A big, life-changing commitment can charge you up in the pursuit of your goals. Need convincing? Consider the story of David Goggins. “I was so damn fat I had to sew an athletic sock into the crotch of my work pants so they wouldn’t split when I dropped to one knee,” Goggins wrote in his 2018 book, Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds.
Goggins was tipping the scale at 297 pounds. He was working an extermination job, spending his nights spraying restaurants for cockroaches and setting traps for rats. His shift would end at 7am. Per his ritual, he would drive his car to a local shop and buy donuts and a milkshake, and then drive home.
Goggins details his journey from being stuck in life, to making a commitment that not only helped him lose more than 100 pounds fast, but gave him the belief that he could do anything he put his mind to.
Making a Life-Changing Commitment to Hit the Reset Button
The life-changing commitment started in the aftermath of a bad day at work. Goggins had been servicing a restaurant with an infestation of cockroaches and a hissing raccoon and it all became too much to bear. He quit his job on the spot. A decision that would be followed by setting one big goal. He would lose 106 pounds in less than three months so that he could qualify to have a chance to go to BUD/S and pursue a new dream.
Goggins made the commitment to follow through with exercise and let go of the donuts and milkshakes. Despite a path of many obstacles, he has ultimately achieved a wide-range of challenging goals. His life since then has included being an ultra-runner, an elite military operator, and recording 4020 pull-ups in 24 hours, a world record.
Are you feeling similarly stuck and want to make a life-changing commitment? Are you frustrated with your health, your job, your fitness, your relationships? Or maybe you simply want to come out the other side of the pandemic healthier than when you came in.
Open yourself up to a new array of possibilities. Here are 5 reasons why you should make a life- changing commitment:
To feel energized
A key reason why Goggins turned his life around was “getting eyeball to eyeball” with himself. He wrote down the things about who he was and what was holding him back. An exercise in accountability he advises to anyone wanting to achieve their goals.
It’s not about glossing over the truth to make yourself feel good. “This is about abolishing the ego and taking the first step toward becoming the real you!” Rather, be honest with yourself about where you stand and how you can make things better.
“You need to be truthful about where you are and the necessary steps to achieve [your] goals, day by day.”
Turn shortcomings into fuel
In his book, Goggins details a rough childhood, growing up with an abusive father, an education system that ignored him, and the poor self-esteem that followed. One day he realised he had a choice; either he could lean on his tragic past as the excuse of his limitations. Or he could turn his past into a source of motivational energy.
Inventory your excuses. Write down everything holding you back. Rather than trying to sweep pain from your past under the proverbial rug, Goggins says embrace it.
“You will use this story, this list of excuses, these very good reasons why you shouldn’t amount to a damn thing, to fuel your ultimate success.”
Tap into your inner strength and resilience
By making a commitment to a challenge like a running event – one that takes you into unchartered territory – it will inspire you to try new things and take on new training routines. “Doing things – even small things – that make you uncomfortable will help make you strong”. “The more you get uncomfortable, the stronger you’ll become.”
To connect with your purpose
Reading his story, you realise that if he had not made a life-changing commitment, he may have been stuck working a job he despised., living an unhealthy life, and being boxed in by all sorts of limitations. He ultimately found an identity and a purpose much higher than anything he imagined.
Do something new and rewarding
Goggins – the 297-pound pest exterminator who drank milkshakes and ate donuts (nothing against donuts they are delicious in moderation) – would one day be able to push beyond extreme limits in things like 200-mile ultra trail races and world-record pull-up attempts. These efforts never would have been possible if it hadn’t been for taking on an initial weight loss goal, and a tough one at that.
Big change starts with a life-changing commitment. Commitment is the spark that will open up the drive to being in a better place and living the life you want to live. Goggins says: “When you’re driven, whatever is in front of you, whether it’s racism, sexism, injuries, divorce, depression, obesity, tragedy, or poverty, becomes your fuel for metamorphosis.”
Feeling inspired? Why not make your own commitment to a 2021 Tough Mudder event. We’ll see you on Mudderhorn.
