5.0 out of 5 stars
Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖💥💪
Reviewed in India on 16 July 2021
“What is to give light
must endure burning” – Viktor Frankl
David Goggins is supposed to end up as a statistic, let alone write this book. He had everything going against him...born as an African American kid, poverty, domestic abuse, bullied at school, a stutter and he also had a severe learning disability. He was all set to end up in a job, spraying for cockroaches at night and earning $1000 per month. He was pretty much resigned to this way of life, plonking on the couch, stuffing himself with junk food and being an overweight man...but destiny had something else planned for him.
In this no-holds-barred memoir, CAN’T HURT ME, David Goggins takes us through his traumatic childhood, being abused by his father physically, being taunted by his school friends in Mexico and racism that he had to go through as a kid. Given the hard childhood he went through; it wouldn’t be surprising if he had ended up in a prison for drugs or any other crime as a juvenile. Luckily, David didn’t tread that path and the rest is history...
The day that changed his life for the better: The day he began to take charge of his destiny started out like any other day.One night, after coming from his night shift, he switched on TV and saw Navy SEALs getting their ass kicked during that gruesome hell week...where the officers will try their best to test your limits and break your soul. While watching those images, something clicked and he just knew that is exactly what he wanted to do in his life. Throughout his life, he kept taking the easy way out and becoming a Navy SEAL is exactly what he wanted to do...so he can face himself and be proud of himself. That’s when he gave up his job and started working towards this ephemeral dream of becoming a Navy SEAL.
“My life was devoid of any drive and passion, but I knew
if I continued to surrender to my fear and my
feelings of inadequacy, I would be allowing them to
dictate my future forever. My only other choice was
to try to find the power in the emotions that had
laid me low, harness and use them to empower
me to rise up, which is what I did.”
However, the road to becoming a Navy SEAL was not easy. At that time, he weighed a whopping 297lbs. He had less than 3 months to lose 109lbs and also get through the ASVAB test in 5 weeks. Most of the recruiters took one look at him and politely said he didn’t have any chance. Schaljo, seemed to find some spark in him and gave him a chance. That is all David needed at that time. Someone who believed in him and his latent potential. After 3 months of working hard on himself ...he finally passed that test and made it to Navy SEALs.
He not only became a Navy SEAL, but he also ended up going through hell week thrice and is probably the only person to go through Hell week thrice and lived to tell the tale!!!
“The reason its important to push hardest
when you want to quit the most is because
it helps you callous your mind. It’s the same
reason why you have to do your best work
when you are the least motivated.”
One gift that David had was the gift of visualisation. He could always see himself walking through those hallowed halls of Navy SEALs building and that is exactly how he achieved that dream. In 2001, he became the 36th African American BUD/S graduate in Navy SEAL history!!!
Becoming a Navy SEAL (2001) has opened up more avenues for him and not one to rest on laurels, he also enrolled into US Air Force Tactical Air Control Party Traffic and also graduated from Army Ranger School (2004) with the distinction of enlisted “Top Honor Man”. He was also part of many international covert operations.
In this book, he also refers to the ‘40% rule’, his belief that most of us only tap into 40% of our capabilities. According to him, we only tap into 40% of our potential and our mind gives up, once we reach 40% of our ability. This is where champions like David are made. He believes we need to push past our mind’s chatter to achieve excellence in life...physically and mentally.
“Sadly, most of us give up when we’ve only given
around 40% of our maximum effort. Even when
we feel like we’ve reached our absolute limit,
we still have 60% more to give! It's simply a
matter of stretching your pain intolerance,
letting go of your identity and all your self-limiting stories,
so you can get to 60%, then 80% and beyond without giving up.”
David also mentions the ‘Cookie Jar’ method, to push himself to greater glory. Whenever we set ambitious goals and go after them...there comes a time where boredom, pain and self doubt kicks in and we are almost ready to hang up our boots...thinking ‘it can’t be done’, ‘its far-fetched’ and ‘too hard to achieve’ etc. That’s when we can use this “Cookie jar method” where you can either write in a list of all things you have overcome in the past or remember those incidents to fuel you further in life and succeed in the heat of battle!
“Include life’s obstacles you’ve overcome as well,
like quitting smoking, overcoming depression or a stutter.
Add in those minor tasks you failed earlier in life,
but tried again a 2nd or 3rd time and ultimately
succeeded at. Feel what it was like to overcome
those struggles, those opponents, and win”
Another turning point came in Goggins life when he lost several of his friends in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2005, he started running as a way to support severely wounded warriors and their families. Since 2005, he has helped raise funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation(SOWF), which provides scholarships and grants to the children of the fallen special operations soldiers.
So far, he has raised more than 2 million for this foundation(and counting). And he has been running in marathons ever since ...to raise money for this noble cause.
When you are in a dark place, you have two options to choose from. First option - you can let that darkness consume you and be stuck in that hell hole forever. The other option - take that darkness, hurt and everything that is going against you and FLIP THAT NARRATIVE!!! Use that pain as a fuel to propel you forward.
And that is exactly what David has done. He used that angst to push him to greater heights, to achieve things no one has ever achieved. It is this fighting spirit that made him one of the most decorated men in the USA and was also honoured with 2018 Americanism Award by VFW.
As a child, he used to stutter (common among kids who come from abusive childhood) and now, he has become one of the major recruiters for NAVY, visiting different parts of the USA and sharing his story and encouraging kids to dream a bigger dream. He has become a role model not only for African Americans but for people across the world.
After retiring from the Army, he has become an active speaker and is a source of inspiration to countless people across the world!
He is also one of the greatest endurance athletes in the world. He has completed 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, setting new records and regularly placing in the top 5. He also set a Guinness world record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17hours. No wonder he is referred as “the toughest man on the planet”
“We each have a lot more in us than we know, and
when it comes to endurance sports like ultra running,
everyone can achieve feats they once
thought impossible. In order to do that we must
change our minds, be willing to scrap our identity,
and make the extra effort to always find
more in order to become more.”
It is very easy to live with “victim’s mentality” and hide behind excuses and blame someone else for the way your life is. What is hard is to take responsibility for your life and work towards a better life and David has shown us by the way he had changed his life narrative.
Just as in Bible, we have David, who slew Goliath with a swing and a few stones...here David slew many Goliath’s in his life, such as ignorance, awkwardness, obesity, weak mind, being a quitter, not being accountable, his stutter, abusive childhood, racism and flipped all these issues and used them as a springboard to launch him into greatness and become invincible.
David’s work ethic is the single most important factor in all of his impressive accomplishments. David has achieved some incredible physical feats because he believed he could and also backed it up by putting in the work. He didn’t achieve all these feats on his first attempt. He failed his way to success.
That is one of the biggest takeaways from this memoir. He wasn’t offered all these glorious titles on a platter. He worked his way to success and always looked to the next impossible task to take on.
“You cant let a simple failure derail your mission,
or let it worm up so far up your ass it takes over your
brain and sabotages your relationships with people
who are close to you. Everyone fails sometimes and
life isn’t supposed to be fair, much less bend to your every whim.”
I firmly believe, everyone will go through something that shatters them to their very core and we can either let those incidents in life to paralyse us or we can use these experiences to fuel us and propel us forward. The choice is always with us.
And David didn’t succumb to this negativity that the world has thrown at him. Instead, he turned these things and used them to his advantage to propel him forward...to a better life filled with passion, drive, meaning and purpose.
David always wanted to become ‘Uncommon amongst uncommon crowd’ and he ended up becoming a trailblazer!!!
I’ve been hesitating to review this one because I cannot possibly write objectively about what is decidedly my most favourite memoir ever. I have loved other books, I will love others, but this will have a special place in my heart as its none other than (The)David Goggins memoir. What elevates it from great to one of my absolute favourites, is the actionable steps that he lays out at the end of each chapter. He distills down the lessons he learnt as a list of questionnaire/exercises for you to work with.
There are many books out there that expand your mind, educate you, show you the way forward and inspire you. This book is special, because it not only does all the above but also compels you to take ACTION! Reading this book makes you want to run up a mountain and sign up for Marathons. It pushes you to become the best version of yourself and live your grandest dreams and also inspire people around you.
Strength comes in many forms. While David’s story not only shows us an incredible display of strength, it is also Herculean mental strength! That fortitude to do, to overcome, to be more than what others think you are capable of. That is the rarest and most powerful of strengths to train.
Thank You David Goggins for showing us the way forward and for being an inspiration for millions across the world. You have inspired a generation of people to live their best life and to keep pushing harder and further in life!!!
Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖🙏💥
11 people found this helpful
