3 Lessons From Winter Swims, David Goggins & Jocko Willink
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been on a healthy diet of books, videos & podcasts involving Jocko Willink and David Goggins. In this current state of chaos and the new normal, I found their perspective refreshingly simple. So much so, when my friend (a glutton for punishment) asked me if I wanted to go for weekly sunrise swims, I heard their voices whispering “Do iiiit”. Overall, it was a great character-building experience and one that I’ll keep carrying on. Here are some lessons that I gained from the experience.
1. “GOOD”
This simple philosophy from Jocko is a real game-changer. When something’s going wrong and you feel like you every excuse to give up — just say “Good” and think of a positive reason why this thing you’re struggling with is good.
“The water is freezing — Good — It gives me an opportunity to get outside my comfort zone and will wake me up better than any coffee”
“Sunrise is too early — Good — You get to attack the day and witness an amazing sunrise while swimming in the sea, an experience very few people get to have all over the world.”
“The rocks/stones are like daggers going through the soles of my fragile numb feet — Good — (It’s hard for me to say “good” to this) At least they will toughen you up and it will make you get in and out of the water faster.
The most comforting thing about this attitude is, no matter how bad things get, if you can still breathe and say GOOD, then you’ve still got some fight left in you. So, recover and get back on track.
2. Our Two Voices
Goggins often talks about the two voices in our heads. The one that wants to comfort you. And the one that wants you to get outside of your comfort zone. We often only listen to the one that comforts us. The one that encourages us to;
- Have one more beer.
- Have another slice of pizza or sleep in today, you deserve it.
- Have a nice relaxing hot shower today.
While this doesn’t do us any harm in the short term, over the long term this constant state of comfort can be limiting our abilities to deal with stress and our ability to deal with tough times in our lives.
However, the other voice in our head, the one we don’t like to listen to. The one that wants to challenge us. The one that says:
- I’m going to try something new and get up at 6 am tomorrow
- Let’s have a cold shower, you’ll feel so alive
- Let’s bang out a workout even though your tired and the couch is calling your name.
By consistently doing things that you don’t want to do but are ultimately good for you. You gain the confidence and belief that you can overcome challenges in the future because of this track record of doing things that you initially didn’t want to do. And in the end, you felt great after doing so.
3. Best time to Start?
We all procrastinate in different ways (myself included, it took me a long time to write this!) when we often times know what we need to do or put things off until the perfect time. Before we start a workout program we look up tonnes of YouTube videos, research different routines and diets, then say “Ok, I’ll start at the beginning of next month.” Jocko has a very simple answer to “When’s the best time to start?”, it’s simply: “Here and now”. Don’t try and plan everything to the smallest detail. Create a plan, sure. But don’t let the planning stage take over. At the end of the day, consistency beats perfection.
If I choose a workout plan that’s relatively good and workout consistently 4 times per week, it will be a hell of a lot better than the perfect plan where I workout only once per week! And this applies to so many different areas in life.
Conclusion
So there you have it, I highly recommend Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko, Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins (and their YouTube videos) and I also highly recommend winter swims at a beach in Ireland, just as the sun is about to rise.
What’s something difficult (or crazy to some people) that gets you outside of your comfort zone?
