I’m a big believer in positive self talk, but I have a confession to make. This angy lunatic lives in my head and shouts unimaginable things at me. Calls me every name you can imagine. He isn’t just any lunatic. He’s a retired Navy SEAL who finished a 100-mile race with broken bones in his feet, dual stress fractures in his lower legs, shin splints, and failing kidneys.
He shows up when I go for a run or when I’m at the gym, thinking I’m at the point of failure. He gets angry, tells me I’m better than that– says a lot of things I won’t repeat here. I might yell back at him at first, but then I think to myself, “Are you kidding me? That guy ran thirty miles after he peed blood. On shin splints. I can suck it up for this last half-mile.”
My lunatic is David Goggins.
Every year, I put out a list of my favorite books and invite comments. One year, I must have had ten people tell me to read Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me. So I did. And I didn’t like it. His life story is incredible and inspiring; he’s overcome so much and might go down as the toughest person on the planet. But the whole thing was just too much– a 300-page motivational speech filled with gratuitous language and stories of grit. Not my cup of tea.
Shows you what I know. Five years later, the guy haunts me. And I’m here for it. I’m not about to sign on for a thousandth of what Goggins does, but he reminds me that I can do hard things. That most of our limits are self-imposed. They’re mental limits. That perseverance and grit will allow us to overcome almost any obstacle.
Maybe I should be concerned. Famira Racy, coordinator of the Inner Speech Lab at Mount Royal University, says, “Inner speech is your flashlight in the dark room that is your mind.” Why does this guy live rent-free in my cranium? Then again, sometimes it’s best not to shine that light, and just finish the #$@% run!
I hope you’re kind to yourself. That you give yourself plenty of grace. But I also hope, every once in a while, you let a lunatic into your head to remind you that you can do a hell of a lot more than you think you can. That lunatic is right.