Brian Gubernick explores the "bag of whys," a collection of deeply personal reasons that sustain you through pain and fatigue. He credits ultra-endurance athlete James Lawrence, who completed 100 triathlons in 100 days driven by being a role model for his kids and supporting charity. Gubernick shares his own whys and challenges listeners to write theirs down and keep them visible.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. What do you do when your mind is screaming at you to quit, or when your body hurts so bad that maybe you feel like you just can't go on? Or maybe when you're not even halfway through a personal or physical challenge. In those moments when your motivation is gone and your discipline might be really shaky. I think there's something deeper in those scenarios that can possibly carry you. And that's your why. Your why. Now, I feel like this big why, this concept of the why, is a little overplayed, but as a result, we may have gotten away from kind of its core purpose here. And I want to, I want to go back to what, what got us started, this, this society, this world at large, talking around your why. See, I heard James Lawrence, who's, who's better known as the Iron Cowboy, talk about this concept he calls his bag of whys. And it actually hit me pretty hard. I really, really got to thinking about my own bag because James said, you know, pain's going to come and when it does, your why better be bigger than your excuse. And that really got me thinking, what's in my personal bag of whys? And to the No Days Off Nation, what's in yours? So this bag of whys, what am I really talking about? It's not really one single why. It's a mental collection of deeply personal reasons that fuel you when you want to quit. Your why, the reason you're doing some things, it's a collection, a mental collection of deep, deeply personal reasons. And again, they ideally fuel you when you want to tap out. For the Iron Cowboy, for James, that included being a role model for his kids or testing the limits of what's possible and making a difference for causes, charities that matter to him. If you don't know about James, he finished 100 full triathlons in 100 days, and he didn't do it because he was superhuman. He just did it because his whys, the reason for doing what he was doing, were stronger than all of his excuses. This works. This truly works. And anybody that tells you it doesn't is unclear on why they do what they do. It works because your willpower fades and your passion fades. Even your confidence fades. And so many are, I think, unwilling to admit that, that the energy just tends to fade. And again, as a result of passion and maybe even the confidence, but a deep emotional why, something you're passionate about, passionate about, cuts through the fear and cuts through the fatigue. It gives meaning to the suffering. It reconnects you, in my opinion, to a version of yourself that isn't ruled by how you feel in the moment. It's beyond that. This applies in lots of places. James Lawrence was talking about it from the standpoint of endurance events. But you don't have to run 100 triathlons to, to need this. Maybe you're building a business and you just had a brutal month or quarter, or maybe you're parenting and you're feeling like you're constantly failing. Maybe you're training for some sort of goal and, and everything mentally and physically hurts. That's when I think you reach into this bag, this bag of whys. Now, what's in my bag? Well, I want to see my kids. I want my kids to see kind of what it looks like to go all in, even when no one's watching. That's a really big one for me. I want to model the behavior expected of those most important to me. And again, that's a big motivator. When I'm out doing something business-wise or physically, I want my kids to see what that looks like, going all in, especially when no one's watching. I want to honor the people who have believed in me, even when I may not have believed in myself. That is incredibly motivating for me. The people that have put in time and energy to helping me become whatever it is I am today, from my parents, of course, to my coaches and mentors, to some of my peers. I want to honor those individuals that have poured into me, even when I may not have deserved it. I think by not giving it my all, I'd be letting them down. That is a big motivator for me. I want to know, truly know, what I'm capable of before I leave this planet. I think about that a lot. I think about it a lot. I don't want to be like everybody else. I don't want to be the status quo. I want to be weird. I want to be perceived as different. And I want to make sure I'm doing that well before my time on this earth has ended. These are big whys. These are, these are truly authentic examples of, of what I'm reaching into when I think about my bag of whys. What's your bag? Here's the deal. I think pain is coming your way, no matter who you are and what you're doing in life and business and relationships. In health, it's, it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be some obstacles, there's going to be some pain. And when that pain does show up, your bag of whys, in my opinion, isn't just helpful, I think it's essential. You don't want to wait until the storm hits in order for you to start building out this bag. Build it now. Stock it with meaning. Fill it with reasons that make you cry if you talk about them out loud. Because when the excuses start yelling, those are the only reasons that will actually help you speak louder. So, here's your challenge for the No Days Off Nation. Here's what I want to challenge you to do. I want you to sit down and write out your bag of whys. It's not a bunch of goals, but your whys. It should be a little bit emotional. It should also be specific. I want you to use names and faces and stories. And then, do something with that bag. Maybe it's tape those stories, those whys to your bathroom mirror. Maybe it's put them in your phone. Maybe it's literally write them down and put them in your pocket. Carry them around in your computer bag. Put them in your wallet. Because when everything starts to hurt, that's the moment you'll need to reach for them. You know, No Days Off, the movement, it isn't actually about being a machine. It's about being anchored. It truly is. So, I want you to go and build your bag and then leverage this. So, that's your challenge. Go sit down and write out that bag of whys and then do something with that bag. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
