
area to me and by the way I'm only
learning this recently MH because it's
new data but there's a lot of it the
anterior mid singulate
cortex is smaller in obese
people it gets bigger when they
diet it's larger in athlet
it's especially large or grows larger in
people that see themselves as challenged
and overcome some challenge
right and in people that live a very
long time
mhm this
area keeps its size in many ways
scientists are starting to think of the
anterior mid singulate cortex not just
as one of the seats of willpower right
but perhaps actually the seat of of the
will to live and when I learned about
the anterior mid singulate cortex I was
like almost out of my seat and I've been
in the Neuroscience game since I was 20
you're the same age and I was so pumped
cuz I've heard of the amydala fear
prefrontal cortex it's planning and
action I could tell you every brain area
and every I teach neuro Anatomy to
magical students but when I started
seeing the data on the anter mid
singulate cortex I was like whoa this is
interesting Y and all the data point to
the fact that we can build this area up
y but that as quickly as we build it up
if we don't continue to invest in things
that are hard for us that we don't want
to do that's the part that feels so
gogin esque sir to me that we don't want
to do like if you love the ice bath yeah
I love the ice bath you go from 1 minute
to 10 minutes guess what your anterior
mid singulate cortex did not grow none
but if you hate the cold water if you're
afraid of drowning and you get into
water and put your head on Y and survive
then the ENT mid singulate cortex gets
bigger but if you don't do it the next
day or if you do it the next day and you
enjoy it cuz hey hey I did it yesterday
woohoo happy me Merry Christmas as you
say Merry Christmas guess what the an
mid singulate cortex shrinks again yep
to me this is one of the most important
discoveries that Neuroscience has ever
made mhm because it's that I don't want
to do something but do it anyway that's
right that grows this area and it's
almost like I have a a friend he's been
sober 30 years from alcohol and he
always says you know the amazing thing
about addiction is there's a cure the
problem is it only works one day at a
time yep and so you have to renew it
every day that's right so the an mid
singulate cortex to me when I learned
about it two two things went off in my
head whoa this is super interesting and
two I got to tell David Goggins about
this and I waited until now to tell you
because I felt like I well for obvious
reasons I wanted to tell you and I
wanted to tell you here well I love that
because that's how I've lived my entire
life I don't know anything about that
but people go man you have such a strong
will it's something that you build like
I never forgot I was on a podcast one
time and this dude goes you were blessed
with a strong
mind
like the hell you talking about it's
blessed with a strong mind you that's
something that you have to
develop you develop that over
years decades of suffering and going
back into the suffer that's why a lot of
people who graduate Navy SE training
they want know like in my I talk about
very openly all the
time a lot of guys don't go don't want
to go back into that water don't want to
go back into the hard stuff maybe not in
anything hard anything hard in life once
you get through it it's like you become
a p
like how many PS you know want to go
back to p camp
none when something sucks so bad in life
this is on this that we're talking about
now very few people want to go back
they're happy they
graduated I realized I'm the same way I
don't want to go
back I have to go back I must go back
because that is exactly where all the
knowledge of my life is exists was back
there and what you're exactly what
you're talking about well I I didn't
know anything about this but how I grew
a will was constantly doing these things
to now it's just
life I wake up while I still sucks it's
just life you don't sit back and like oh
my God like I have days I don't want to
do but I know I'm going to do
it I know from years of just doing it so
that that that's that's beautiful and
this is why I came on here with you
today and I'm I'm glad you're talking
about this because human beings need to
hear this they need to stop hearing
these
hacks on this and that there's noing
hack bro there's noing hack yeah you may
this and that and saunas and all this
that they yeah it's great there is noing
life hack to grow that thing how do you
grow it do it and do it and do it and do
it that's the hack the hack is going
toing suck and that's what I realized
that's what I realized life that's why I
wanted to come on here today I didn't
want to come on here and talk about
noing passion and purpose and how to get
the out of bed and how to hit a [ __ ]
alarm clock and all this catchphrase
[ __ ] cuz that wasn't how I
lived it wasn't how I lived I lived I
woke up like every human being does and
goes man I'm a [ __ ] piece of [ __ ]
today how the hell is this going to work
work out for me and you fight that and
you fight that you don't override it
it's no override button it's the
conversation in your in your head so how
do you do that we don't have enough
these conversations about the real
conversation that every human being is
having and they have no idea how to get
out of it but they
do it's that right there man you got to
build your will how do you build your
will exactly what you said man exactly
what you he
said your knee looks pretty bad Goggins
no [ __ ] [ __ ] doc with two days to go
in walk week I'd come by medical for a
followup the doctor rolled up my camo
pants and when he gave my right kneecap
a gentle squeeze pain seized my brain
but I couldn't show it I was playing a
role I was the beat up but otherwise
healthy Bud student ready for the fight
and I couldn't so much as Grimace to
pull it off I already knew the knee
wased and that the odds of getting
through another five months of training
on one leg Rel low but accepting another
roll back meant enduring another hell
week and that was way too much to
process the swelling hasn't gone down
much how's it feel the doctor was
playing a role too seal candidates had a
don't ask don't tell agreement with most
of the medical staff at Naval special
Warfare command I wasn't about to make
the doctor's job easier by revealing
anything to him and he wasn't going to
take caution side and pull the rip cord
on a man's
dream he lifted his hand and my pain
faded I coughed and pneumonia once again
rattled in my lungs until I felt the
cold truth of his stethoscope on my skin
ever since hell week was called I've
been coughing up brown knots of mucus
for the first two days I lay in bed day
and night spitting them into a Gade
bottle where I stored them like so many
nickels I could barely breathe and
couldn't move much either I may have
been a bad [ __ ] in hell week but
that [ __ ] was over and I had to deal
with the fact of the
devil and those
instructors branded me too it's all
right doc I said a little stiff is all
time is what I needed I knew how to push
through pain and my body had almost
always responded with
performance I wasn't going to quit just
because my knee was barking it would
come around eventually the doc
prescribed medicine to reduce the
congestion in my lungs and sinuses and
gave me some Motrin for my knee within
two days my breathing improved but I
still couldn't bend my right leg this
would be a problem of all the moments
and buds that I thought could break me a
not Ty exercise never registered on my
radar
then again this wasn't theing Boy Scouts
this was an underwater not time drill
held in the 15 foot section of the pool
and while the pool didn't strike mortal
fear into me like it once did being
negatively buoyant I knew that any pool
Evolution could be my undoing especially
those that demanded Treading Water even
before hell week we've been tested in
the pool we had to perform mock rescues
on the instructors and do a 50 your
underwater swim without fins on a single
breath that swim started with a giant
stride into the water followed by a full
somersault to sien off any moment
whatsoever then without kicking off the
side we swam along the lane lines to the
end of our 25 met
pool on the far side we were allowed to
kick off the wall then swim back when I
arrived at the 50m Mark I rose up and
gasped for air my heart hammered until
my breath smoothed
and I grasped that I'd actually passed
the first of a series of complicated
underwater Evolutions that were supposed
to teach us to be calm
cool and collected underwater on a
breath
hoold the not tying Evolution was next
in the
series and it wasn't about our ability
to tie various knots or a way to time
our Max breath hold sure both skills
come in handy on amphibian operations
but this drill was more about our
capacity to juggle multiple stressors in
an environment that's not sustainable
for human life despite my health I was
heading into the drill with some
confidence things changed when I started
Treading Water that's how the drill
began with eight students strung out
across the pool moving our hands and
legs like egg beers that's hard enough
for me on two good legs but because my
right knee didn't work I was forced to
tread water with just my left that
spiked the degree of difficulty and my
heart
rate which sa my energy each student had
an instructor assigned to them for this
Evolution and psychop Pete specifically
requested
me it was obvious I was struggling and
psycho and his bruised Pride were hungry
for a little payback with each
revolution of my right leg shock WS of
pain exploded like fireworks
even with psycho eyeballing me I
couldn't hide it when I grimaced he
smiled like a kid on Christmas morning
tie a square knot then a bow line he
shouted I was working so hard it was
difficult to catch my breath but psycho
didn't give two FS now damn it I gulped
air bent from the waist and kicked down
there were five knots in the drill all
together and each student was told to
grab their 8 in slic of rope and tie
them off one at a time at the bottom of
the pool we were all out of the breath
in between but could do as many as all
five knots on a single breath the
instructor called out the
knots but the pacing was up to each
student we weren't allowed to use a mask
or goggles to complete the evolution and
the instructor had to approve each knot
with a thumbs up before we were
permitted to surface if they flashed a
thumbs down instead we had to retie that
knot
correctly and if we surfaced before a
given knot was approved that meant
failure in a ticket home once back at
the surface there was no resting or
relaxing between
tasks treading water was the constant
refrain which meant soaring heart rates
and the continual burning up of oxygen
in the bloodstream for the one-legged
man translation the Dives were
uncomfortable as hell and blacking out
was a real possibility psycho glared at
me through his mask as I worked my
knots after about 30 seconds he'd
approve both and we surfaced he breathed
free and easy but I was gasping and
panting like a wet tired dog the pain in
my knee was so bad I felt sweat beat up
on my forehead when you're sweating in
an unheated pool you know sh up I was
breathless low on energy and wanted to
quit but quitting this Evolution meant
quitting butts all together and that
wasn't
happening oh no are you hurt
Goggins did you get some sand in your
[ __ ] psycho
[Music]
asked I'll bet you can't do the last
three knots on one breath he said it
with a smirk like he was daring me I
knew the
rules I didn't have to accept this
challenge but that would have made
psycho just a little too happy and I
couldn't allow that I nodded and kept
Treading Water delaying my dive until my
pulse evened out and I could score one
deep nourishing breath psycho wasn't
having it whenever I opened my mouth he
splashed water in my face to stress me
out even more a tactic used when trainee
started to panic that made breathing
impossible go under now or you fail I'd
run out of time I tried to gulp some air
before my duck dive and tasted a mouth
full of psycho Splash Water instead as I
dove to the bottom of the pool on a
negative breath hold my lungs were damn
near empty which meant I was in pain
from the jump but I knocked the first
one out in a few seconds psycho took his
sweet time examining my work my heart
was thrumming like high alert Morse code
I felt it flip-flop in my chest like it
was trying to break through my rib cage
and fly to
Freedom psycho stared at the twine
flipped it over and perused it with his
eyes and fingers before offering a
thumbs up in slow motion I shook my head
untied the rope and hit the next one
again he gave it a close inspection
while my chest burned and diaphragm
contracted trying to force air into my
empty lungs the pain level in my knee
was at a 10 Stars gathered in my
peripheral
vision those multiple stressors had me
teetering like a Jinga Tower and I felt
like I was about to black out if that
happened I'd have to depend on psycho to
swim me to the surface and bring me
around did I really trust this man to do
that he hated me what if he failed to
execute what if my body was too burned
out that even a rescue breath couldn't
Rouse me my mind was spun with those
simple toxic questions that never go
away why was I here why suffer when I
could quit and be comfortable again
why risk passing out or even death for a
fing notot drill I knew that if I
succumbed and bolted to the surface my
seal career would have ended then and
there but in that moment I couldn't
figure out why I ever gave a I looked
over at psycho he held both thumbs up
and sported a big goofy smile on his
face like he was watching a damn comedy
show his Split Second of pleasure in my
pain reminded me of all the bullying and
taunts I felt as a teenager
but instead of playing the victim and
letting negative emotions sap my energy
and force me to the surface a failure it
was as if a new light blazed in my brain
that allowed me to flip that script time
Stood Still as I realized for the first
time that I'd always looked at my entire
life everything i' been through from the
wrong
perspective yes all the abuse I'd
experienced and the negativity I had to
put push through challenged me to the
core but in that moment I stopped seeing
myself as the victim of bad circumstance
and saw my life as the ultimate training
ground
instead my
disadvantages had been callousing my
mind all along and had prepared me for
that moment in that pool with psychop
Pete I remember my very first day in the
gym back in Indiana my Palms were soft
and quickly got torn up on the bars
because they weren't accustomed to
gripping and steal but over time after
thousands of reps my Palms built up a
thick callus as protection the same
principle works when it comes to mindset
until you experience hardships like
abuse and bullying failures and
disappointments your mind will remain
soft and exposed life experience
especially negative experiences helps
callous the mind but it's up to you
where that callous lines up if you
choose to see yourself as a victim of
circum an into adulthood that callous
will become resentment that protects you
from the unfamiliar it will make you too
cautious and untrusting and possibly too
angry at the world it will make you
fearful of change and hard to reach but
not hard of mine that's where I was as a
teenager but after my second hell week I
become someone new I fought through so
many horrible situations by then and
remained open and ready for more my
ability to stay open represented a
willingness to fight for my own life
which allowed me to withstand Hill
storms of pain and use it to callous
over my victim's mentality that was gone
buried under layers of sweat and hard
fcking flesh and I was starting to
callous over my fears too that
realization gave me the mental Edge I
needed to outlast psychop Pete one more
time to show him he couldn't hurt me
anymore I smiled back and the feeling of
being on the edge of a blackout went
away suddenly
I was energized the pain faded and I
felt like I could stay under all day
psycho saw that in my eyes I tied off
the last knot at a leisurely Pace
glaring at him the whole
time he gestured with his hands for me
to hurry up as his diaphragm contracted
I finally finished he gave me a quick
affirmative and kicked to the surface
desperate for a breath I took my time
joined him topside and found him gasping
while I felt strangely relaxed when the
chips were down at the pool during Air
Force par Rescue Training I'd
buckled this time I won a major battle
in the water it was a big victory but
the war wasn't over after I passed the
not tying Evolution we had 2 minutes to
climb out onto the deck get dressed and
head back to the classroom during first
phase that's usually plenty of time but
a lot of us not just me were still
healing from hell week and not moving at
our typical lightning Pace on top of
that once we got through hell week class
231 went through a bit of an attitude
adjustment hell week is designed to show
you that a human is capable of much more
than you know it opens your mind to the
true possibilities of human potential
and with that comes a change in your
mentality you no longer fear cold water
or doing push-ups all day you realize
that no matter what they do to you they
will never break you so you don't rush
as much to make their arbitrary
deadlines you know if you don't make it
the instructors will beat you down
meaning push-ups getting wet and Sandy
anything to up the pain and discomfort
quotient but for those of us knuckle
draggers still in the mix our attitude
was so the be it none of us feared the
instructors anymore and we weren't about
to rush they didn't like that one damn
bit I had seen a lot of beatdowns while
it buds but the one we received that day
will go down as one of the worst in
history we did push-ups until we
couldn't pick ourselves up off the deck
then they turned us on our backs and
demanded flutter kicks each Kick was
torture for me I kept putting my legs
down because of the pain I was showing
weakness and if you show weakness it is
on psycho and SB gep descended and took
turns on me I went from push-ups to
flutter kicks to bear crawls until they
got tired I could feel the moving parts
of my knee shifting floating and
grabbing every time I B it to do those
bear crawls and it was agonizing I moved
slower than normal and knew I was broken
that simple question bubbled up again
why what was I trying to prove quitting
seemed the same
Choice the comfort of mediocrity sounded
like sweet relief until psycho screamed
in my ear move faster [ __ ]
once again an amazing feeling washed
over me I wasn't focused on outdoing him
this
time I was in the worst pain of my
life but my victory in the pool minutes
before came rushing back I'd finally
proved to myself that I was a decent
enough Waterman to belong in the Navy
Seals he stuff for a negatively buoyant
Kid that never took a swim lesson in his
entire life and the reason I got there
was because I put in the work the pool
had been my kryptonite even though I was
a far better swimmer as a seal candidate
I was still so stressed about water
Evolutions that I used to hit the pool
after a day of training at least three
times a week I scaled the 15 foot fence
just to gain after hours access other
than the academic aspect nothing scared
me as much about the prospects of
Butters like the swimming drills and by
dedicating time I was able to callous
over that fear and hit new levels on
under water when the pressure was on I
thought about the incredible power of a
callous mind on task as psycho and SBG
beat me down and that thought became a
feeling that took over my body and made
me move as fast as a bear around that
pool I couldn't believe what I was doing
the intense pain was gone and so were
those nagging questions I was putting
out harder than ever breaking through
the limitations of injury and pain
tolerance and riding a second when
delivered by a callous mind after the
bear crawls I went back to doing flutter
kicks and I still had no pain as we were
leaving the pool a half hour later SBG
asked
gogin what got into your ass to make you
Superman I just smiled and left the
pool I didn't want to say anything
because I didn't yet understand what I
now know similar to using an opponent's
energy to gain an advantage leaning on
your callous mind In the Heat of battle
can shift your thinking as well
remembering what you've been through and
how that has strengthened your mindset
can lift you out of a negative brain
Loop and help you bypass those weak onec
impulses to give in so you can power
through obstacles and when you leverage
a callous mind like I did around the
pool that day and keep fighting through
pain it can help you push your limits
because if you accept the pain as a
natural process and refuse to give in
and give up you will Engage The
sympathetic nervous system which shifts
your hormonal flow the sympathetic
nervous system is your fight or flight
reflex it's bubbling just below the
surface and when you are lost stressed
out or struggling like I was when I was
a down andout kid that's the part of
your mind that's driving the bus we've
all tasted this feeling
before those mornings when going on a
run is the last thing you want to do but
then 20 minutes into to it you feel
energized that's the work of the
sympathetic nervous system what I found
is that you can tap into it on call as
long as you know how to manage your own
mind when you indulge in negative selft
talk the gifts of a sympathetic response
will remain Out Of Reach however if you
can manage those moments of pain that
come with maximum effort by remembering
what you've been through to get to that
point in your life you will be in a
better position to persevere and choose
fight over flight that will allow you to
use the adrenaline that comes with a
sympathetic response to go even harder
obstacles at work and school can also be
overcome with your callous mind in those
cases pushing through a given flasho
isn't likely to lead to a sympathetic
response but it will keep you motivated
to push through any doubt you feel about
your own abilities no matter the task at
hand there is always opportunity for
self-doubt whenever you decide to follow
dream or set a goal you are just as
likely to come up with all the reasons
why the likelihood of success is low
blame it on theed up evolutionary wiring
of the human mind but you don't have to
let your doubt into the cockpit you can
tolerate doubt as a backseat driver but
if you put doubt in the Pilot's seat
defeat is guaranteed remembering that
you've been through difficulties before
and have always survived to fight again
shifts the conversation in your head it
will allow you to control and manage
doubt and keep you focused on taking
each and every step necessary to achieve
the task at hand sounds simple right it
is it very few people even bother to try
to control the way their thoughts and
doubts Bubble Up the vast majority of us
are slaves to our minds most don't even
make the first effort when it comes
comes to mastering their thought process
because it's a NeverEnding chore and
impossible to get right every time the
average person thinks 2,000 3,000
thoughts per hour that's 30 to 50 per
minute some of those shots will slip by
the goalie it's
inevitable especially if you Coast
through life physical training is the
perfect Crucible to learn how to manage
your thought process because when you're
working out your focus is more likely to
be single pointed and your response to
stress and pain is immediate and
measurable do you Hammer hard and snag
that personal best like you said you
would or do you
crumble that decision rarely comes down
to physical ability it's almost always a
test of how well you are managing your
own mind if you push yourself through
each split and use that energy to
maintain a strong Pace you have a great
chance of recording a faster time
granted some days it's easier to do that
than others and the clock or the score
doesn't matter
anyway the reason it's important to push
hardest when you want to quit the most
is because it helps you callous your
mind it's the same reason why you have
to do your best work when you are the
least
motivated that's why I love Pete and
Buddhism why I still love it today
physical challenges strengthen my mind
so I'm ready for whatever life throws at
me and it will do the same for you but
no matter how well you deploy it
a callous mind can't heal broken bones
on the mile long hike back to the buds
compound the feeling of Victory
evaporated and I could feel the Damage
i' Done I had 20 weeks of training in
front of me dozens of Evolutions ahead
and I could barely walk while I wanted
to deny the pain in my knee I knew I was
so I limped straight to Medical when he
saw my knee the doc didn't say a damn
thing he just shook his head and sent me
to get an x-ray that revealed a
fractured kneecap in buds when reservist
sustain injuries that take a long time
to heal they're sent home and that's
what happened to me I crutch my ass back
to the barracks demoralized and while
checking out I saw some of the guys that
quit during hell week when I first
glimpsed their helmets lined up beneath
the bell I felt sorry for them because I
knew the empty feeling of giving up but
seeing them face to face reminded me
that failure is a part of life and now
we all had to press on I hadn't quit so
I knew I'd be invited back but I had no
idea if that meant a third hell week or
not or if after getting rolled twice I
still had the burning desire to fight
through another hurricane of pain with
no guarantee of success given my injury
record how could I I left the buds
compound with more self-awareness and
more Mastery over my mind than I'd ever
had before but my future was just as
uncertain