The Secret That High Performers Use to Accomplish Whatever They Want
It comes down to dopamine and ‘subjective rewards.’
David Goggins is revered in the community of high performing athletes. A retired Navy SEAL, phrases like “toughest man alive” and “fittest man alive” tend to be bandied about when his name is brought up. He is regarded by many as one of the top endurance athletes in the world.
Goggins is known for pushing his body to freakish limits that will elicit a gag reflex from the common spectator. He entered his first 100-mile race on a whim when he found out he could support an important military cause. He weighed around 245lb at the time, hadn’t done any training, and looked more like a linebacker for the 49ers than a runner.
At around mile 70, his kidneys began to fail and he involuntarily started urinating blood and brown sludge. When he sat down to take a break on the sidelines, he defecated himself. But he didn’t quit. He ended up finishing the 100 miles with plenty of time to spare before his wife took him to the hospital.
In 2013, Goggins also set the world record for the most pull-ups in a 24 hour period with 4030. By the time he finished, half of his hands had literally melted away into a bloody mess when he finally took the tape off. But he didn’t quit until he had…