Summary:
David Goggins once did more pull-ups in 17 hours than I’ve done in my entire life. That’s who we’re dealing with here. I first heard about this guy on a show called Impact Theory, where he was talking about how he lost over 100lbs just for the chance to try to become a U.S. marine, ran a marathon with two broken feet(!), overcame childhood bullying and personal tragedy, ran 100 miles over - you know what, I don’t even remember, but I was absolutely blown away by this dude and he’s been an inspiration to me ever since.
His book, Can’t Hurt Me, is one that I tore through in less than a day, and I now recommend it all the time. It’s unreal. What you should know right off the bat about David though, is that he wasn’t always like this. Not by a long shot. Just in case you thought he was always this badass motherfucker who was destined for the SEALs, always “taking souls” in athletic competitions - he wasn’t. He created himself - created himself from nothing - through sheer force of will, and he’s now an inspiration to millions because of how far he’s risen.
One of the biggest lessons you can learn from Goggins is that you should never waste an opportunity to “callus your mind,” by which he means to put yourself through something, intentionally, that’s going to make you tougher, that’s going to make you stronger for next time.
As well, you should observe “The 40% Rule,” which states that when you think you’ve given it every last thing you have, when you think that there’s nothing left inside, you have about 60% capacity left. You have more. You always have more inside.
These are huge ideas that helped me change my life. Like, I watched David Goggins speak, and I saw that it was possible for a human being to be this strong, to be this determined, to be this focused, to be this powerful. I’ll say it again too: he wasn’t always like this. He was close to 300 pounds, fat, working a job he hated (as an exterminator), he was always getting picked on by the racist kids at school, his father was a goddamn monster (seriously, read the book), and this guy...this guy wasn’t having any of it.
He made a commitment to never lie to himself and to not get to the end of his life as a loser. And then he did the work. He did whatever it took to change his life, and you can learn from his example in this crazy book.
None of this stuff happens overnight. You’re not gonna rock 4,030 pull-ups (that was Goggins’ world record in 17 hours, by the way) next week, and no one expects you to. You just have to make a decision that you’re never going to lie to yourself, and that you’re never going to get to the end of your life without seeing what you’re capable of creating, no matter what anyone else says. Incidentally, though David Goggins has almost 3 million followers on Instagram, he’s not following anybody! Under “accounts David Goggins follows” or whatever it just says “0.” Ya kinda gotta respect that.
Last thing: I also read a book a while back called Living with a SEAL, by Jesse Itzler, another great guy leading an exceptional life. Anyway, the book’s about Itzler convincing a U.S. Navy SEAL to come to live with him for a month and get him into shape. It’s not exactly “literature,” but it was a great, fun read. When it was first released, the identity of the SEAL was hidden, and never mentioned in the book. Well, surprise surprise...it was David Goggins!
Here’s what Goggins wrote to Jesse when the book came out:
"Yo man, I read that shit. That BOOK. You made me sound dark. REAL dark. You made me sound ANGRY. Like an enraged angry. You made me sound like a fucking madman. Like someone who has thirty-nine marbles in his deck...Man, you nailed it, motherfucker!"
Key Ideas:
#1: This is probably one of the most important things that you could ever learn in any book: you must never, ever, ever, under any circumstances lie to yourself. You must always tell yourself the truth about yourself, and resolve to meet it head-on.
#2: “Self-respect will always light a way forward.”
#3: It's doubtful that there is anyone, anywhere, who is exercising their full capabilities. We all have more to give, and it's up to you to decide for yourself how much more effort you want to put into whatever it is that you're doing.
#4: Don't stop when you're tired. Stop when you're done.
#5: Doing things that you find difficult is the best way to fortify your mind. Seek out these experiences, every single day of your life, and build, as David Goggins says, "calluses on your mind."
#6: Everything you've ever suffered through in your life has helped create you.
#7: Most people have no idea what "whatever it takes" actually means. It means exactly what it says: Whatever It Takes.
#8: The battles are won or lost in our own minds.
#9: The essence of self-discipline is the willingness to do whatever needs to be done, regardless of whether or not you feel like doing it.
#10: Choose between physical pain at the gym, and the mental pain of knowing that you gave up on yourself. The mental pain of giving up on yourself feels much worse. So keep going.
Book Notes:
Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you are done.
Just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.
“You’re probably living at about 40% of your true capability. Damn shame.”
You need to develop an armored mind.
“It’s time to go to war with yourself.”
“The mirror is going to tell you the truth every time, so why are you still lying to yourself? So you can feel better for a few minutes and stay the fucking same?”
Individually and as a culture, we avoid hearing what we need to hear most.
“Self-respect will always light a way forward.”
“I had every excuse in the world to be a loser, and I used them all.”
“Mediocrity would have been a major promotion.”
“Officer Steven Schaljo had been on the job in Indy for ten days by the time I called, and if I had reached anyone else you probably wouldn’t be reading this book.”
Choose between physical pain at the gym, and the mental pain of knowing that you gave up on yourself. Giving up on yourself feels worse. So keep going.
“I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could, from a past that no defined me, toward a future undetermined. All I knew was that there would be pain and there would be purpose. And that I was ready."
Do something that sucks every day.
The more often you get uncomfortable, the stronger you’ll become.
Take the path of most resistance.
Most of the battles we fight in life will be won or lost in our own minds.
“Each second we remained in training was also a choice.”
“Everything in life is a mind game!”
“I went into Hell Week knowing I put myself there, that I wanted to be there, and that I had all the tools I needed to win this fucked-up game, which gave me the passion to persevere and claim ownership of the experience."
“This was all a mind game, and I damn sure wasn’t going to lose.”
"If it’s a difficult physical challenge, you will probably have to defeat your own demons before you can take your opponent's soul. That means rehearsing answers to the simple question that is sure to rise up like a thought bubble: 'Why am I here?' If you know that moment is coming and have your answer ready, you will be equipped to make the split-second decision to ignore your weakened mind and keep moving."
“Know why you’re in the fight to stay in the fight!”
“Smile at pain and watch it fade for at least a second or two. If you can do that, you can string those seconds together and last longer than your opponent thinks you can, and that may be enough to catch a second wind."
“Once you have that second wind behind you it’s easy to break your opponent down and snatch a soul.”
“The ticket to victory often comes down to bringing your best when you feel your worst.”
Whoever you’re dealing with, your goal is to make them watch you achieve what they could never have done themselves.
"Until you experience hardships like abuse and bullying, failures and disappointments, your mind will remain soft and exposed. Life experience, especially negative experiences, help callus the mind."
"Remembering what you've been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in so you can power through obstacles."
You always have to do your best when you are least motivated, because that’s what really calluses your mind.
You have to admit to yourself that all your negative experiences and all the shitty people you’ve been involved with up until this point have been subtly influencing your character all along.
Everything that you endure from this moment on will just make you harder.
Never miss an opportunity to callus your mind.
“He’d gained the kind of self-knowledge that can only come from being broken down to nothing and finding more within.”
The human body can withstand and accomplish a hell of a lot more than most of us think possible, and it all begins and ends in the mind.
The governor in our minds telling us to stop doesn’t have absolute control.
It takes twenty years to gain twenty years of experience.
You can’t tap your extra reserve all at once, right away. Your capacity will only expand by callusing your mind day after day after day.
Staying in the fight is always the hardest, and most rewarding, first step.
When you’re suffering, keeping an open mind is hard work.
“Hope is addictive.”
We don’t all have the same floor or ceiling, but we all have more inside us than we know.
“Find more in order to become more.”
“We must create a system that constantly reminds us who the fuck we are when we are at our best, because life is not going to pick us up when we fall.”
Just like it says in the Bhagavad Gita, the battlefield is inside your own mind.
Once you get to the point where you normally stop, give just 5% more. Then slowly you’ll increase your capacity over time. For example, if you normally do 7 pull-ups before you start to feel like you can’t do any more, do 8. Then 9 the next time. And then 10 the time after that.
“Soon enough, what you once thought was impossible will be something that you do every single fucking day of your life.”
Become uncommon among the uncommon.
What you did, or what you accomplished yesterday doesn’t matter. Every day is a new day. Everyone starts over every single day.
Either you’re getting better or you’re getting worse.
In any failure, a lot of good things will have happened and we must acknowledge them.
Everyone who has ever tried to bring you down has helped create you.
“Pain unlocks a secret doorway in the mind.”
“At first, when you push beyond your perceive capability your mind won’t shut the fuck up about it.”
Most dreams are attainable.
“When you put yourself on the line, self-doubt and pain will greet you with a stinging combination that will buckle your knees.”
The most important conversations are the ones you will have with yourself.
Action Steps:
So you've finished reading the book. What do you do now?
#1: Do 100 pushups.
Why? Because I fucking said so.
#2: Don’t read #3 until you’ve done your 100 pushups.
I’ll wait.
#3: Do something that sucks, every day.
To get stronger, you must put yourself in uncomfortable situations. You must push yourself. So, as they say, get comfortable being uncomfortable. Do something you hate to do, and be grateful for the chance to callus your mind. This is how you develop an unbeatable will. Over time, you will become a major force for change in your own life.
#4: Pick something you’re deathly afraid of, and then do a tiny version of it.
This could be walking up to a very tiny spider and looking at it for a few seconds, or walking up to a stranger and asking them for the time. It could be anything.
If you’re afraid of spiders, you start small, then work your way up to the point where you can hold one in your hand, or watch a movie with spiders in it without shielding your eyes. If you’re nervous about asking a guy or girl on a date, you start with asking a random stranger for the time, then work your way up to asking an attractive stranger out on a date.
#5: Choose between the pain of discipline and the pain of regret.
There are two pains in life, and you have to accept one or the other. You can take the easy way out for your whole life, and then get to the end of your life harboring all these nasty regrets. Please don’t do this. Alternatively, you could suffer the pain of discipline now, and live the life you’ve always wanted to live in the future. Two pains, one life, one choice.
#6: Take the path of most resistance.
Whenever you have to choose between an easy option and a hard option, choose the hard option. Choose the thing that’s going to challenge you, not the thing that you already know you can do.
#7: Make a commitment to yourself that you will always tell yourself the truth.
This is one of the most important things you could ever do. You can never, ever, ever lie to yourself. About anything. Face everything about yourself without fear, without shame, without any defenses.
You can only guide yourself to a better place if you’re completely honest with yourself about where you are now. We all love to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, or about our lack of progress, or whatever, but how is that going to make you better? How is that not just a ridiculous waste of time?
About the Author:
David Goggins is an American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, motivational speaker, and author. He is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. His self-help memoir, Can't Hurt Me, was released in 2018.
Additional Resources:
David Goggins - Guided Workout
This Book on Amazon:
Can’t Hurt Me, by David Goggins
If You Liked This Book:
Living with a SEAL, by Jesse Itzler
The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson
This is How, by Augusten Burroughs
Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman
