David Goggins Serves Macho Cheese

David Goggins

I don’t typically follow anyone on social media, but David Goggins bucks that trend. He occasionally cuts a polarizing figure in many of his interviews – if you’ve ever heard of Jocko Willink, he and Goggins share similar audiences – but personally, I love hearing him talk. It’s a great way to indulge in what I call “macho cheese.”

Goggins is best described as a motivational speaker, although he hates that label and actively denounces the idea of “motivation.” Any short biography about him is bound to make him sound like an impressive human being: he’s the only person to complete Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Control training; he served two tours abroad (in Afghanistan and Iraq); he’s an elite endurance athlete and has top placings at premier ultramarathons; he’s held the record for most pullups done in 24 hours.

Listing all of his accolades and achievements doesn’t really do him justice: what makes Goggins special is where he came from and the seeming impossibility of how he’s gotten to where he is now. His experiences are a testament to how far people can push their boundaries: losing 100 pounds in 100 days in order to physically qualify for certain military programs, going through three Hell Weeks while ignoring stress fractures and pneumonia in his attempts to complete SEAL training, etc.

The quintessential Goggins story is his entry in the San Diego 24-hour race; as a first-timer with no experience, he was trying to run 100 miles within 24 hours in order to qualify for another race. It’s worth listening to his complete account on the Joe Rogan podcast, but the highlight of that race was when he reached 70 miles and had 30 left to go – his kidneys had failed, he had started peeing blood, and he had broken all the small bones in both of his feet. Normally, with a body on the brink of shutting down and dying, any sane person would have called it quits. Instead, Goggins describes how he asserted control over his mind and body, ultimately doing whatever it took to complete the next 30 miles (he ended up with 101).

Combined with the fact that he deals with asthma, was previously obese, and carried a congenital heart defect while doing many of his physical feats, it’s all the more impressive that Goggins was able to do the things he did. And this is a great example of the greasy goodness of macho cheese.

Macho cheese defined

Here’s a short definition of macho cheese:

Macho cheese (noun): any story which focuses on the triumph of sheer willpower, often enduring stupid amounts of pain in order to push past what are typically considered to be the limits of human ability

I think it’s much better than the definition on Urban Dictionary.

A dark side

The motivation for this jot did not stem from a desire to discuss or justify a particular method of motivation. Rather, it grew from a sobering realization when I asked myself why I occassionally indulge in macho cheese. The definition above makes it appear exceedingly hopeful and positive since it connotes macho cheese with optimism and self belief.

There’s a darker reason that’s associated with a more cynical aspect of human nature; namely, that macho cheese speaks to an innate attraction to solitary struggles with adversity (in the pessimistic sense of the term). In many ways its appeal is similar that of war stories such as All Quiet on the Western Front or survival stories such as The Revenant. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes it seem that humans consciously seek out situations in which we can feel a numbing isolation while fighting a world that’s crashing around us. Indeed, there are large parts of entertainment and literature dedicated to this genre.* I don’t believe that people actually want to be in those types of situations in which they are alone and face some combination of physical, existential, and social conflict, but engaging with these types of stories affords us the opportunity to ask ourselves if we’d be able to endure as well, just like the subjects of these stories.

At least for me, this opportunity to ask the hypothetical question is also paired with a burning desire to respond, “Yeah, m***********! You’d better f****** believe I can do it!” This gung-ho self-confidence has its upsides. But it also encourages isolationist tendencies. While I’m a believer in independence and self-sustainability, I also believe in the necessity of supportive human interaction; sometimes, when I’m listening to Goggins, I get the idea planted in my head that not only am I capable of doing anything, but also that I can do it without needing any help. I don’t think this is the only conclusion that I draw from macho cheese, but I doubt that I’m the only one who sometimes thinks that way.

Healthy appeal

There are some better reasons why macho cheese like David Goggins is so appealing, especially for myself and many of my friends. Personally, I believe it boils down to how motivation relates to conflict, catharsis, and self-determination.

A brief review of the various forms of conflict that are used to weave a narrative:

• main character vs another character or group
• main character vs society
• main character vs nature
• main character vs self

The thesis of most motivational material is that the last type of conflict – the internal conflict – is far more important than the first three. If you can conquer your inner demons, you can conquer any other external obstacle.

This idea that hope and change are initiated from the self can be magnified with catharsis. Feeling something extreme can help us forget about our previous internal struggles with ourselves. By purging all mental baggage, we can comfortably start changing ourselves, beginning with a clean slate.

I’d also argue that this tendency to find comfort in a “clean slate” state of being really speaks to an optimistic hope that self-determination is possible. Because for someone who believes that they can write their own destiny, what’s a better starting point than to start from ground zero, a blank page, tabula rasa?

Etymology

The “macho” part is obviously a pun on “nacho,” and any phrase that sounds good has a great chance of earning widespread adoption. Beyond that, “macho” also speaks to many stereotypes about masculinity, “being a guy,” and wishing to prove oneself by sheer displays of toughness i.e. pain only for the sake of experiencing pain. The “cheese” relates to the cheesiness and ridiculousness of doing so. Any story that is considered macho cheese is also inherently a cheesy story in a sarcastically genuine way – the delivery is typically crude and blunt, the story often makes people uncomfortable, and the experiences and situations are so ridiculous that they almost sound unreal.

The key word is almost. Macho cheese has to be a true story about overcoming real trials, no matter how outlandish. That’s perhaps why macho cheese tastes so good: removed from reality, we would intuitively want to dismiss it as something impossible. And macho cheese appeals to our hope that we can do more than what we think is possible.

Is macho cheese good for you?

A valid criticism of macho cheese is that, just like nacho cheese, it’s not particularly healthy. Macho cheese is dangerous to consume in large quantities, especially because pushing yourself too hard can result in permanent mental and/or physical damage from doing stupid things. Many of the things that David Goggins has done (e.g. continuing with physical activities despite multiple bone fractures and/or organ failures) tread the thin line between determination and death.

I think the key part of macho cheese is that you need to be smart about how much you consume. In the end, it’s up to you to figure out whether the content is truly motivating in the correct direction or if it’s merely directing you to do stupid things.

Understandably, Goggins rubs many people the wrong way. This type of reaction is understandable. He can come off as arrogant, selfish, and a bit of a psychopath. His dedication to what he does is practically obsessive and always in relation to the self. When he talks about his feats, it can seem like he’s bragging.

But as someone who really likes what David Goggins stands for, I think those types of reactions are misunderstandings of his mission. The root of why I gravitate towards Goggins goes beyond his resume or achievements. It’s the fact that he represents what is possible when you conquer your self-imposed fears and master your own mind because there are so many limits that you only place on yourself artificially. Fundamentally, he’s not doing it to gain more followers on social media, to make more money, to achieve any goal related to fame or fortune. He’s doing it because he wants to always know that he’s discovered his full abilities, and that through him others can discover whatever is necessary to find theirs.

*Some other examples: other examples: The Martian, 127 Hours, Robinson Crusoe