How to Win Every Single Day - David Goggins

What does a morning look like for you at the moment? Have you got a routine of some kind? Yes, I run every single morning. What time are you up? When are you waking up? I'm up about 5, 5.30. So, every morning starts with a run. And that's because that's the one thing I hate to do more than anything in the world. So, that's like my cup of coffee. And I'm all about armoring yourself. So, the second you leave your house, the second you open your phone, the second you do any of that, you are now letting in poison and cancer. So, I make sure a lot of things you can't avoid. So, as I get up, I start to armor plate my mind and body. Like a person's going to war, you put your body armor on. That's what I'm doing on that run. I'm waking up and I'm giving myself all this armor. So, when I come out in the world and I look at that phone, I'm ready. I'm not waking up late. I'm not rushing around. I'm not disorganized because I know I'm going to get hit in the mouth. There's an art to getting hit in the mouth. And that is why these things are important. You have to wake up and you have to give yourself belief. You have to give yourself confidence. So, it starts with that run. So, after the run, I come home, I eat something small. How long is the run typically at the moment? Nowhere under 12 miles. So, 12 miles is the minimum. And what are you getting that done in? How long? It depends. Right now, I'm running a heart rate. So, I'm doing like 815s, 830s, because I'm retraining right now. What's that? Is that zone two for you? Zone two. Because of the leg surgery I had. So, I'm going back, starting from scratch. So, anywhere from about an hour 30 to two hours, I'll run every day. So, you're fasted on the morning? Yes. Straight out? Straight out. 90 minutes to two hours of running, back, eat. Eat, and then I'm in the gym. So, and then after that, to whatever's on the plan for the day. That's how that works every day. Are you still doing your stretching? Because you've got two hours of meditation, 90 minutes to two hours of running. How long is the gym session? Depends. 45 to an hour and a half. Okay. Stretching, meditation, run, eat, gym. Is that something I'm missing, Jennifer? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I forgot about that. You cycle as well? Yeah. How long are you cycling? It just depends. I do stationary bike right now a lot. What are you using? Is it like a watt bike or something similar? Yeah. Something similar. So, I put my bike on a trainer and I cycle. At least three or four days a week, I'll do that. So... That's your day. There is no room for anything else. Yeah, there is. A lot of room. So, there's 24 hours and I use it all pretty well. How's your sleep? What's your sleep like? It's really good. It is now. You're getting eight hours-ish, something like that? Seven, eight hours. Yeah. Well, you need to with this sort of volume. Seven, eight hours. And you're still doing your stretching stuff? Every night. Every single night. So, you've got a four-hour block, basically, of stretching and meditation? Well, no. That's all in one block. You combine the two, right? Yeah. That's all in one block. Cool. That's one hell of a day. It is. And it's been like that for seven years. But going back to what you said before about needing to cap success, you wouldn't be able to fit even one-tenth of that in. Exactly. If you were chasing down... Exactly. Yep. That's exactly it. So, if all that's fucked up, that's why I got to cap success, because I can't put that in. And that's my growth factor. So, you know, that's my human growth factor. You said before about how you build up self-esteem and confidence and stuff. And there's this quote from one of my friends, Alex Hormozy, that says, you don't become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are. Outwork your self-doubt. Yes. That's... Nailed. Completely nailed. Yes. Because a lot of people will, and some of these motivational people out here, it's the funniest thing in the world to me, they'll go and say, when you wake up in the morning, pound your chest. You know, ******* look at yourself in the mirror and do all this ******* bullshit. I hope it works. What works for me is that everyday resume. The things I know I've accomplished, the things I know I've done, real hard work, the real calluses on my mind, the real calluses on my hands. That's it. You don't need to pound your chest in the mirror and **** anymore if you have that. It seems like, especially with confidence, right, or self-esteem, there's a relationship between confidence and competence. So, what you're looking to do is try and have what you believe that you can do be ahead of what you can do. Now, you're not looking for it to be delusional. You don't want it to be able to believe that you can do something like fly, right? But you need to have a relationship between the two. But what people are asking for is for their confidence to be so far ahead of their competence without having even been competent at anything in the beginning. And that's just delusion. That's fantasy. Right. Well, I believe that you have to build belief. Belief is like, there's an after-school special belief where the mom says, believe in yourself, and that's all great. But there's also a built belief. And the built belief is one where you are constantly, like for me, I came from a bad place. How I build belief is through the daunting tasks I put myself through. So, that's proof positive that I can. So, it correlates. And that's how this piece of ---- kid I once thought I was built belief by saying, I was in three hell weeks. I went to ranger school. I tried out for Delta Selection. Undeniable stack of proof. That is proof, ************. So, whenever you think you can't, confidence comes from the thing that you built. You must build belief. You must build confidence. It can't be like, hey, I'm going to knock that ---- out. You got to look over here and say, I can knock that ---- out. It's belief and it's built on what you put in to yourself. Another friend sent me a message this morning, knowing that we had this big thing that we've been working toward for a long time today. He said, Nietzsche said, I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and impossible. The fact that something seems impossible shouldn't be a reason to not pursue it. That's exactly what makes it worth pursuing. Where would the courage and greatness be if success was certain and there was no risk? The only true failure is shrinking away from life's challenges. Nailed that one also. Two for two. Nailed that one also, man. Yeah, it's that dealing with laziness and self-doubt thing, I think. And I do wonder how many people use the look in the mirror, pound the chest, stare into your eyes, say your affirmations, don't get the results and then lose confidence. Well, that's part of it. A lot of it is limit to horizons. Limit to horizons are like, I use me as an example always. I came from a small town in Indiana where there was a handful of black families. And a lot of people in that town, when you come from a town of 8,000 people, it's like we had a local plant, Great Dane. You're like, you know what? I want to work at Great Dane and get a house next to my mom. That's what you know. So many of us come from these small places in our mind that we're not willing to think outside of only what we've seen. Our mind works in such a small compartment. And one thing I was able to do was to dream. Many people, but don't make dreams your ******* master. But I was able to dream outside those ******* four walls of that small town. And until you're able to really put yourself into that dream, but don't make dreams your master, that's where you truly become what you're destined to become. What do you mean don't make dreams your master? A lot of people sit back and they dream about being a sports figure, or dream about being a SEAL, or dream about being an astronaut. And all it is is a motherfucking dream. They don't put the work behind the dream. That dream has become their ******* master. When you become the master of your ******* dream is when you say, I want to go be a Navy SEAL. You say, okay, I'm going to lose 106 pounds in less than three ******* months. The dream was the one thing I thought about and the dream was now gone. Now what comes in, the dream goes away and the ******* laundry list of ******* details and tasks come up. Got to do this, got to do this, got to do this, got to do this. That's when you become the master of your dream. So a lot of people out there dreaming. Ryan Holiday says, talking about the thing and doing the thing vie for the same resources, allocate yours appropriately. That's it. That's it. That's the way it works as well. That's the way that the brain works. You can actually get these kicks of dopamine by telling your friends about, I'm going to be a Navy SEAL. I'm going to start my training next week. It's going to be great. I'm going to feel like this. It feels good. It feels good to talk about that ----, man. It actually makes you feel good, makes you feel proud, all that ----. But guess what happens? That alarm clock goes off at 4am to train. I don't want to be a SEAL today. I don't want to be whatever today. I'll start tomorrow. And that's the usual pattern of people's lives. That's why I talk about clearing out the mind. Until you really want to do something, you're always going to be a talker. You're always going to run your ******* mouth. This episode is brought to you by Element. 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Head to drinklmnt.com slash modernwisdom to get a free sample pack of all eight flavors with your first box. That's drinklmnt.com slash modernwisdom. Thank you very much for tuning in. If you enjoyed that clip with Goggins, then press here for the full episode in all of its glory. And don't forget to subscribe.