40% more?

How much do we really have to give?  And how do we give it?

The premise here is that we all have an ‘internal limiter’ that keeps us from realizing our true potential.  This sentiment comes in different forms.

In my interview with Robert Owens Hamilton he alludes to this concept of limits being ‘mostly in our heads’.  Whether that limit is age or ability – it can all be overcome.  It’s all in your head he seems to say.

I’ve been reading David Goggins’ book as well.  His book is all about this topic.  It is the main point of the book.  David puts a number on it, 40%.  He says that after you think you have hit your limit, you can go another 40% more.

I have said it myself. I have said ‘anyone can qualify for Boston’ and ‘it’s mostly mental’.  I’m guilty of this assumption that the achievement is there for the taking and all it takes is commitment and hard work.

This is a muddy, unclear spot we find ourselves in.  Surely, we would all agree that the vast majority of humans are capable of so much more than they think and endurance sport is a great way to break these assumptions.  A way to break through that limiting wall.  On the other hand I find myself asking “How much more is there?”  “When and where do we draw that line?”  “At what cost that extra 40%?”

It’s muddy because there is that kernel of truth.  We can always do more.  We can always give more.  You can’t argue that.  But  the way it is framed is that once you break that barrier it is all unicorns and roses, like you are somehow freed from the constraints of physics.

As I have found out the hard way, the reality is that on the other side of the wall is more wall.  And that’s ok.  When you have that breakthrough, that achievement where you’ve done that thing you’ve never done before, that thing you didn’t think you could do,  it does open up possibilities.  But there are diminishing returns and there are trade-offs.  It’s a bit of a Xeno’s paradox – the closer you get to your full capability the harder those extra achievements get.

You know what Robert and David don’t tell you?  That they are amazing natural athletes.  They would be close to the top in any sport they chose, life just happened to put them into a sport they were really good at – SEAL training.  And some special combination of nature and nurture has made them mentally strong as well.

That’s not to take away from any of their accomplishments.  They broke through and continue to break through their life constraints.  They don’t listen when someone tells them they can’t.  They’re too old.  They’re too disadvantaged. They don’t have the experience.  They don’t listen.  They push through.

Goggins has, on multiple occasions, run on broken bones, because, if you really decide not to quit you can do that.  If I were to be churlish enough to ask the question, “Why are you putting yourself in the situation where you need to run on broken bones?”, he would tell me I’m missing the point.

This harkens back the the discussions on suffering we’ve had here many times.  Is there an inherent value to suffering?  Is suffering itself something we should seek out?  To David the answer is a resounding “Yes!”.

For two very good reasons.

First, the suffering teaches us things about ourselves that we wouldn’t learn any other way.

And, Second that suffering as a practice builds a muscle, or more appropriately a callous.  We become desensitized, or immune, not to the suffering, but to the mental effects of the suffering.  By practicing suffering we master suffering.  Note those two words I just used Practice and Mastery.  That’s really the lesson there.  Suffering is a practice that leads to a form of mental mastery.  That’s the value.

In the end there is no Faustian bargain here, no conflict of ideas.  David and Robert have a unique take on how much more we can give and how deep that well really is, but they also underscore things we have put forth many times.

First, if you put the question of ‘how much more can you give?’ aside it comes back to every one of us is a unique individual with unique talents and unique capabilities.  We can maximize those but our practice and our limits are unique to us.

Second, we all draw our own lines.  I choose to draw my line well short of running on broken legs.  That doesn’t make me weak or a bad person.  That makes me a rational human capable of choice.  I also, on occasion choose to do other things that cause me to push my limits.  David is right, that is my choice, those are my limits, I’m setting them and accepting them, and I’m ok with that knowledge.

And, finally, this is not a game any of us are going to win.  As we have discovered many, many times, this endurance life is a journey, it is not a goal.  I’m perfectly ok with only giving 39.8% more and being able to walk the next day on my journey, because this is not the last stop.  We’ll get there, but I’m not hurrying the train along by acting suicidal.

I love listening to and reading the inspirational exploits of these men.  It keeps me from throwing in the towel on lots of little things that frustrate me.  It help put in context the aches and pains that really are inconsequential and the excuses we make that are just laziness.

But, my friends, it is your life, it is your line to draw and it is your journey. Find your limits.  Spend some time in your extra 40% but be true to yourself  and be safe.