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David Goggins Quotes

David Goggins Quote on Preparing Properly For Our Journey and Understanding Our “Why”

    “Life is not going to pick us up when we fall.  There will be forks in the road, knives in your f*cking back, mountains to climb, and we are only capable of living up to the image we create for ourselves.  Prepare yourself!”

    David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

    Beyond the Quote (Day 397)

    Before you take your car on a road trip, you get the engine checked. It wouldn’t be wise to drive a car that needed an oil change, fluids replenished, and parts replaced. Mostly because a road trip is an adventure and with adventure comes unknown setbacks, challenges, obstacles, etc. Having an unchecked engine would only contribute to the number of issues that might arise. And the goal isn’t to maximize the number of issues—the goal is to minimize them so you can focus your attention elsewhere—say, on the scenery of the drive. Well, your “why” is the engine for the journey of your life.

    Read More »David Goggins Quote on Preparing Properly For Our Journey and Understanding Our “Why”

    David Goggins Quote on Callousing Your Mind and How I Ran A Marathon Without Running Training

      David Goggins Quote on Callousing Your Mind and How I Ran A Marathon Without Running Training

      “It takes twenty years to gain twenty years of experience, and the only way to move beyond your 40 percent is to callous your mind, day after day.  Which means you’ll have to chase pain like it’s your damn job!”

      David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

      Beyond the Quote (235/365)

      On Sunday, August 23rd, 2020, I ran my second marathon. I didn’t follow any specific running plans and did but only one training run (13.1 miles) leading up to it the week before. The most I had done besides that was a mile or two around my block at any given time in the whole year prior. Why do I tell you this? Because while I didn’t do any official running training for that run, I have been training my body for war for over two decades. And if you start doing the same, your body might be able to perform in ways that surpass your wildest expectations as well.

      Read More »David Goggins Quote on Callousing Your Mind and How I Ran A Marathon Without Running Training

      Can’t Hurt Me [Book]

        Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

        By:  David Goggins

        From this Book: 37 Quotes

        Book Overview:  For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare – poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a US Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him The Fittest (Real) Man in America.  In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

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        Not enough time to read/listen to the whole book? Check out the 12 minute Blinkist version of Can’t Hurt Me and get the key insights here for free.

        Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

        1. 34 Intense and Powerful David Goggins Quotes from Can’t Hurt Me
        2. The 40 Percent Rule — An Excerpt from Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
        3. David Goggins on Overcoming Self Doubt and Unapologetically Chasing Your Dreams [Excerpt]
        4. David Goggins Quote on Callousing Your Mind and How I Ran A Marathon Without Running Training (Beyond the Quote 235/365)

          “One of my mottos these days is peaceful but never satisfied.  It was one thing to enjoy the peace of self-acceptance, and my acceptance of the f*cked-up world as it is, but that didn’t mean I was going to lie down and wait to die without at least trying to save myself.  It didn’t mean then, and it doesn’t mean now, that I will accept the imperfect or just plain wrong without fighting to change things for the better.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

            “Life is one long motherf*cking imaginary game that has no scoreboard, no referee, and isn’t over until we’re dead and buried.  And all I’d ever wanted from it was to become successful in my own eyes.  That didn’t mean wealth or celebrity, a garage full of hot cars, or a harem of beautiful women trailing after me.  It meant becoming the hardest motherf*cker who ever lived.  Sure, I stacked up some failures along the way, but in my mind the record proved that I was close.  Only the game wasn’t over, and being hard came with the requirement to drain every drop of ability from my mind, body, and soul before the whistle blew.  I would remain in constant pursuit.  I wouldn’t leave anything on the table.  I wanted to earn my final resting place.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

              “Even if you’re surrounded by positive people, they will have ideas about who you are, what you’re good at, and how you should focus your energy.  That sh*t is just human nature, and if you try to break out of their box you’ll get some unsolicited advice that has a way of smothering your aspirations if you let it.  Often our people don’t mean any harm.  Nobody who cares about us actually wants us to get hurt.  They want us to be safe, comfortable, and happy, and not to have to stare at the floor in a dungeon sifting through shards of our broken dreams.  Too bad.  There’s a lot of potential in those moments of pain.  And if you figure out how to piece that picture back together, you’ll find a hell of a lot of power there too!” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                “We are all guilty of allowing so-called experts, or just people who have more experience in a given field than we do, to cap our potential.  One of the reasons we love sports is because we also love watching those glass ceilings get shattered.  If I was going to be the next athlete to smash popular perception, I’d need to stop listening to doubt, whether it streamed in from the outside or bubbled up from within, and the best way to do that was to decide that the pull-up record was already mine.  I didn’t know when it would officially become mine.  It might be in two months or twenty years, but once I decided it belonged to me and decoupled it from the calendar, I was filled with confidence and relieved of any and all pressure because my task morphed from trying to achieve the impossible into working toward an inevitability.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                  “It doesn’t always go your way, so you can’t get trapped in this idea that just because you’ve imagined a possibility for yourself that you somehow deserve it.  Your entitled mind is dead weight.  Cut it loose.  Don’t focus on what you deserve.  Take aim on what you are willing to earn!” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                    “Most wars are won or lost in our own heads, and when we’re in a foxhole we usually aren’t alone, and we need to be confident in the quality of the heart, mind, and dialogue of the person hunkered down with us.  Because at some point we will need some empowering words to keep us focused and deadly.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                      “We are all fighting the same battle.  All of us are torn between comfort and performance, between settling for mediocrity or being willing to suffer in order to become our best self, all the damn time.  We make those kinds of decisions a dozen or more times each day.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                        “Are you an experienced scuba diver?  Great, shed your gear, take a deep breath and become a one-hundred-foot free diver.  Are you a badass triathlete?  Cool, learn how to rock climb.  Are you enjoying a wildly successful career?  Wonderful, learn a new language or skill.  Get a second degree.  Always be willing to embrace ignorance and become the dumb f*ck in the classroom again, because that is the only way to expand your body of knowledge and body of work.  It’s the only way to expand your mind.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                          “Starting at zero is a mindset that says my refrigerator is never full, and it never will be.  We can always become stronger and more agile, mentally and physically.  We can always become more capable and more reliable.  Since that’s the case we should never feel that our work is done.  There is always more to do.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                            “No matter what you or I achieve, in sports, business, or life, we can’t be satisfied.  Life is too dynamic a game.  We’re either getting better or we’re getting worse.  Yes, we need to celebrate our victories.  There’s power in victory that’s transformative, but after our celebration we should dial it down, dream up new training regimens, new goals, and start at zero the very next day.  I wake up every day as if I am back in BUD/S, day one, week one.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                              “The sole reason I work out like I do isn’t to prepare for and win ultra races.  I don’t have an athletic motive at all.  It’s to prepare my mind for life itself.  Life will always be the most grueling endurance sport, and when you train hard, get uncomfortable, and callous your mind, you will become a more versatile competitor, trained to find a way forward no matter what.  Because there will be times when the sh*t life throws at you isn’t minor at all.  Sometimes life hits you dead in the f*cking heart.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                                “Remember that you also need rest, so schedule that in.  Listen to your body, sneak in those ten- to twenty-minute power naps when necessary, and take one full rest day per week.  If it’s a rest day, truly allow your mind and body to relax.  Turn your phone off.  Keep the computer shut down.  A rest day means you should be relaxed, hanging with friends or family, and eating and drinking well, so you can recharge and get back at it.  It’s not a day to lose yourself in technology or stay hunched at your desk in the form of a damn question mark.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                                  “Look at your whole life, list your obligations and tasks.  Put a time stamp on them.  How many hours are required to shop, eat, and clean?  How much sleep do you need?  What’s your commute like?  Can you make it there under your own power?  Block everything into windows of time, and once your day is scheduled out, you’ll know how much flexibility you have to exercise on a given day and how to maximize it.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                                    “We all waste so much time doing meaningless bullsh*t.  We burn hours on social media and watching television, which by the end of the year would add up to entire days and weeks if you tabulated time like you do your taxes.  You should, because if you knew the truth you’d deactivate your Facebook account STAT, and cut your cable.  When you find yourself having frivolous conversations or becoming ensnared in activities that don’t better you in any way, move the f*ck on!” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                                      “My work ethic is the single most important factor in all of my accomplishments.  Everything else is secondary.  To me, a forty-hour work week is a 40 percent effort.  It may be satisfactory, but that’s another word for mediocrity.  Don’t settle for a forty-hour work week.  There are 168 hours in a week!  That means you have the hours to put in that extra time at work without skimping on your exercise.  It means streamlining your nutrition, spending quality time with your wife and kids.  It means scheduling your life like you’re on a twenty-four-hour mission every single day.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me