This section of the library shall be dedicated to commentaries on the Hubermanlab podcast. Included below is not a summary of the episode (I’ll leave that for you to check out), but rather my comments on the episode in terms of psychology, health, and human behavior. Whenever possible, I draw connections to autism as well. Most of my comments originally appear on Twitter/X, so be sure to follow on there.
David Goggins: How to Build Immense Inner Strength
No Excuses
I can definitely appreciate David’s perspectives and unapologetic attitude about his personal work and effort in overcoming obstacles in his own life, particularly his ADHD. Overall, David seems to be a man who doesn’t allow himself any excuses for not accomplishing things he sets out to do, and I appreciate that attitude because it gets rid of some of the thinking/over-intellectualizing that can sometimes get in the way of accomplishing things.
Gratitude
The conversation struck up thoughts about having gratitude for goals that are accomplished and becoming complacent when certain things are more easily accomplished in life -leading to perhaps a sense of entitlement and taking things for granted, an attitude which drives David crazy, needless to say. With many people’s lack of gratitude in mind and entitlement (including my own), I can understand David’s lack of patience for people who make excuses when he himself doesn’t allow himself any. I think it’s a mindset that some people naturally develop with or without mentors in their lives, and in David’s case, it sounds like he independently developed that attitude, which is really motivational.
The Natural Genius vs. The Hard Worker
In my college years, I used to watch a lot of Japanese anime. I remember a theme in Japanese anime about natural-born talent (the genius type) versus hardworking talent. The recurring theme was that talent from hard work can quickly surpass the inborn talent of a natural genius. In the anime Naruto, for example, this is exemplified by the character Rock Lee, a beloved character because he surpassed others even though having been born with practically zero-talent (many people will cosplay him, consequently). So, David reminded me about that theme in anime a lot; he’s the hard worker, and no doubt he’s out-worked many natural born geniuses out there who got lazy, complacent, and entitled. Geez. Loving this conversation.
Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex
David Goggins’ response to conversations about that part of the brain was inspiring. His ability to make people feel like they have no excuse is remarkable. He definitely has a way of making you feel like you have no reason at all to NOT be accomplishing the things you want to do; I’m definitely feeling that way right now again. Geez.
I’m not huge on Tony Robbins, although I’ve heard some of his work, and Goggins reminds me a bit of him —no excuses (although I did not fail to miss his criticism of Tony Robbins…at least that was my interpretation).
Tony Goggins’s message for Dr. Huberman’s Overweight Friend
Impactful. It’s interesting…because I happen to presently have a close family member who is morbidly obese and it seems like the love and compassion and patience approach is just not working at all. David’s got that “let’s break you down mentally to build you back up” boot-camp attitude. Although, I do think it takes a certain level of emotional resilience to tolerate and internalize that kind of feedback in a way that turns into constructive, positive action, rather than the person just spiraling down into more self-defeating attitudes. There’s gotta be love mixed in; break down, and build back up at the same time. Self-criticism, with willingness to change oneself for the better; self love and self criticism. That was my takeaway…
Motivation and Creativity
This episode aligns nicely with last week’s episode with Rick Rubin on creativity. I wonder to what extent creativity is driven by motivational factors and how a lack of creativity is driven by things that block motivation. Perhaps creativity is blocked by the unwillingness to do hard things. Perhaps expectations for things to come easily can block creativity. Perhaps more creativity can be unlocked by being willing to do the things one doesn’t want to do. So the two episodes lined up quite nicely and got me speculating a bit.
End of the episode thoughts
If I were to objectively summarize my overall take on this episode, it would be with the following words: it was FUCKING great!
Thanks a FUCKING lot.
Autism Librarian
The Causes of Autism 