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Identity Quotes

    “We become what our environment encourages us to be.” ~ Laura L. Carstensen, Stanford Center on Longevity, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 35)

      “Who are you?  When you buy a house and prepare to live in it, you hire an inspector to list all its faults—as it is, in reality, now, not as you wish it could be.  You’ll even pay him for the bad news.  You need to know.  You need to discover the home’s hidden flaws.  You need to know whether they are cosmetic imperfections or structural inadequacies.  You need to know because you can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken—and you’re broken.  You need an inspector.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 93)

        “Be cautious when you’re comparing yourself to others.  You’re a singular being, once you’re an adult.  You have your own particular specific problems—financial, intimate, psychological, and otherwise.  Those are embedded in the unique broader context of your existence.  Your career or job works for you in a personal manner, or it does not, and it does so in a unique interplay with the other specifics of your life.  You must decide how much of your time to spend on this, and how much on that.  You must decide what to let go, and what to pursue.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 92)

          “You have a nature.  You can play the tyrant to it, but you will certainly rebel.  How hard can you force yourself to work and sustain your desire to work?  How much can you sacrifice to your partner before generosity turns to resentment?  What is it that you actually love?  What is it that you genuinely want?  Before you can articulate your own standards of value, you must see yourself as a stranger—and then you must get to know yourself.  What do you find valuable or pleasurable?  How much leisure, enjoyment, and reward do you require, so that you feel like more than a beast of burden?  How must you treat yourself, so you won’t kick over the traces and smash up your corral?  You could force yourself through your daily grind and kick your dog in frustration when you come home.  You could watch the precious days tick by.  Or you could learn how to entice yourself into sustainable, productive activity.  Do you ask yourself what you want?  Do you negotiate fairly with yourself?  Or are you a tyrant, with yourself as slave?” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 90)

            “You must determine where you are going, so that you can bargain for yourself, so that you don’t end up resentful, vengeful and cruel.  You have to articulate your own principles, so that you can defend yourself against others’ taking inappropriate advantage of you, and so that you are secure and safe while you work and play.  You must discipline yourself carefully.  You must keep the promises you make to yourself, and reward yourself, so that you can trust and motivate yourself.  You need to determine how to act toward yourself so that you are most likely to become and to stay a good person.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 63)

              “You need to consider the future and think, ‘What might my life look like if I were caring for myself properly?  What career would challenge me and render me productive and helpful, so that I could shoulder my share of the load, and enjoy the consequences?  What should I be doing, when I have some freedom, to improve my health, expand my knowledge, and strengthen my body?’  You need to know where you are, so you can start to chart your course.  You need to know who you are, so that you understand your armament and bolster yourself in respect to your limitations.  You need to know where you are going, so that you can limit the extent of chaos in your life, restructure order, and bring the divine force of Hope to bear on the world.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Pages 62-63)

              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.

                Buy from Amazon! Listen on Audible!

                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)

                  “We know life can be hard, and yet we feel sorry for ourselves when it isn’t fair.  From this point forward, accept the following as Goggins’ laws of nature:  You will be made fun of.  You will feel insecure.  You may not be the best all the time.  You may be the only black, white, Asian, Latino, female, male, gay, lesbian, or [fill in your identity here] in a given situation.  There will be times when you feel alone.  Get over it!  Our minds are f*cking strong, they are our most powerful weapon, but we have stopped using them.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                    “I’m not saying that genetics don’t play a role in athletic performance, or that everyone has an undiscovered ability to run a four-minute mile, dunk like LeBron James, shoot like Steph Curry, or run the Hurt 100 in twenty two hours.  We don’t all have the same floor or ceiling, but 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.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me

                      “Healthy self-esteem is the capacity—rarely taught to either sex in our culture—to hold oneself in warm regard even when colliding with one’s human shortcomings.  Our capacity to stay rooted in a compassionate understanding of one another’s flaws keeps us humane.  When we lose touch with our own frailties we become judgmental and dangerous to others.” ~ Terrence Real, I Don’t Want To Talk About It

                        “The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition.  This is just as true with habit change as it is with sports and business.  Habits are easier to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when they align with your natural inclinations and abilities.  Embracing this strategy requires the acceptance of the simple truth that people are born with different abilities.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits