Author Malcolm Gladwell sits down with Alex Hutchison, author of the new book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance to discuss how great athletes come to enjoy suffering pain.
Says Hutchison, “Great athletes don’t necessarily feel pain differently. They reframe pain differently.” Hutchison calls the suffering a type of benign masochism.
“Some day we’ll be able to identify that some people are wired to enjoy pain.”
Alex Hutchison
Being uncomfortable is a ‘psychological coping mechanism’
The best performers also suffer more in training, says Hutchison. This reminded me of Michael Jordan who once said that he practiced so hard that the games were often easier. As the Marines like to say: ‘pain is weakness leaving the body.’
How much are you willing to suffer to be the greatest?