Resilience
Why We Need to Seek Out Discomfort
Joseph Campbell is known for his work in mythology. He outlined the hero’s journey that influenced George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars. But when Campbell was asked by PBS’s Bill Moyers what it was like to have a peak experience, to feel fully alive, he shared that his “peak experiences all came in…
Read MoreThe Difference Between Tolerating Pain, Suffering and Performing
Since the release of Do Hard Things, the questions I’ve received most are some variety of “What about the David Goggins, be a badass and ignore your limits, approach?” In what follows, I’ll answer it. First, what Goggins has accomplished is incredible. There is no arguing that. Some of the feats he’s been through are…
Read MoreHow To Build Motivation (And Not Destroy It)
In my coaching work with executives, I often run into the same question: “How do I keep people from quitting?” After all, we’re in the midst of the great resignation. From Fortune 500 companies offering sabbaticals to local school districts offering retention bonuses, everyone is looking for incentives to keep employees around. Most of the focus…
Read MoreWhy Society Loves Fake Toughness And Desperately Needs the Real Thing
“He’s strong and he’s tough.” Who was Donald Trump talking about? Perhaps a medal of Honor recipient, or a mother who survived cancer, or a doctor who worked tirelessly on the front lines of a pandemic? No, Trump was describing Vladimir Putin. This wasn’t Trump’s first foray into calling an authoritarian tough, he once described…
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