Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

Let me start this off with, David Goggins is an extraordinary man. He rose up from an unbelievably abusive household and found a positive path in life that brought him success and fulfillment. Well, some fulfillment. Maybe “purpose” is the right word.

NOTE: A warning to readers, this is a book written end-to-end in bro-speak. I commend the ghostwriter (Adam Skolnick) for capturing that voice and putting it to the page, but it makes this book a hard read. If you are a 20-something-year-old male, you will probably have no issue with it. Adults though . . . this will be more challenging. I recommend just trying to push that aside and see the story for what it is.

The strength of this book is in the story of the subject's personal journey. It's remarkable and incredibly unusual. Interwoven with the personal story is a lot of philosophizing. I found this interesting, but . . . Goggins lived a bizarre life and is driven in a way that is singularly unusual. His personal journey is the strength of the book, but his philosophy on his approach to condition and training is interesting as well, if not unusual. He just takes it to 11.

You see. I can relate to the personal philosophy Goggins espouses. I was “that guy” in the military. In fact, I actually considered writing a book on the exact same idea (I even have a title and summary paragraph written out in my idea-bank). I was rock-hard, hardcore—a super-soldier as my peers called me—while in the military. I reached my maximum potential while I served. But I was normal-guy hardcore. I was never ever going to achieve what Goggins did because, well, I wasn't gifted with his genetics, to be frank. Plus, I didn't have that same focused drive. Not for the long haul anyway. I had and have many many interests (too many), but while I was in the active-duty military, I strove to be #1. Always. So, I was goggins, small-G. There were a lot of folks like me, but we were the 1%-ers in the military.

My story changed course when I decided I had had enough of the military and moved on. My interests diverged and diluted and, as my wife can attest, it took about 5 years for me to deprogram. I'm not a normal dude with normal dude issues for the most part and I am happier for that. I look back at my Goggins lifestyle wistfully, but I am glad that phase is over. Plus I learned a few things along the way that Goggins seems to only be catching onto lately.

Goggins outdid his peers by sheer willpower and focus. Brute force. And a healthy dose of genetics to help along the way. I was the same way (minus the super-genetics). I always said, “I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I will outwork anyone.” And I did. This has its positives, but over time it becomes inefficient and draining and eventually, counter-productive. You have to morph into “work smart, not hard.” In the book, it sounded like Goggins was slowly coming to that realization as well. Maybe that will be his next book. I will read that one as well (let's hope the bro-speak is toned down). Additionally, I'd be curious to know how many people lose the message he delivers simply because he is such a mutant. I wonder if his message truly resonates with those far from his archetype.

Regardless of my nit-picking, Goggins is right on all accounts. We can achieve far more than we think we can. We can all suffer more hardship and discomfort than we think we can. And most importantly, we all need to step away from our comfortable lives from time to time. Otherwise, we stagnate and decline. If you are utterly comfortable, it feels good at the moment, but over time, it will slowly erode your potential. To grow, one must challenge oneself. Goggins slams home this point.

Goggins is an interesting fellow. A very singular human being. This book is a fascinating read, but ... 3 stars from me. The best books get 4 and my favorites get 5, so 3 stars in good company. I hope Goggins can find true sustained contentment. A little more balance. Assuming he is not a narcissist (he comes across as potentially narcissistic), I hope he can finally cobble together a family and find a way to live a normal, happy, and sustainable life. Right now, he does not appear to be there yet, but he's still relatively young. Maybe that will be his next book.

I'm conflicted, but I have to admit it is inspiring. I believe David Goggins probably is the “hardest man in the world.” But his story is also tragic and it's not a price I personally would want to pay. And that's ok!

Some warnings:

1. The book is very abrasive and crude in spots. It's a lot of manly military talk, and I did not appreciate all of the derogatory comments conflating women and female traits and anatomy with weakness. Come. On.

2. It feels like it can't decide if it wants to be a memoir or a self help book. And I would be very hesitant to read this book as advice.

3.5 rounded down. It's a good book, but be prepared. He's taking souls. I wish him all the best.

This book inspires me continuously. I have read/listened to it 4 times now. I highly recommend the audible version.

Books like this are the reasons why I love autobiographies so much. You get to read first-hand about some of the most unbelievable stories that you can find. It's not your average self-help book. This is real shit, as the author would like to point out.

David is a remarkable guy. He had a terrible upbringing because of his environment and family. But there was always this voice inside his head that told him that he could become much more. He was being beaten up, bullied, laughed at and even got death threats in school because of the color of his skin.

In short, he was a very fucked up kid.

But what is so amazing is that he took all of those and turned his life around completely. He looked at those sufferings as opportunities to improve himself and to not become the slave of his mind. And he did that. He didn't become the slave of his mind. He recognized the voice inside his head, a different from the one mentioned above, and he didn't believe what it said.

His relationship with his mind is what I like the most. Basically, the dialogue inside our skull is the thing that stands between ourselves and our full potential. The path towards recognizing the illusory nature of the content of our thoughts is the path towards liberation from our limitations. David recognized that his mind was creating his limitations and discovered that they were not real, by pushing himself and suffering.

One of the most important lessons that I learned from David is that I must not be a victim, in whatever situation I might be in life. All that victim mentality is in our mind really, and nobody is coming to save you from your misery other than yourself. It's just you. Taking complete responsibility is crucial in achieving something meaningful in life, and David's accountability mirror is also a good idea to stay real and honest every day.

In conclusion, there are lots of other things I want to say, but the most important takeaway from here is that there are people out there who changed their life and did things that most of us think are impossible. That fact tells me many things about human nature and blurs the line between the duality of impossible vs possible.

Highly recommended! And also watch his videos on YouTube. Some of the most inspiring speeches are there, and get your ass inspired (which will fade pretty easily, so listen to David if you want to know what to do when you don't have the motivation anymore)