Whether you’re facing adversity from life situations (like losing a job or experiencing the loss of a loved one), taking on a monumental goal (losing 100 pounds, starting a new business, etc.), or willingly undertaking an extreme physical challenge (like an endurance event or misogi challenge), mental toughness is paramount. When things get tough, your outcomes will almost always be determined by your mental strength and resilience. At the end of the day, the x factor that separates the winners from the losers is an elusive potion of determination, consistency, grit, and resilience. The more determined you are, the more consistent your actions. The more consistent your actions, the more grit you build up. The more your grit is tested, the more resilient you become.

And over time, your victories start stacking up. You begin developing a record of wins that you can reflect on when you’re in the middle of a storm. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless when the universe is delivering blows, but when you can pause and remember some past wins, remind yourself of the storms you’ve successfully gotten through, you can tap into a mental strength and toughness that may have been buried under the sediment of time. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve had to fight your way out of a dark hole, so you’ve forgotten how tough you actually are.

Just as the body must be conditioned to endure punishing physical trials, so too must the mind be fortified against the storms of doubt, fatigue, and fear. On the path to realizing your full potential, “the cookie jar” is a powerful tool.

The concept of the cookie jar was popularized by David Goggins, former Navy SEAL, ultramarathoner, and complete badass. You don’t get to be “the baddest motherfucker of all time” without proving it… repeatedly. During his many times in the hurt locker, Goggins discovered the power of recalling past successes and triumphs.

The “cookie jar” is a metaphorical reservoir of memories of past achievements. It’s a roster of moments when you overcame adversity or used sheer determination to prove something extraordinary to yourself. When faced with new challenges, you can reach into this mental cookie jar, draw strength from some of those past victories, and use them to fuel yourself during moments of doubt.

I’ve pulled from the cookie jar many times to remind myself, in the midst of particularly difficult struggles, of how resilient and strong I am. For example, after tripping on a ledge while climbing a 14er (a fall that would have been difficult to survive), I struggled to overcome my fear and panic. I had to stop several times as I made my way up the last 500 feet of vertical gain, recalling moments when I’d faced and overcome my fears. Like:

1. The time I was bike touring through Wyoming, in the middle of nowhere, and an insane lightning storm passed right over me. I crouched in a drainage ditch with my rubber sleeping mat over my body and watched lightning bounce so close the hairs on my neck stood up. The storm eventually passed, and I continued my ride.
2. The time I was on I-70, towing my RV across the country for the first time, and ended up in a torrential downpour. The rain was so bad that visibility dropped to a few feet. I got off the first exit I came to despite not being able to read the sign. I soon found myself trapped in a railroad access road that was rapidly flooding. A good Samaritan came along and helped me.
3. The first time I hiked in the woods myself, at night. Every time I heard leaves crunch or bushes rustle, I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. After 4 hours, dawn finally broke and all the goblins in my mind faded away.

I overcame my fears on the mountain that day by reminding myself of previous times I’d shown courage. And then, I created another memory to add to my cookie jar – the time I almost fell on Blanca Peak but pushed through my tears and fears to reach the summit.

In this way, the wins from your jar compound. You may reach in to grab a memory during a moment of anxiety, which helps you overcome your panic, which then helps you create a new memory for your jar.

Soon, your cookie jar is overflowing with examples of what a fucking badass you are.

Give it a shot!