Takeaways from ‘Can't Hurt Me' by David Goggins

Why this book?

The mind, more often than not, is a slippery tool, talking us in and out of taking action. Read this book to catch yourself playing the victim. And when you've read it, one of these two things will happen: you'll either mentally flog yourself for being as soft as you are and head to the gym, or plant yourself at the desk, and get shit done. Or you'll admire David from a safe distance, discuss him over coffee, and get on with your life. What will you choose?

What makes David incredible?

David Goggins, former US Navy Seal, ultramarathon runner, triathlete, & public speaker, recounts his life journey in this gripping account of developing mental toughness, rising from obscurity to fame, and transforming helplessness to perhaps the very pinnacle of self actualization. Having experienced domestic violence abuse in childhood, David had every reason to give up on life. He could have been ‘nice' to himself, pandered to his cravings at the cost of obesity, lulled himself into zombie-walking through a job that he hated but paid the bills, and got on through life with broken, half-baked relationships, never truly embracing his full potential. But he didn't. One fine day he looked into the mirror, and decided to compete against himself. He chose to transform his body by transforming his mind. And he did so by recognizing that he is separate from his mind.

His process? Continually break each and every comfort zone that his mind and body could conceive. And with this approach, he transformed from an obese young adult, who couldn't read fluently, couldn't swim, and hid his embarrassed self behind a carefully crafted swag, into the very best of Navy Seals, and then a highly decorated Ultra Marathoner, and a sought after speaker.

A quote that stayed with me

"Time stood still as I realized for the first time that I’d always looked at my entire life, everything I’d been through, from the wrong perspective. Yes, all the abuse I’d experienced and the negativity I had to push through challenged me to the core, but in that moment I stopped seeing myself as the victim of bad circumstance, and saw my life as the ultimate training ground instead."

My key takeaway:

All of us have different life paths. And we certainly don't need to become Nay Seals or public speakers to validate ourself. But we can be better than the best version of ourselves that we can conceive. And that's because no matter at what stage of life we are in, we can only conceive possibilities based on our current capabilities and limited perceptions. But there's always more. Self realization demands elimination of comfort zones. And to do so, one needs to tame the mind. And training the body is one effective way to tame the mind.

Note

Not all journeys are glamorous enough to be turned into a book – some could be mundane to lookers-on, but equally or even more painful. Not all challenges are dark enough to excite – they could be darker, and difficult to pen down. Abuse is a spectrum and not all accounts make the cut to elicit admiration or empathy – some instances are simply not narratable. Your life's account can be for you alone. And it doesn't make it any less than the one in a book. You can be your own lone cheerleader, your own mentor, evaluator, critic, and judge. What matters is, at the end of the day, are you at peace with your story?