Accountability mirror
Telling yourself the blunt truth in the mirror every day, then fixing it
Standing in front of a mirror and saying out loud, without softening, what you are failing at and what you are going to do about it. David Goggins built the practice as a teenager while shaving his head and says he still does it daily. It is meant as an antidote to the flattering feedback of friends and feeds: if you lied to someone, you say so to your own face and then you call them. Free, uncomfortable and easy to skip.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- David GogginsDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL · Can't Hurt Me
It started at 16, while he was shaving his head, and he says it still happens every day. He names the lie or the failure out loud, then fixes it, down to phoning someone he lied to.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #630 transcript: Rich Roll interviews David Goggins“I had to change my thinking process, and basically the accountability mirror is what did it. I started shaving my head and my face when I was 16 years old, and I realized when I started shaving my face and my head, you have a lot of time to look at your reflection”
The Tim Ferriss Show #630 transcript: Rich Roll interviews David Goggins (opens in a new tab) · 29 Oct 2022
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