Today I’m sharing the powerful insights I’ve gained while participating in the 4x4x48 challenge, running 48 miles in 48 hours. We’ll explore my key takeaways from the experience, as well as why I added another layer of ADVERSITY to the challenge and what I realized about embracing the moment and tuning into discomfort.
Episode Transcript:
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It’s 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning, and I’m trying to will my stiff battered body out of a bed to go for a four mile run in the freezing drizzle. I’ve run 24 miles over the last 24 hours and
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outside, it’s just below freezing, and the drizzle is absolutely going to soak me to the bone. Why the hell am I doing this, you ask? That’s a good question. I’m Marcus Aurelius Anderson, and this is another installment of Acta Non Verba’s Warrior Wisdom. In these shorter solo episodes, I’ll highlight lessons from warriors past and present, from the battlefields of Italy, Greece, Japan, and the Middle East, to modern-day warfare, including tactics seen today in business, society, and culture.
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I’ll also be sharing lessons based on my own teachings and experiences.
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The reality is this, the world is a battlefield, and to not master these lessons leaves you grossly ill-prepared for the adversity that you will inevitably face in the future. Today’s lesson comes from the modern day warrior, David Goggins, and my experience by taking his 4x4x48 challenge. Before I explain the specifics of the challenge, I need to tell you a little bit about the man that designed it in the first place. David Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL
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and is the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, including two Hell Weeks, the US Army Ranger School where he graduated as enlisted honor man, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller Training. Goggins has completed over 60 ultra marathons, triathlons, and ultra triathlons. He once held the Guinness World Record for pull-ups, completing 4,030 in 17 hours, and his best-selling book, Can’t Hurt Me, is an absolute game changer when it comes to inspiration discipline.
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and self-discovery. His Instagram account has countless clips displaying his mentality and motivation, and he pulls no punches in his messaging and mindset. And chances are, honestly, if you’re hearing my voice right now, you probably already know who David Goggins is if you listen to this podcast regularly. Now onto the details of the 4x4x48 challenge and the additional dimensions that I added to it when I took on this task. In the challenge, you run four miles every four hours.
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for 48 hours straight. I started running Friday, March 5th at 10 p.m. and didn’t stop this cycle until Sunday, March 7th with my last four mile run at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time. And for those of you that are looking at the schedule, it’s easy to see that sleep deprivation will absolutely be a factor. And Goggins created this component of the challenge by design. So I ran at 10 o’clock, two o’clock, six o’clock, 10 o’clock, two o’clock.
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6 o’clock AM and PM around the clock. Now to add an additional level of adversity, I fasted for the entire 48 hour period, consuming nothing but water and breath during this challenge. Why did I do that you may ask? I’ll address that a little bit later in the lesson. I learned a ton about myself by taking this challenge. And before I give you the most powerful takeaways from this endeavor, I’d like to thank David Goggins for creating this challenge in the first place.
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I’d also like to thank Dr. Casey Cordial, who originally challenged me to this, as well as Jeff Smith, who committed to the challenge with me and was instrumental in helping me raise over $5,000 for charity to stop child sex slavery and human trafficking for the Stop Human Trafficking Coalition of Central Missouri in the process. Here are the key takeaways from my 4x4x48 challenge experience. First of all, this challenge really reinforces the importance
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of having some sort of overall conditioning to be able to answer the call when we are challenged. Listen, everything that you face in life is easier when you are in great physical condition. And as a warrior, this could not be more true. This is why you see so many peak performers focus on pushing and conditioning themselves physically because they know that the mentality and benefits of this realm bleeds over into every other aspect of their life and business. Secondly,
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It’s not enough to know something to be true and not put it into play. The reality is this, we are only as good as our last workout, our last effort, our last attempt at greatness. We can’t expect to live off the things that we’ve already done because that’s in the past. We also can’t expect to get credit for things that we say that we’ll do in the future because no matter how much we plan, the future is filled with uncertainty. And at best, it is just a best guess of what we can do.
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and we will be potentially derailed even with our best intentions. The present moment, this moment, is all that matters, because the present is all that we have. The decisions we make from moment to moment and the presence we exhibit within those moments is what matters the most. Knowing is not enough. We must practice it daily. Always keep this at the forefront of your mind. Another takeaway from this is that this challenge may sound extreme.
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And that’s because it is. To run 48 miles and 48 hours with very little sleep and no food is a challenge indeed. But that’s my point exactly. Human beings are meant to be challenged. We are designed to be challenged in order to grow. And for those of you that think that I’m just a physical savage that enjoys torturing my body, go watch my TEDx Talk, The Gift of Adversity, or listen to the first couple of episodes of the Octanon Verbat podcast series.
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to learn more about my backstory. And as for taking things to extremes, I do, but I have challenged myself in many ways, spiritually, mentally, as well as physically. For example, going on a five-day meditation retreat where the days consisted of getting up early for three hours of meditation, breakfast, three hours of meditation, lunch, three hours of meditation, and dinner before some evening reflection meditation and then retiring for bed. Five days of that is extreme.
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And in many ways, it was even more challenging than the 48 miles that I ran in 48 hours. And with each challenge, be it running or meditation, we are pushed to our perceived limits. And when we have the courage to look at those limitations for what they are, illusions, we find that there is much more that we are capable of. And the only way to truly uncover what that is, is to make ourselves uncomfortable and to be willing to do the work necessary.
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to go beyond these illusions of limitation. These are things that are created in our mind and they stop us from elevating to the next level. Now, some will choose to detach themselves from their current hardship and compartmentalize the experience. And this is a common coping mechanism for many that are facing trauma and adversity, but this has its limitations. And dulling our mind and senses to what’s occurring in these moments waste a valuable opportunity.
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For me, instead of tuning out during my runs and divorcing myself from the adversity, I would tune in to myself to see what was bubbling up. To make this a mindful practice for 48 hours instead of just physical torture, before each of the 12 four mile runs, I set out with the intention or question in mind designed to help me learn from this experience. I would also journal about it after the run. And the answers that I came up with were powerful indeed.
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And I’d likely not have the same access to this knowledge as readily without the challenge. And that is the very reason that I fasted, to add even more clarity and presence, helping me reach an additional dimension of self-knowledge and resolve. Here are the immediate action items for you from this Warrior Wisdom episode. One.
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If you are not already, immediately begin some sort of physical training to give yourself a fighting chance when challenges arise. And notice, I didn’t say if, but when. Because adversity is omnipresent. Know that. Be it walking, running, swimming, doing a ruck march with weight on your back, yoga or lifting weights, these things all help you push beyond your limitations and grow stronger. It’s called resistance training for a reason.
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to build your mental and physical resistance. And if you’re not sure where to begin, I would absolutely recommend Andy Frizzella’s 75 Heart Program is a great place to start. Number two, Bruce Lee once said, “‘Knowing is not enough, we must act. “‘Willing is not enough, we must do. “‘Understand. “‘Knowledge that is learned and not put into practice “‘is the equivalence of ignorance.'” Many of the lessons that I learned from this challenge weren’t really new per se, but helped me become better reacquainted
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with the true gift of adversity. I absolutely had to embrace these things if I wanted to go above and beyond this challenge and to resist against them would actually impede my progress. Thirdly, whatever adversity that you are currently facing, be it physical, mental, emotional, or financial, don’t make this any harder than what it has to be. Don’t make the challenge that you are currently facing into something bigger than what it really is. As Lao Tzu says,
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build a wall, instead just lay one brick as perfectly as you can, being as present as possible. And when you’ve done that perfectly, do it again. So for me, it became at times about just finishing this run, this mile, this lap, this step, this breath, and then do it again. Adversity is a gift. Do not waste this opportunity to learn about what you are really made of.
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by complaining about the hardships or by not being present in the face of adversity. Adversity hurts because it wants you to pay attention, learn the lesson. The reality is that in retrospect, I now see that I could have done this challenge even longer if I was forced to. Remember, whatever you’re facing, don’t make it bigger than what it really is. The next point is to challenge yourself.
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And this could be anything from improving your physical performance, like lifting heavier weights or running faster, losing some body weight, seeing how much money you can save in the next 30 days, or even practicing a new habit like journaling, meditation, or 360 gratitude to make it part of your permanent skillset. Challenges are a great way to learn and stretch ourselves beyond our preconceived limitations. Am I saying that you have to go challenge yourself every single day and get injured and break yourself off over and over?
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all the time? Of course not. What I am saying is that periodically challenging yourself helps you level up and makes you be really honest about the areas where you’ve been lying to yourself. And this will bleed over into every other capacity, be it mental, emotional, spiritual, or financial, if you are willing to be honest with yourself. Lastly, when you’re to the point where you don’t think that you can go on, when you want to give up, when you want to quit, remember this.
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If you ask yourself, how do I go on? How do I keep going? Frankly, you’re asking yourself the wrong question. You shouldn’t be asking, can I keep going? What you should be asking yourself is, am I doing this for the right reason? So at 1 45 in the morning and the opening statement that I described in the introduction, that’s what I had to do when my body did not want to move. When I was sore, when I was exhausted, I didn’t ask, can I do this?
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I didn’t ask, can I push myself harder? I asked, am I doing this for the right reasons? And that question reminded me of why I was doing this in the first place. Knowing that I was enduring 48 hours of adversity and that that was nothing compared to the hellish existence of millions of others that are living in the modern day slavery of human trafficking this very moment, that’s what made me get my ass out of bed, put on my running shoes, and again, push.
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to help others. This is about deeds, not words. This is about Okta non-verba. The key point in this challenge physically was for me, but the challenge of awareness is what I am giving you, the listener. I’m challenging you to become more aware of child sex slavery and human trafficking, to acknowledge that this plague is something that we have to stop and to become empowered to stop it in our lifetime. That is my challenge to you.
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Thus endeth the lesson. I know there is a lot of material in this lesson, so I’d recommend going back and listening to it multiple times, taking notes, drawing up your war plans, and then taking massive definitive action on it. This is also a great lesson to review once a quarter to keep you on track for your long-term goals. If this episode was valuable and resonated with you, please share it with others on social media or send it directly to somebody that you know who needs to hear it.
