A Look in the Accountability Mirror

I just finished listening to an interview with David Goggins, the toughest athlete on earth. Passion and purpose drive this man, and he knows what it means to be alive. “Rethink your human capabilities.” “What if I get through this, being this messed up.” It’s easy to listen to an inspirational speaker like Goggins and come away feeling both awe-struck and small. “No way I could do that.” We think of these individuals as exceptional, which they are, and we make excuses for our own perceived shortcomings. We take the path of least resistance and never fulfill our own possibilities. David Goggins has made the record books in a number of ways. His achievements illustrate the point that there can only be one “best,” one “toughest.” But what we also learn is that our childhood and our struggles only hold us back if we choose to let them. Goggins had a physically and emotionally abusive father. He was raised by a single mom just down the street from the Klan. He was bullied and threatened. Overweight. A multitude of health problems, like sickle cell anemia and a hole in his heart. What did he do? He faced his fears and ran towards them. We ought to do the same. Maybe not all of them, all at once. Maybe just one at a time. One big one. One small one. The one we need to own to get past our current roadblock.

Every one of us is a mere shadow of who we can be. Success doesn’t happen by running away. It comes from running towards what we fear the most, failing, and failiing, and failing again. Eventually, we succeed. And that makes all the pain worth it.