Can't Hurt Me

From abused kid to Navy SEAL to ultrarunner — Goggins makes you realize you're not putting in even half the effort you could.

Goggins, Goggins, Goggins!

This guy is proper crazy. He managed to escape an abusive family situation and decided to become a Navy SEAL. The problem was that he was overweight, uneducated, and unprepared. This was the starting point for the man that grew to become one of — if not THE — toughest endurance athletes I've come across.

His father was a malignant narcissist who beat the whole family. He put a gun between David's eyes when he was eight years old. The childhood Goggins describes is horrifying, and it's a reminder of something important: you never know what someone has been through. The importance of not labeling kids at school, of being patient with children — because behind a struggling kid there might be a war zone at home.

"Glossy surfaces reflect much more than they reveal."

Growing up in that environment gave him toxic stress and a fixed mindset. He was "limiting exposure to save face" — avoiding things to avoid failure. Young kids are especially vulnerable to stress. They get stuck in fight or flight.

The Accountability Mirror

One of the first tools Goggins introduces is the accountability mirror — covering your mirror with Post-it notes listing your goals. You see them every day. You can't hide from them.

And he's brutally honest about it:

"Your life is not fucked because of hidden systemic agendas. If any of that shit is stopping you from excelling in life, I have news for you. You are stopping you! You are giving up instead of getting hard. Turn your negativity into fuel!"

Harsh? Sure. But there's something liberating about that level of ownership. When you have no confidence, it becomes very easy to value others' opinions without considering the minds that generated them. Goggins flips that on its head.

Brainwashing Yourself Into Discomfort

"Motivation is bullshit."

"I brainwashed myself into craving discomfort."

Schedule suffering into your life. It's funny — humans tend to hatch their most challenging goals and dreams, the ones that demand the most effort and promise absolutely nothing, when they are tucked into their comfort zones. It all sounds doable in a soft environment. On our sofa with a cool drink in our hands.

Living with purpose, at least when he was younger, made him forget the racism and the things that were done to him. And once he started embracing discomfort, something shifted. The feeling of passing the test for the SEALs:

"From a past that no longer 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."

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The 40 Percent Rule

When you think you've done your utmost, you're probably only at 40 percent of your capabilities. Society is hooked on the quick fix — least effort for maximum gain. That won't callus your mind.

Goggins lives this. He ran 100 miles without training, on broken legs, pissing blood. He held the world record for most pull-ups in 24 hours in 2013 — 4,030 of them. "1,000 pull-ups before breakfast became our mantra." The man is something else when it comes to mental toughness.

He also introduces the cookie jar — writing down your achievements and obstacles you've overcome. When things get dark, you reach into that jar and remind yourself what you're made of.

Building Momentum

An underlying theme in this book is building momentum. Prepare to answer the hard questions before you have to. Schedule your life. When you work on one thing at a time and only that thing, you build focus and force.

The whole thing about being a leader is not to show weakness. "Weakness is infectious." Go back to your past and deal with it — because until you do, it deals with you.

"There is this power in being able to share with the whole world anything they want to know about you. Not many people can do that, but once you get to that point in your life you have cracked the code. And you no longer look at people like: what are they thinking about me? I got to a point where I truly didn't care about their judgment."

War and Peace

Goggins is a proponent of stretching — he stretched for 12 hours a day at times, 6+ hours a day for years. "You can't inject blood into a frozen steak." He had a satori moment when he thought he would die.

"I was looking for peace. I don't think you can find peace without going to war with yourself. You have to figure out who you are."

Sit with your thoughts. It's a simple instruction, but one of the hardest things a person can do.