Self Limiting Beliefs, Kanye West & Being Alive

Hi friend,

Someone once asked David Goggins how to best prepare for a half-marathon.

Bad question…

“Why the fuck are you running a half-marathon?” He asked.

“You’re already training, so why not a full marathon?”

He stumbled over his words trying to come up with a satisfying answer, but Goggins already knew what it was.

He was training for something that he knew he could do.

And so many of us do the exact same thing. Myself included.

In February of 2023, I signed up for a half-marathon. At this point, I’d never run further than 10km, so running 21.1km seemed like a great challenge.

I was proud of myself for signing up until two friends (Josh and Nick) decided to play the role of David Goggins in my life.

“I’m not running a half-marathon with you”, Josh said. “Let’s do a full.”

HA! A full-marathon? Ya right.

I went to tell Nick what Josh said, expecting him to laugh along with me, instead, he joined Josh’s side.

“Just do it man.”

I couldn’t believe it. Is he insane? Who does he think I am?

We went back and forth for 20 minutes. He was trying to convince me to run the full-marathon. I was trying to convince him that wasn’t possible.

Eventually he said, “You won’t be happy with yourself if you do a half-marathon. You know that.”

I did know that.

I knew that running a half-marathon wouldn’t satisfy me, but a full-marathon scared the shit out of me. And that’s exactly why I needed to do it.

In the 12 weeks leading up to race day, I ran hundreds of kilometers, completed 2 half-marathons, and on May 7th, 2023, I ran in the Toronto marathon.

All 42.2km of it.

Goggins was right. The only reason I signed up for a half-marathon is because I knew I could do it.

And, Nick was also right. Even two half-marathons didn’t satisfy me in the slightest.

I learned that you need to do things that you don’t think you’re capable of doing. Because your actual potential lies on the other side of “impossible”.

The scariest thing to me is that we don’t know what we don’t know. It’s extremely hard to pinpoint exactly where these self limiting beliefs exist in our lives because they don’t want us to know they exist. But I’d be willing to bet they’re nearly everywhere.

Our earning potential. Our health. Our relationships.

They’re tough to see, but if you want to find one, just ask yourself, “What do I think is impossible?”

Once you find one, hunt that motherfucker down. Good things are waiting on the other side.

I promise.

MUSIC

I know AI music kind of came and went last year, but this AI version of Kanye West covering Hey There Delilah is genuinely amazing.

I unironically listen to this song. Like, a lot.

It’s made me realize how much of Kanye’s music I like because of his voice (Runaway, Hey Mama, Spaceship & Ghost Town to name a few).

Listen, he’s no Adele, but in his own, imperfect way, his singing voice is actually quite beautiful. And hearing “him” sing one of my favourite songs makes me appreciate that a little bit more.

A QUOTE I LIKE

Sam Harris on how lucky we are to be alive:

A reminder that life really doesn’t have to be that complicated. We just like to make it that way.

There are thousands of things to be grateful for on any given day. Pick one and write it down.

Hit reply to this email and let me know what you wrote.

PRODUCTIVITY HACK

Delete the YouTube app off of your phone.

As a creator, I often write off a 2-hour YouTube session as “collecting inspiration”.

But I knew very well that this was the voice procrastination talking.

My goal this year is to post at least 52 videos (ideally 75) and I’m already behind on that goal.

As much as I love binge watching Will Tennyson and Van Neistat videos, I realized that my time is much better spent working on a video of my own.

If you need to watch a YouTube video, use your computer or the browser on your phone. It’s not as good as the app, but that’s kind of the point.

P.S. if you aren’t addicted to YouTube like me, delete whatever app you spend too much time on (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter) and put that energy towards something you’ll be proud of

WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO

I’m 100 days alcohol free. Here are a few lessons I learned during this break from drinking.

My friend, Louis, and I ranked the top self development creators on our podcast. Check it out to see if your favourite creator made the list.

Talk soon,

Devin