Let's be real. Life is full of struggles. You might be failing a class.
Your job might be stressful. You might have relationship problems. Or it could simply be that you're not improving as fast as you'd like.
I know how hard it can be, to keep the motivation to persevere. Our minds simply don't want us to be in an uncomfortable situation, that's why we give up and shy away from it. But even when our minds are telling us that we should call it a day, we usually have more fuel left in the tank.
We just have to tap into this fuel. So what can you do to keep on going? How can you push past that mental resistance?
The solution is The Cookie Jar. The Cookie Jar was created by a guy called David Goggins. Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL, who has competed in more than sixty ultra-marathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons.
All while also setting new course records and regularly placing in the top five. Furthermore he's a former Guinness World Record holder for completing over 4000 pull-ups in seventeen hours. He's known to be one of the toughest men alive.
He used his Cookie Jar to fuel all of these achievements and continues to use it, to fuel his new successes, to this very day. Before I explain how to use it, let me tell you the story of how the Cookie Jar method was created. Goggins wanted to raise money for Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
It's a non-profit organization founded to provide scholarships to the surviving children of the Special Ops soldiers killed in the line of duty. To spread awareness and raise that money, he vowed to run Badwater 135. However Badwater is the world's toughest foot race and not everyone is able to enter.
You have to earn your spot and requirements are sky-high. One of them is to have multiple 100 mile races completed. So Goggins went on to sign up for a race where you run for 24 hours straight, the goal being to run 100 miles to qualify for Badwater.
And if you didn't know, 100 miles is basically 4 marathons in one go. Goggins looked fit from all his SEAL training, but he was no runner. At least not at the time.
In fact, he hadn't run more than a mile in the 6 months prior. Another problem was that the race was in 3 days, so he had zero preparation and training. However, he decided to go on with it anyway.
For the first few miles of the race, he felt fine and had no trouble running. But around 25 miles in, he started questioning himself: can he actually do this? He was feeling tired and he basically had 3 more marathons left to run.
But he kept on going. At mile 50, his thighs felt like they were loaded with lead. Each subtle rotation of the ankle felt like shock therapy.
Still he ran. Not fast and not with much style, but he kept on going. Then at mile 70, he couldn't take another step forward.
Exhausted from running 70 miles with no training, he sat down to rest. He saw that there was bloody urine dripping down his leg, mixed with diarrhea. He was feeling beat down and it was one of the lowest points of his life.
He kept on asking himself: "Why? " "Why are you still doing this to yourself? " Why did he keep on going when he should have quit five hours ago?
He then remembered this wasn't the first time he'd taken on an impossible task. And he suddenly felt some energy build up. He started walking slowly, step by step.
He kept on digging in his past while remembering all his previous victories. He tapped in the emotional state that he felt during those victories and got the energy he needed to keep on going. His feet were still a bloody mess, full of blisters, but it gave him just enough drive to sustain him, until the 100 mile mark.
And that's what the Cookie Jar is. All your past achievements and failures that you overcame. Now you might not be interested in running an ultra marathon.
However I believe you would like to be able to keep on going, even when you feel like giving up. That might mean studying longer, even if it's extremely boring. It might mean working on your side-business even if you're tired.
Or it just might mean going to the gym, even if it's raining outside and you don't feel like it. Whatever it is, eventually there comes a point where your mind will tell you to give up and you'll need to push back to get through it. This is where we use our Cookie Jar and we draw inspiration from out past victories.
But first you need to make the inventory of your Cookie Jar. So take a piece of paper and write it all out. And don't just write down your achievement list.
Include life obstacles you overcame as well, like overcoming your shyness, conquering depression or mastering your fear of heights, whatever. It doesn't have to be a massive victory either. It could be something as small as doing the dishes or taking out the thrash, when you didn't feel like it.
Even if you're feeling low and and beat down by life right now, I guarantee you can think of a time or two when you overcame odds and tasted success. We all have a cookie jar inside us, because life, being what it is, has tested each one of us. However I'd like to point out that sometimes you need to stop whatever you're doing and take a break.
You don't want to ignore the signs your body is giving you. Your mind, convincing you to stop, is one thing, but when your body starts shutting down, you should pause. Remember: we're not wired to be active 24/7, and rest is actually productive.
So it's good to have a limit or a threshold, where once you pass it, you call it a day. Bloody urine and diarrhea dripping down your leg is usually a good sign that your body wants you to stop. If you value your long term health, that is.
Now after you've set a limit for yourself and have some cookies ready in your jar, make sure to take a bite out of the cookies, when you need to. Whenever you face a challenge, whenever you want to give up, you open the cookie jar and pick a cookie. The cookie reminds you of something you overcame and how far you've come.
This is all about utilizing your past successes to fuel you to new and bigger achievements. Digging in the cookie jar is hard at first, and it takes focus and determination. Your mind doesn't want you to go there.
It wants to remind you that you're suffering and that your goal is impossible. Before you stop short of your goal, dunk your fist in, pull out another cookie, and let it fuel you! Then get back to work.
Eventually, what will happen is you'll slowly build up your mind to be more mentally tough. "Impossible", will turn into "I can do this". So keep your mind from giving up, use your Cookie Jar today, and you'll become better than yesterday.
Thanks for watching.
