Book Report - Can’t Hurt Me

A Unique Perspective

David Goggins is an ultra-marathon runner, a former Navy Seal, a public speaker, a survivor of child abuse, and one hard motherfucker (I don’t usually curse in my posts, but this one demands its). Goggins’s book, Can’t Hurt Me, is a memoir as well as a collection of tools for readers to utilize. Goggins has 10 challenges throughout the book for readers to partake in, these challenges are designed to help readers be the best versions of themselves.

I’ve read many psychological, behavioral, and self-help books in my life, and they’ve all had a magnitude of influence on me. But this book, written by a man who read at a 3rd grade level at the age of 18 might be the most influential one of them. It is blunt, honest, and impactful. Unlike many books written by academics, it doesn’t get into theory, it’s strictly practical.

Goggins encourages his readers to get hard and stay hard. He speaks of the importance of discipline and the negative impacts of “motivation.” If you read this book with an open mind and heart, it can seriously change your life. Not by simply inspiring you to go on a run, but by forcing you to look into the depths of your soul, and develop the type of discipline you need to be the best version of yourself.

Develop a Callous Mind

Throughout the book, Goggins speaks of developing a callous mind. But building a callous mind is not easy, it isn’t meant to be easy, if it was easy everyone would do it, if it’s easy, it’s more than likely not worth it.

To better yourself, the first thing you must do is take inventory. You need to analyze yourself and find your weaknesses. Those weaknesses are what you’re going to work on. We all love to do the things we’re good at, it massages our egos, it makes us feel good. But to build a callous mind we must do the things we don’t like, the things we’re bad at. The things that make us feel weak and vulnerable.

Goggins believes that you only grow by being humble enough to accept that you’re weak at something. Through pain, suffering, and hard work, you can turn your weaknesses into strengths. When you’re in the dungeon, working, you’re going to be forced to ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” The answer to this question will have to be something you find in yourself, it will make the difference between going that extra step and calling it a day.

Being worn down, being tired, being in pain is the price we pay for being hard. The cost of quitting, however, is lifelong purgatory. When you’re facing your demons, you want to get to a point where all the things you didn’t do eat at you and bother you. It’s better to be up at night upset at the fact that you had more in the gas tank throughout the day than it is to be up at night wondering why you aren’t getting after it.

Throughout these tasks and challenges that you overcome, you’ll be able to put cookies in your cookie jar. When you’re in the dungeon working and you want to quit, you can call on these cookies, these past achievements to remind you that you’re hard, that you can do this.

Goggins states, “I found true happiness on the other end of suffering.” We will all suffer, but we get to choose our suffering. Would you rather suffer because you never truly applied yourself, or would you rather bear the pain that comes with a callous mind?

There is No Finish Line

“Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re finished.” We all set goals for ourselves, and while pursuing those goals we reach a critical point. At this point, we decide if it’s time to quit. Everyone has a different “quitting point”, but we all have. It’s the point where self-doubt creeps in, we start making excuses and try to convince ourselves that it’s okay to quit. “We made it this far,” “We can always pick up where we left off down the road,” “It’s not worth it anyway.”

Our brain is always seeking the path of least resistance. We are programmed to want to do what’s easy. Goggins believes that most of us only give 40% of the full effort that we are capable of. At each of our 40% marks, most of us are ready to throw in the towel. There is a governor in our mind and that governor what’s you to cap everything off at 40%. It’s our job to turn that governor off so we can unlock our full potential.

We all get to a point where we want to quit, where the governor stops us from achieving our true potential. My cross country coach, Mr. Garcia use to say, “Quitting is contagious, it’s a disease that everyone is dying to catch.” We all want to quit and follow the path of least resistance, and our governor comforts us and tells us it’s okay.

The issue is that we all seek comfort. We want to pursue our goals but we want it to be nice and easy. Or we want to work hard for the next 5-10 years so that we can finally relax and live comfortably. We’re all pursuing comfort because we believe that comfort will bring us happiness, getting to relax will be joyful. If you want a “comfortable” like, go ahead, but you might find that it lacks meaning, value, or peace.

The truth is there is no finish line. If you want to achieve anything meaningful, it won’t be easy, it won’t be fun, there will be pain and suffering. You’re going to have to go to war with yourself, especially if you want to shut off the governor. If you want to unlock your true potential you’re going to have to push the line every single day. You’re not going to be able to go from 40% - 100% overnight. But every single day you’re going to have to give more, 1% more, 5% more, or 10% more.

It’s all about one relentless task after another. Once you finish this goal, don’t try to find comfort, find the next challenge. Victory is a cure-all, Goggins states, “my labors are my sweetest fruit.” Life is the most grueling sport and it never ends, there’s no finish line. But at the end of that pain and suffering, you will find accomplishment and success. There is no destination, there is only the journey.

Once you start to shut down the governor, once you stop listening to its excuses, you can start to ask yourself the next big question, “What am I capable of?” We all have some ceiling we’ve set for ourselves. But once you start challenging your governor and shattering your old ceilings, you can start to realize how high you can go. And the question you’ll start to ask at the end of each drive will be, “Was it enough”, “Did I stop with more in the gas tank?”

Goggins will walk you through how to shut the governor off and take control of your life. He speaks of methods you can implement to unclog your schedule, make time for what matters, and be the best version of yourself. But it all starts by redirecting your pursuit. To be successful, happy, and at peace, we must stop chasing comfort, and start running towards the grueling tasks, one after another.

Stay Hard

Goggins speaks about staying hard, being uncommon amongst uncommon. He realized that some of the hardest men he trained within BUDS took their foot off the gas. He realized that many of us work hard to reach and goal, and once we get there we stop pushing, we plateau. We stop pushing, we stop getting after it, we become soft.

To be uncommon amongst uncommon, you have to be relentless, you can’t let up. Every challenge that comes your way must be handled to the best of your capabilities. If there is no challenge, create one, never stop callous-ing the mind, never stop working. The fridge is never full.

Goggins says that every day is day 0. It’s the start of hell week every single day. Don’t get complacent with what you have, strive for more. This doesn’t mean neglecting your family and putting in longer hours at work. It means giving it your all when you’re working, and doing the same when you’re enjoying the company of your loved ones. Don’t think just cause you’ve been married for 10 years the relationship is strong.

Things are either getting better or they’re getting worse. Make sure you’re actively working on the things that matter. Train your mind to endure the toughness, train it to strive in the dungeon, and train it to seek the things it doesn’t want to do. Those are more than likely the things it needs most. Make time to take your wife on a hot date, don’t just sit and eat at the dinner table, take the time to engage your family on their day and their lives, don’t just push in and out of work, apply yourself to your fullest ability. Don’t end your run on a jog, sprint until the tires burn out.

Don’t just get hard, stay hard.

A Fulfilling Life

Many of us give up before we ever try. We listen to our parents, our neighbors, our friends, the haters on social media, ourselves, and anyone else who tells us not to after it. It’s not always from a bad place either, but the fear we put in ourselves and get from others can cripple us into never trying.

We’re all afraid to fail. But we shouldn’t, failure is a stepping stone to future success, if you want it to be. Goggins speaks of his after-action reports, and how he analyzes his failures to find success in his next run. “There is a treasure to be salvaged in the wreckage if you’re willing to go find it.” Failure sucks, it’s not easy, it’s not fun, it doesn’t bring us happiness. But the truth is, achieving goals and overcoming obstacles doesn’t have to be fun, but it will more than likely be worth it. “Seeds burst from the inside out in a destructive ritual of new life, does that sound fun?”

We all want to live comfortably, no one wants pain, but through the pain we find success. The last question we should ask ourselves is “What If?” What if I take a chance and change my career? What if I leave this abusive relationship? What if I do break the pull-up world record? What if I stop being complacent?

Nothing material in this world will bring us peace. It’s the reason there are unhappy millionaires. Peace can be found through our hard work, through our suffering. Peace will be found when we go to sleep at night knowing that we gave everything our best. Peace is knowing we left everything out there. Peace is out there for all of us to achieve.

My Personal Experience

Goggins forced me to ask myself various daunting questions. I was forced to critically and honestly analyze who I am and who I want to be. I started to up my exercising, and set goals I previously thought were impossible. This week, I am attempting to do 300 pull-ups and 500 push-ups. Next week, I plan on pushing the ceiling higher.

I started to plan my schedule vigorously and around all my goals. I stick to them, no matter how badly I want to procrastinate. I’ve also made it a habit to do the things I least want to do the second I think about them. I’ve forced myself to constantly challenge my views, my ideas, and my beliefs, especially as they relate to my capabilities.

I’ve read many books that help readers improve their lives, but I must say, David Goggins, the same man who read at a 3rd grade level at the age of 18 wrote perhaps the best one yet. It’s not theoretical, it is practical. There’s no secret magic behind it. It’s all about how you can change your life, learn how to embrace suffering, run towards challenges, and always push yourself. He teaches you how to find fulfillment through your hard work. And above all, Goggins shows you how to stay hard.

Challenges

This section will capture all my responses to David Goggins’ challenges. Some answers might be encrypted for personal reasons.

1. Bad Hand

The Challenge: The first challenge is to clearly outline your bad hand. This could be something you had to deal with growing up or now. Give this bad hand shape and take inventory.

I’m not so sure that I had a bad hand growing up. A bad hand to me implies that I was destined to lose no matter how well I played my hand. When I think of my early life, there wasn’t anything that I would consider as a bad hand. I grew up a bit poor, but not nearly as poor as my siblings when they were my age. Plus I didn’t have a bad hand. I had a loving family who supported me, I was smart, sure I wasn’t the coolest kid but nothing was holding me back.

Instead, I would say, the setback wasn’t that I had a bad hand. My setback was that I had a decent hand but I wasn’t great at playing cards. I applied myself to things I cared about, but would just barely fall short. I can most notably see this in my wrestling career. Ultimately, I don’t think I have anything or anyone to blame. I had a decent hand, I just needed to learn how to play it.

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2. Accountability Mirror

The Challenge: Goggins outlines the “accountability mirror.” Here you are supposed to put post-it notes about your goals, insecurities, dreams, and anything else you want to accomplish. You look at these things every day and work towards them. Once you finish one note, you take it down and replace it with another.

• I’m insecure with myself about my ability to fight. I could do it extremely well, but it’s been so long I just don’t know anymore. I need to get back in shape so when I can start training again I can kick ass.

• I dream of being like my older self when I first started working. Hungry, motivated, getting after it. In the last 2 years, I’ve gotten complacent.

• Creating short and long-term goals and developing ways to keep me on track.

3. Do Something Uncomfortable

The Challenge: Write down the things you don’t like to do. The things you keep pushing off, or the things that make you uncomfortable. Then every single day, force yourself to do those things. By slowly forcing yourself to do the uncomfortable, you’ll be able to do what makes you uncomfortable on a larger scale.

• Shaving with a straight razor. I don’t like cutting my face but I’m going to keep practicing until I get it right.

• I will be more open with others as it relates to my deep emotions. I will practice vulnerability.

4. Taking Souls

The Challenge: Identify a competitive challenge you are currently in. It can be work, school, something social, or anything at all. Identify your opponent. Then work harder than ever before and dominate the competition. Win by achieving utter and pure excellence. Do what they never could, and through your success, you can take their soul.

In my current life, I want to take my therapists and First Light Psychological’s soul. They are attempting to keep me in drug treatment when I do not have a substance abuse problem. Instead of kicking up a storm like I currently have been, I am going to show them why I’m not there. I will prove to them that I don’t require their help to get out of a “hole,” and that I am not in one at all. I will show them my mindset as it comes to growth, achieving excellence, and holding myself accountable.

5. Visualize Challenges

The Challenge: We all have goals that we want to achieve, and it’s easy enough for us to visualize us reaching those goals. But often, we don’t visualize the challenges along the way. This challenge is all about visualizing the obstacle. Visualize the goal, as well as any challenges that might arise. Visualize yourself overcoming those challenges as well. This way you can prepare and build a callous mind.

This one is hard to sit and write down. Particularly as I don’t have any hard goals as of right now. A majority of my goals are not “destinations”, they are actions. A few things I have been implementing in the last few weeks are:

• Reading

• Meditating

• Working Out

• Intermittent Fasting

• Getting Better Sleep

I’ve been attempting to embrace the mentality of forcing myself to do the things I don’t want. If I could identify a goal, it would be to stay disciplined in my practice and my actions. I can visualize myself having rough mornings. Not wanting to get out of bed, working out, staying focused, eating late, and skipping out these actions. But I can also see myself running towards the discomfort, and conquering my challenges.

I believe this challenge is something I can apply at a smaller scale to everyday challenges. See where the hurdles might lie, and visualize myself overcoming those hurdles.

6. Cookie Jar

The Challenge: Goggins speaks of a metaphorical cookie jar. Each cookie is a memory of when you overcame a task or an obstacle. Whenever you are currently in a stressful situation or challenge, reach your hand in your cookie jar and call upon those memories. Those cookies will serve as a treat, they will remind you of what you are capable of when you are struggling during your current challenge. Therefore, the 6th challenge is to build your cookie jar. Write down challenges you’ve overcome that bring you honor or satisfaction.

• Cutting 15 pounds in a week as a sophomore in high school thought me that there is nothing that I can’t do, especially when it comes to my body.

• Winning Mayor’s cup was a sweet moment, I was able to fully soak in all the hard work over the last 5 years.

• Learning Python on the job and delivering the NBBO script was special. I worked day and night to learn Python and prove my worth. At first, I wanted to prove it to others, by the end, I had proven it to myself.

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• I’m extremely proud of myself for journaling over the last (almost) 3 years. Lord knows there were times where I wanted to stop. But I am so happy I never did.

7. Removing the Governor

The Challenge: Get to the point where your body is getting you to stop, and give it 5-10% extra. It allows the body and mind to gradually increase the workload.

This is a challenge to apply in everyday life. I can’t simply apply this to one goal, but it is something I will be mindful of whenever I apply myself.

8. Manage Your Schedule

The Challenge: This challenge is three parts

1. Go about your normal week but take notes. Take every detail into consideration. This is your baseline, this is where the fat will be trimmed.

2. Build an optimal schedule. Work on one task at a time, and focus on that only. Schedule time for meals, relaxation, and sleep, take them seriously.

3. Continue working on your schedule week by week.

This is something I have tried to always implement but I’ll be conscious and have better practices. I will do the following:

• Have clearer blocks for achieving my goals (in the morning).

• Allocate time for rest (if I don’t allocate it I rest throughout the day with no limit).

• Take one true rest day.

• Update my calendar in real-time so I can audit what I did every day. This will provide me with the visibility to improve my schedule in the coming week.

9. Reject Complacency

The Challenge: Torch the complacency around you. Constantly create new obstacles and challenges for you to overcome. Don’t become satisfied with your success and achievements. Greatness evaporates like oil in a hot pan. Always find a new way to push yourself and grow, so you can truly be uncommon amongst uncommon.

This is not a challenge that I can simply write down and complete. Instead, it’s a mindset. I need to constantly find a way to stay hard. If I don’t create new challenges or obstacles, I’ll get comfortable, I’ll plateau, and I’ll get soft.

10. Most Recent Failures

The Challenge: Think about your most recent heart-wrenching failure. Write down your after-action reports. First,

1. Write down the good things, and be generous.

2. Note the failures.

3. Capture each step along the way, and the preparation you made for each step.

4. Finally, make a list of all the things you can fix, be brutally honest.

5. Schedule another event.

If it’s something you can’t do again, still write your after-action report, as it will more than likely provide you with great insight. Keep everything about a callous mind, the cookie jar, and the 40% rule to dominate your mindset and get further. If you fail again, so the fuck be it, repeat and keep fighting.

Answer: During one of my interviews there was a coding question that I wasn’t able to fully solve. The question wasn’t complicated either. I just got lost in the code and didn’t have enough time to work through it or start over.

1. Write down the good things, and be generous.

   1. I was able to logically solve the problem, even if not through the code.

   2. Once I realized my current solution was too complex I decided to sacrifice speed for functionality.

   3. Even though I was stressed out I kept my cool.

2. Note the failures.

   1. This was the second coding question where I tried to solve the problem with a solution that had the fastest time complexity. Last time I did this I stumbled and decided to start with a slower solution that was simpler and optimize my code. This time, I tried once again to go with the fastest solution.

   2. By going with the fastest solution I started to confuse my ideas, and instead of starting from scratch, I tried to salvage my current solution.

   3. This resulted in a solution that was neither fast, simple, or fully functional.

3. Capture each step along the way, and the preparation you made for each step.

   1. I started by solving the problem without the code.

      1. This is something I do for any coding question. I need to have a solution before I write the code. But the solution was not as fast as I wanted the code to be. I should have thought of time complexity before writing the code.

   2. Then I tried to transform the solution on the fly to code.

      1. Sometimes this can work, but other times, when your solution gets out of hand, you need to know when to start over.

   3. I kept struggling and changing the core idea.

      1. Instead of starting from scratch, I tried to salvage a mess.

4. Finally, make a list of all the things you can fix, be brutally honest.

   1. I should start by solving the problem in the fastest time complexity. I think it’s okay to do this, but I need the solution in my head to match the time complexity.

   2. When I start to see my solution unfold, I should take a step back and attempt to solve the problem with brute force. Once I have a functional solution I can work on optimization.

   3. I need to be comfortable with the possibility of starting over instead of trying to fix a bad solution. If I had restarted halfway through the allotted time I could have more than likely come up with a better solution. But I let my ego get the best of me.

5. Schedule another event.

   1. Although I don’t have any new coding interviews coming up, I did utilize some of the “solutions” mentioned above in the next coding question that I had. With this mindful approach, I was able to have a more robust and working solution. In the future, this is something I will certainly keep in mind.

Notes by Chapter

The following are notes I took while listening to the audiobook.

Foreward

• Had to go back to the sewers of my mind

• 10 challenges

• Podcast audible

• Your mind has a tactical advantage. It makes you not want to think about your fears, weakness, etc.

• Repetition will callus your mind

• Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done.

Introduction

• Denial is the ultimate comfort zone.

• Motivation is a hack. It changes nobody.

• The bad hand is mine to fix.

• Probably living at 40% of our capability

• Some professors said we have genetic limitations. Goggins said fuck that, giving everyone an excuse.

• Heracles quote. Out of everyone 100 men, 10 don’t belong, 80 are targets, 9 are fighters, 1 is a warrior.

• Time to go to war with ourselves.

• Motivation is CRAP. It comes and goes.

• Driven and obsessed, you don’t care about that cold Chicago chill.

Chapter 1 - I Should Have Been a Statistic

• Glossy surfaces reflect more than they reveal.

• When you’re a kid, your moral compass is properly tuned. You get upset when something is wrong.

• He had a lot of hate at a young age.

• You never know when that spare change will come in handy.

• I wasn’t out of hell, the demons were just asleep.

• I thought I was solving problems but I was creating new ones by taking the path of least resistance.

• Challenge 1 - What was your band hand growing up? What are the current factors constricting you? Write them out.

  • Give your pain shape

  • Take inventory

• Your bad hand or demons can’t hurt you

• Goggins’s challenges are all about repetition. You have to hold yourself to these standards. It’s about self-discipline.

• I’d you stay the same, you’re getting worse

• Goggins is his own hero and that’s fair as fuck.

• Be your own hero.

Chapter 2 - Truth Hurts

• To change you have to work through shit.

• Everyone’s opinion of me mattered to me. That’s a shallow way to way.

• Scott taught the guys who opened his airway how to do it the day before lol.

• Nobodies coming to save your ass. It’s up to you.

• Call yourself out. Nobody likes to hear the hard truth.

• You are giving up instead of getting hard.

• Brainwashed yourself to enjoy discomfort.

• When you have no confidence it’s easy to value others’ opinions.

• Easy to act like someone else.

• Your mind is constantly looking for the path of least resistance.

• Basketball was my love. But it was also my escape.

• Start gravitating towards the things that I hate.

• One voice directs us to what we should do. The other voice says don’t do that.

• Challenge 2 - Setup your accountability mirror. Write all your insecurity on post-it notes. Real notes. It’s okay to be unkind, it builds thicker skin.

• We live in a soft generation where people hate to admit they’re wrong.

• Sometimes bullies are just telling you the truth in a very meaningful manner.

• People start hanging around people who don’t hold them accountable.

Chapter 3 - The Impossible Task

• They say there’s always light at the end of the tunnel, but not for me. Not when you’re eyes adjust to the darkness

• The bright-eyed cadet who was happy to clean latrines four eyes ago was nowhere to be found.

• There were answers buried under all that suffering.

• The man who will achieve every task to excellence… Buds quote.

• Run towards the things that make you uncomfortable

• Triple down on your weaknesses.

• Find things that you don’t want to do and do them.

• It’s all about mindset

Chapter 4 - Taking Souls

• You just gotta go one extra step more than your enemy.

• Whoever is trying to drain your energy, give them the finger. Take their soul.

• You take souls by exemplifying excellence. Do NOT give in to their expectation of you. Work harder, don’t give them a damn reason to call you out on anything. Put yourself in a position where they can’t ignore your excellence.

• Know what’s coming ahead.

• Build a callous mind, the “can’t hurt me” mindset.

• You have to do it with humility.

• Understand you are trying to be your best, be careful that you might piss people off.

Chapter 5 - Armored Mind

• My disadvantages made callous in my mind

• Until you experience negative experiences, your mind will stay soft. It’s up to you to navigate where the callous is going. Is it going to build up your weak side or your strong side?

• Goggins didnt rush cause he wasn’t afraid of the punishment his instructors put on them.

• Leaning on your callous mind in the heat of battle can shift your thinking as well. Remembering what you’ve been through and how it has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of your negative loop. It can help you bypass those weak one-second loops.

• Leverage your callous mind to get through shit.

• You have sympathetic responses which can help you get through tough times. These responses can be triggered through a callous mind.

• You can handle doubt in the backseat, but once you put doubt in the pilot seat, your fucked.

• The reason it’s important to push hardest when you want to quit the most is that that’s when you build a callous mind.

• Physical challenges help harden the mind.

• Put friction on the mind. You get to choose where the callous will apply to the mind. Will it work for you or against you?

• You have to own your bad hand, no one is coming to save you!

• So many people have died not knowing what they could have been.

• Get to a point where all the things you didn’t do eat at you and bother you.

• Being worn down is the price of being hard.

• The cost of quitting is lifelong purgatory.

• If you allow yourself to be weak, you can become so much stronger.

6. It’s Not About A Trophy

• It’s easy to make hard plans in a warm environment.

• Pull cookies out of the cookie jar.

• Praise yourself for your victories. Look back on those wins when you need.

• Earned the pain

• Once your mind figures out it’s not time to quit. It’ll find more.

• People love to fool their minds into procrastinating.

• Multitasking makes you half-ass a bunch of things. “So many of us are multitasking and not doing shit.”

• We change things constantly, but very rarely do we change the way we think.

• “I’m not crazy, I’m just not like you.”

7. The Most Powerful Weapon

• “What am I capable of?”

• We all settle and we teach others to settle.

• Our mindset separates all of us.

• I found true happiness on the other end of suffering.

• When the mind tells you to stop, there’s a lot left in the tank.

• Explore your mind, your body, and your soul. Explore the limits to the human soul.

• We all have a different threshold for pain. But we all want to succumb to pain when we feel it.

• We all have a governor telling us to stop. But unlike in a car or engine, our governor can’t force us to stop.

• It’s up to us to listen or shut down the governor.

• Usually, we listen to the governor at the 40% mark.

• We all want to give in, we want to quit on our emotional, physical, and spiritual goals before we hit the halfway mark of what we have to give.

• We all have a reservoir under the hood. The governor moderates the usage of fuel, once we shut it down, we can use up all our energy.

• Our governor is intertwined with our identity. It tells us to stop so we don’t risk it all.

• The impulse to stop short is sent by our mind trying to be comfortable. It is trying to find sanctuary. It’s looking for the status quo.

• The only way to move past 40% is to callous your mind and chase pain like it’s your damn job.

• Over time your pain tolerance will increase.

• Finding that extra 60% is hard, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all”

• When you’re suffering, keeping an open mind is a daunting task.

• In failure, there is always something to be gained.

• Our governor massages our ego “it’s okay to quit, there’s no shame in it.” It does this at the expense of our goals and dreams.

• Hope is addictive.

• We all don’t have the same floor or ceiling, but we all have more than we know.

• You can find more when you’re competing against yourself.

• There are steps to beat down the governor

• Most of us are ready to pursue our dreams until those around us tell us not to. Their negative words, feedback, and doubt can convince us that we can’t do it. Your governor will help you do it.

• Goggins law of nature: You will be made fun of you, you won’t be good at what you do, there will be times when you’re alone. Our minds are strong, they are our most powerful weapons but we stopped using them. We have more access to resources today than ever before that we are so much less capable than those before us. If you want to defy the odds, you have to go to war with yourself and create a new identity.

• It takes a lot of will to push yourself when you’re all alone.

• People make the decision hours before quitting. Be present enough to know when you’re body and mind want to quit so you can address it.

• Catalog your weakness and vulnerabilities, don’t ignore them, address them. In high-pressure situations, they will creep up and take you out.

• I’m immune to suffering, but I’m not immune to pain.

• My reward for the suffering was a whole new bar.

• There is no finish line.

• If you’re underperforming in one part of life, you are likely underperforming in another.

• Don’t try to go from 0-100%, just continuously add an extra 5-10% percent periodically.

8. Talent Not Required

• It’s all about heart and hard work, one relentless challenge after another.

• Victory is a cure-all

• Goggins often is unprepared which forces him to struggle, but that struggle is where he finds himself.

• Focus on your race and strategy, not someone else’s.

• You take someone’s soul at the end of the race, not the beginning.

• You set yourself up for failure when you start competing with others.

• You never know who you’re affecting

• What does it take to do what you do?

  • Our culture has become hooked to the quick fix, the life hack.

  • This will not lead us to mastery

  • Passion, obsession, and talent are only useful if you have a strong work ethic.

• A 40-hour workweek is 40%

  • Spend time working out

  • Quality time with family

  • You must win the morning

• Find a way to stay hard, “his labors are his sweetest fruits.”

• Minimize the bullshit clogging your schedule.

• Evaluate your life and stick to your schedule

• Find time for more work and cut out the bullshit.

• Schedule your day around your goals, not the other way around.

• It’s easy for us to work on things we’re good at.

• Always be ready to adjust and recalibrate.

• Life will always be the most grueling sport. But if you train hard, get uncomfortable, and callous your mind, you will become a more versatile competitor. Train to march forward, because there will be a time life throws shit at you that you’re not ready for.

• I’m training for life, not ultra races.

• “Was it enough?”

• “There’s no Jedi force it’s Goggins Force.”

• Obstacles in your life are what make you grow.

  • They suck, you can be sad, but own it. Have a positive attitude to it.

• Life is reps, gotta get those reps in.

• We focus on the one small thing we don’t have. That one small thing is not our life, don’t fixate on it.

• Master your fears, learn about them, own them.

9. Uncommon Amongst Uncommon

• The uncommon amongst uncommon don’t take breaks

• “You’re the type of motherfucker who wants to be a POW just to see if you could last.”

• Life will present you with the opportunity to be uncommon.

• Uncommon are the people can often be found alone.

• Refuse to ignore duties undone.

• It’s about wanting it like there’s no tomorrow.

• Develop your own code of ethics that you stick through.

• A true leader stays exhausted, abhors arrogance, fights for his men, and leads by example. Be the best and help them find their best.

• Ranger school is jacked. No food or sleep.

• We’re either getting better or worse.

• Start at 0 every single day. The fridge is never full.

• There’s always more to do.

• Always be willing to embrace ignorance.

• Most people are only willing to push themselves so far. Once they reach that goal they’re ready to plateau. This is called getting soft.

• After a while I wasn’t focused on training the mind, it was all about training the body.

• Be careful when being uncommon. Your supposed superiority is a figment of your ego, don’t lord it over your teammates.

• Instead of getting mad when your teammates can’t keep up, help them.

• We are all underachieving to some degree.

• If you are the only you will face prejudice, it’s up to you to decide how you will handle it.

• Greatness evaporates like oil in a hot pan.

10. The Empowerment of Failure

• Overconfidence will deter you from your goals.

• Accept and own your mistakes and failures.

• Complacency kills you, don’t celebrate until you cross that finish line.

• When your exercise of choice gets taken away from you, it’s easy to fall into a rut.

• “I don’t want to be known for just one thing.”

• Failure is a stepping stone for future success

• Lack of focus and attention to detail are killers.

• If you have a good pre-game focus, you can minimize the unknown factors.

• Setting up shop in a dungeon.

• “Show no weakness, but that doesn’t mean I felt strong”

• As long as I remained in the fight, I knew anything was possible

• There was a treasure in the wreckage, I just needed to salvage it.

• Surround yourself with people who tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

• Most wars are won or lost in our head, and most times we’re not alone, make sure the people in your corner are there.

• Your failure can make others feel bad about themselves.

• Don’t listen to anybody not trying to do what you’re trying to do, someone that’s not putting the same type of work you are.

• We hate hearing the truth, we need to build a thicker skin.

• If you can dissect failure, you can find out exactly how to succeed.

• Find out what went well in failure as well.

• Your entitled mind is dead weight. Don’t take focus on what you think you deserve, aim for what you’re willing to earn.

• We love watching sports because we love to see glass ceilings shattered.

• My task morphed when I went from trying to achieve the impossible, to working to achieve the inevitable.

• Achieving goals or overcoming obstacles doesn’t have to be fun.

• Seeds burst from the inside out in a self-destructive ritual of new life, does that sound fun?

• We all have eyeballs on us, it takes humility and strength to put yourself in the lines of failure.

• People want us to be happy, safe, and comfortable.

• He wanted to snatch the soul of the former record holder.

• Life is a head game, find the latest angle/edge to overcome your challenge.

• My refrigerator is never full, I always need a new challenge. That’s why I was able to beat the record.

• Life is an imaginary game, with no record, referee, or crowd. It’s a game you play with yourself until you die.

• Self-talk is critical. It’s not lying to yourself, it’s your past experiences and grinds.

• It’s all about repetition, failure sets a bar that you need to pass, you keep failing and keep pushing that bar.

• Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure, you just failed at something.

• It’s your life, stop competing with the world.

• You won’t always be happy and life won’t always be fun. Sometimes you need to be alone in your thoughts and break yourself down. Find your weak points and turn them into your strengths. That’s what the AAR (After-action report) is about.

• You don’t need people saying, “It’s okay, you don’t need to try this again.”

• This is the school of hard knocks.

11. What If?

• Weather more than other variables can break someone down quickly.

• They say it takes 66 days to build a habit.

• I never stopped long enough to appreciate the tales I told or the life that I had built.

• In this life, there are countless trains to self-realization, though most demand self-realization, so very few take them.

• Pain unlocks a secret door in the mind, one that leads to peak performance and beautiful silence.

• Peaceful but never satisfied

• He overcame to own his failures in hell week, so they no longer own him.

• To exist in this world, we must contend with humiliation, broken dreams, sadness and loss, that’s just nature.

• Each life has its personalized dose of pain. You can’t stop it and you know it.

• We try to run from the suffering. We try to live comfortably.

• When we break outside the box, we expose ourselves to more pain and suffering than those who stay within its confines. But at least we are in control and pursuing a life full of meaning.

• The most important conversations you’ll have are the ones you have with yourselves.

• Ask yourself “what if?”, its a fuck you for everyone who doubts your greatness or stands in your way, it silences negativity, it is a reminder that you’re not sure what you’re capable of until you put everything on the line, it makes the impossible seems a bit more possible. “What if,” is the power to face down your deepest darkest inner demons, you’re very worse memories, and accept them as your history.

• Failure terrifies others, and success threatens them. Your light makes them see their walls.

• You’ll feel pain, but if you accept it, endure it, and callous your mind, you’ll reach a point where pain can’t hurt you. If you live this way, you can’t stop.

Afterword

• I had to confess and accept my life. There was peace at the end of it.

• Through this whole journey, I was looking for peace, and you can’t find peace without going to war with yourself.

• Peace isn’t a look on your face, it’s the state of your heart.

• No obstacle in front of me is stronger than the will I have to overcome.

• You must face your shadow, you can’t run or hide from it.

• No material thing can bring me the peace I have found within myself.

• How do you want your book to be read at the end of your life?

• My biggest fear was not living to my fullest potential.

• God interviews us at the entrance of heaven story as asks if we reached our fullest potential.

• To have the life we want we must be willing to suffer and enter the dungeon.

• I want God to be in awe of what I’m doing, I want him to write more about my expectations.

• There is no finish line, there is no end, find true pride in what you did on this earth.