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.
