David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me, Page 141

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.

This is an important concept that is much harder in reality. I wonder how many of us have never even reached a point of discomfort from pushing beyond our comfort zones to strengthen our mind and self talk in times of friction and uncertainty. This is a challenge I want to provide to myself and to others. As I think about building confidence in oneself, we must work to step outside our realm of what we believe is possible and over the time stretch and expand the outside limits of our comfort zone. Eventually, we will become comfortable in the unknown.

Second, the part of this quote that discussed the doing our best work when least motivated is interesting. If we could do this, then we would no longer have to deal with procrastination. I often go back and forth on this idea of whether procrastination is good. I can have 3 months to complete a project, but usually wait until the stress is high, and the deadline is right around the corner. Even after all these years on Earth, preaching to my own children to not wait until the last minute, and countless hours in parent meetings as an educator sharing strategies I still wait until I am most motivated by a deadline.