Boosting Performance With The Cookie Jar Method
Sometimes I feel like my brain just short circuits. For example, I'll be at the gym and suddenly it all gets too hard and my body can’t go on. I assume it’s not actually my body that’s the issue, though. If someone had a gun to my head I could definitely do more. Lift more.
Unfortunately, I can’t hire someone to stand over me at Duke’s Gym with a handgun (I had a look on Fiverr), so it’s all up to me and my brain.
For curiosities sake, I’m looking into the neurological and psychological reasons behind this, but in the meantime, I’ve tried employing some practical mind tricks as well.
One such trick comes from David Goggins’ book Can’t Hurt Me, called The Cookie Jar Method. It comes from Goggins’ tough childhood when one of the few things that brought him joy and satisfaction was being allowed to take a cookie from the cookie jar.
The Method requires you to tap into past victories and the emotional states that you experienced during those victories. In difficult times when you think you can’t go on, you reach in, take a victory cookie and remind yourself what you’re capable of.
Why do this? As Goggins’ says:
“If you truly challenge yourself, you’ll come to a point in any exercise where pain, boredom, or self-doubt kicks in, and you’ll need to push back to get through it. The Cookie Jar is your shortcut to taking control of your own thought process.”
The victory doesn’t have to be huge; it can be small. For example, I’m not a great swimmer and when I did my scuba diving license, the swimming test was really tough for me. I actually failed it the first time and was given a final go. After I did it, I remember standing at the back of the boat pumping my chest furiously, I was so happy. So that’s one of my victory cookies. I used it the other day to squeeze out an extra rep or two at the gym.
I encourage you to reflect on your life and pick out some victories, big or small, mental or physical, and remember what it felt like to achieve that goal. List them down in your phone or journal, so you can easily remind yourself when you need that extra push 😊
Until next time,
Aron