We're Only At 40%
What if I told you we’re only operating at 40% of our fullest potential? There have been years of ideas suggesting that we only use a fraction of our brain... And who knows if that’s true… But what about our human potential? That’s a different conversation.
In our brain there’s something called “The Governor”. David Goggins talks about this a lot in his book “Can’t Hurt Me”, and he’s the one to do it because there’s no one in the world who is better at defeating their Governor than he is.
Essentially, The Governor is that part of our brain that is the off-switch. It tells us to slow down, take a step back, and not push. It’s the voice of reason trying to keep us from straining ourselves. When you hit the wall and you feel like you need to stop, that’s the Governor.
It serves as a safety switch that prevents you from pushing yourself to life-threatening levels. It runs your life so that you don’t experience pain and suffering. But guess what, according to Goggins this Governor kicks in at around 40%. This means that your body and mind isn’t even halfway to its fullest capacity when it usually stops.
It’s like a car engine. Many cars are capable of going well over 100 miles an hour, but the car has been programmed to cap out at 95. That’s the Governor.
And that’s why strenuous physical exercise is so good for you. When you’re exhausted and what feels like your “limit”, you get to face up with your Governor. It’s screaming at you, telling you to stop, that it’s okay to quit, that it’s the right decision. But beyond that 40% is a whole lot of untapped potential that you get to access. And you do as you get more comfortable battling your Governor and dictating how you feel rather than letting your feelings dictate you.
This is an intense concept so let’s make it more concrete. You know those daily fears, doubts, insecurities, and moments when you hesitate from taking action? That’s your Governor too. And the more that you can take action through it, to override your minds attempts to get you to stop or quit, the more you open up that next level.
Do it consistently, again and again, until it becomes more comfortable and it takes bolder and bolder to set the governor off. You’ll find that you’re taking action in ways that used to terrify you before, but now you’re not thinking twice.
In my mind, if you want to embrace this process and make things happen in your life, you need two things:
1) A clear vision for what you want that fuels you;
2) A tangible next step to get there.
If you feel like this is an area for improvement, I’m putting on a 45 minute workshop to paint your life vision and distill it down into tangible next steps so that you can be accountable to making it a reality.
