If everything this guy claims is true, I think he is insane. He purposefully seeks out situations that nearly kill him through physical output. He ran a frozen ultramarathon and thought he might lose toes, but kept going. But why? That’s insane. The right decision would be to quit and maybe try next year with better footwear. If you lose toes, you can’t keep running Ultras..
I like to do challenging activities, but none of them are worth dying or even being long term miserable for. Goggins seems to want to make himself continually physically miserable.
I’m on board with what you are saying. I think if there was a 1-100 scale for how much meaning can be found in very intense, single focused work Goggins would be 100 and I might be a 50. I enjoy immense challenges, and I rock climb because I loved the focus you get when you are in Joshua Tree on a precarious little hold and only complete single minded dedication will get you through to the finish and a fall means possible serious consequences. But I actually find deeper meaning in relationships with my wife, family, and friends. I also enjoy a good book or solving an interesting problem or the basic physical pleasures of food, sex, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I went for a beautiful six mile run in the pouring rain yesterday and loved it. I also golf way more than any of the guys at the club. Going too far down this path seems a little like the guys who only do bench press… Other muscle groups are also important. Goggins had to stop his intense exercise to round himself out with stretching, I think that metaphor makes sense.