3 David Goggins Quotes from Living With a SEAL—And How To Add More Suck To Your Life.

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Excerpt: If you’ve ever been stuck in a rut then this book is for you. These quotes from Living With a SEAL will give you a kick-in-the-butt forward!

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Introduction: That’s one way to get out of a rut…

Ever feel stuck in a rut and like you’re going through the same motions of the same day over and over again?  …I think we’ve all been there at one point or another.

Well, what if—in order to break up the monotony/routine of your life—you invited a Navy SEAL to live with you for a month under the agreement that you had to do everything he/she asked you to do, whenever he/she asked you to do it?

…Sounds crazy right?

Well, believe it or not, that’s exactly what Jesse Itzler did.

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Jesse was running a 100-mile race in San Diego as part of a six-person relay team with friends. The six of them would alternate legs until they completed the 100 miles—as did every other team from across the country. Except for one. David Goggins—who was running the entire race, alone.

After the incredible spectacle of watching this (at the time) 260 pound Navy SEAL run a 100 mile team race solo, Jesse decided to Google and reach out to him to set up a meeting. Three days later, Goggins was moved in with the Itzler family and Jesse was verbally committed to do whatever Goggins asked him to do whenever he asked him to do it—for 31 days.

How the following 31 days played out was equal parts cringe-worthy as it was inspirational as it was hilarious. And it’s all documented in Jesse’s book, Living With A SEAL.

When I finished the last few pages, I threw on my running shorts, laced up my sneakers and ran 9 miles, did 100 push-ups, and 30 pull-ups.

…Go ahead and ask me if it was an inspirational book!

Below, you’ll find three of my favorite quotes from Living With a SEAL and some thoughts that will help you apply the insight from each to your life.  Who knows, by the time you finish reading this post maybe you’ll lace up your sneakers and go do a crazy workout for yourself!  We hope you do.  Cheers to pushing limits!

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Quote #1: “If you don’t challenge yourself, you don’t know yourself.” ~ David Goggins

The very first thing that Goggins and Jesse did together was a max pull-up test.

Goggins had Jesse do as many pull-ups as he could in 1 set and Jesse got 8 before fatiguing. Then, he told Jesse to take a 30 second rest and do it again. This time, Jesse struggled to get 6 reps. Goggins told him to do it one more time and Jesse squeezed out 3 before calling it quits. Goggins told Jesse that they weren’t leaving the pull-up bar until he did 100 more.

That’s right, 100 additional pull-ups after he was calling it quits after 17. The 40% Mindset (as explained by the Goggins) says that when your mind tells you it’s done – you’re really only about 40% done. This means that the next time your mind or body feels like giving up during a challenge, you’re less than half-way towards your 100% effort!

…Did Jesse finish the reps? Damn right he did. Every. Single. Rep. One rep at a time.

Without that challenge and without that pressure, Jesse would have never done that many pull ups on his own. He had no idea that he was capable of THAT much more. And like Jesse, until we find ourselves at the end of our limits, we’ll never really meet our full potential selves.

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Quote #2: “If you can see yourself doing something, you can do it.  If you can’t see yourself doing something, usually you can’t achieve it.” ~ David Goggins

We all have a baseline comfort zone where we operate from a majority of the time, naturally. The purpose of he 40% Mindset is to get you way outside of it!

On the flip side, I have written before about a 70% mindset rule that actually encourages you to stay inside of your comfort zone with a routine that only pushes you to about 70% of your maximum effort. So what gives? Which formula and what percentage should we follow? Well, just as the pulse of life has plateaus and spikes – our daily grind should mirror that behavior as well.

The first and most important behavior to establish is the habit of actually doing that which challenges us—whether it be mentally, physically, or spiritually—on a regular basis. This is where the 70% rule comes into the picture.

If you’re not already in the habit of working out or eating healthy or challenging yourself on a regular basis, then pushing yourself to 100% maximum capability is only going to leave you excruciatingly sore, mentally drained, resenting the challenge, and wanting to quit. 100% effort in one day is not nearly as beneficial as 70% effort in 7 days.

It’s important to start by building up your identity as the person that you want to become—whether that’s by working out regularly, or eating healthier, or speaking publicly—so that you can start to  see yourself doing more ambitious things with that identity moving forward.

Convince your mind that you will become a person who finishes a marathon and that will be the first step towards crossing the finish line. But if you only occasionally workout and you don’t see yourself as much of a runner, then there won’t even be a starting line for you to square up on.

Get your mind right first and the other steps will follow.

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Quote #3: “Every day do something that makes you uncomfortable.” ~ David Goggins

Remember, it’s not about killing yourself every day, it’s about getting uncomfortable every day. The degree to which you push yourself is where your focus should be drawn. Once your mind is right and your habits are in place so that you’re getting outside of your comfort zone on a regular basis (using the 70% Mindset) then it’s time to break up the routine and push yourself to your max! Just make sure that you are healthy enough to do maximum effort exercise and consult with your doctor to be sure—you can adapt any of these challenges so that they are healthy and challenging for you.

Why is it important to do this on occasion?

1. It keeps you mentally sharp.  If you always operate at 70%, your mind gets used to that level of exertion which then makes is harder and harder (the longer you wait to do 100%) to get to your 100% maximum effort again.  Hence, the rut.
2. It shocks your system.  Sometimes your body just needs to be shaken up in order to break through periods of plateaus.  If you find that you can’t get past a certain level of health and fitness and you’re still not at your goal – you need to take new action.  The habits you currently have established are what have gotten you to where you are.  In order to go beyond, you have to act beyond.
3. It fills your spirit with an experience worth remembering.  We remember the things that are most outside of the norm.  Running 9 miles, doing 100 push-ups, and doing 30 pull-ups after reading a book on a Sunday night?!  You better believe that I’m going to remember that one.  What workouts do you remember the most?

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Here are a few workouts you could try:

• Finding your own pull-up bar and mimicking the challenge that Goggins gave Jesse that was mentioned in the beginning of this article.
• Instead of doing 100 pull-ups after your 3 best sets – do push-ups.  No pull-up bar required.
• Nickels and dimes – Every minute on the minute do 5 pull-ups and 10 push-ups for 15 minutes.
• Lace up your shoes and run as far as you possibly can—then run all the way back.
• Go to a track and do High Intensity intervals.  3 laps at a normal pace – 1 lap as fast as possible.  And repeat for x amount of rounds.

There’s no right or wrong answer – just pick an exercise or two and maximize your efforts with them!  But remember, the most important first step is establishing the habit of working out/challenging yourself regularly in the first place.

Once you find yourself in a rut, and you find that your habits are becoming second nature, you’ll now know what to do.  And if you don’t?  …Maybe try hiring a Navy SEAL to live with you for 30 days. ;)

Live a life that is too comfortable and you risk missing out on all that is daringly remarkable.  Build up your life habits, keep building them up consistently, and smash through them every now and again.  There is so much more, outside of your comfort zone, that is waiting for you on the other side.  Good luck!

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If you enjoyed these quotes from Living With a SEAL then definitely check out the book below.  It comes highly recommended.

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