Have you read David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book? If not, it might just change your life.
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds is a New York Times Best Seller with over 5 million copies sold. And it’s for good reason! David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book helps you learn how to push past your pain and fear and truly reach your full potential.
Today we’ll tell you all you need to know about David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book so you can decide whether you’d like to add it to your own TBR list.
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Can’t Hurt Me Summary
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins is a motivational memoir that chronicles Goggins’ journey from a troubled childhood to becoming a Navy SEAL, ultra-endurance athlete, and motivational speaker.
The book intertwines Goggins’ personal story with practical advice on mental toughness, resilience, and achieving personal greatness.
David Goggins’ early years were marred by poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse, casting a dark shadow over his childhood. However, through unwavering self-discipline, mental resilience, and relentless effort, Goggins transcended his bleak beginnings.
David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book chronicles how he transformed himself from a despondent, overweight youth with no prospects into a celebrated figure in the U.S. Armed Forces and a world-renowned endurance athlete.
Distinguished as the only individual to conquer elite training programs as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, Goggins shattered records across various grueling endurance challenges. His remarkable journey prompted Outside magazine to dub him “The Fittest (Real) Man in America.”
In his Can’t Hurt Me book, Goggins recounts his extraordinary life, highlighting a pivotal concept he calls The 40% Rule. This principle underscores his belief that most people tap into only a fraction of their true capabilities.
Key themes in David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book include:
Childhood adversity: Goggins grew up in a challenging environment marked by poverty, racism, and abuse, which shaped his early life but also fueled his determination to overcome obstacles.
His military career: Goggins recounts his grueling journey to becoming a Navy SEAL, despite numerous setbacks, including physical injuries and failure.
Ultra-endurance challenges: Goggins details his experiences pushing the limits of human endurance through ultra-marathons and other extreme physical feats, often using these challenges as a way to test and strengthen his mental toughness.
Mindset and motivation: Throughout the book, Goggins emphasizes the importance of embracing discomfort, setting audacious goals, and cultivating an unbreakable mindset to achieve success in any endeavor.
Practical advice: Each chapter includes “Challenge Yourself” sections where Goggins offers practical exercises and strategies to help readers develop mental toughness and resilience.
Overall, Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book is both a memoir of personal triumph over adversity and a guide to mastering the mind and body to achieve extraordinary goals.
Now that you’ve read the Can’t Hurt Me summary, let’s move on to a review of this Navy SEAL leadership book.
A Review of David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me Book
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Goggin’s Can’t Hurt Me book. Because there are a lot of things in life that CAN hurt you, and you shouldn’t necessarily push through them all.
This is a book that can absolutely be motivational and life changing for the right person. Goggins’ words and story are undeniably powerful.
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds shares Goggins’ life story in unapologetic detail and will hook you straight from the start.
On one side, it’s an uplifting narrative of a man who has triumphed over a lifetime of adversity, demonstrating that with sheer determination, anything is possible. Particularly in the first half of the book, this resonated deeply with me, portraying David Goggins as a figure worth admiring.
On the flip side, it serves as a cautionary account of a man whose stubbornness prevents him from learning from past mistakes. Goggins consistently enters situations ill-prepared, pushing his body to extreme limits to achieve his goals, often seeking validation for his efforts.
While commendable in life-or-death scenarios, Goggins’ perpetual quest to prove himself seems an unhealthy approach to living.
Ultimately, David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book imparts two key lessons.
First, with unwavering focus, one can conquer seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Second, there’s little merit in consistently opting for the hardest path out of personal pride alone.
While Goggins has achieved remarkable feats, others have attained similar success through more balanced and sensible means.
That being said, as long as you take it with a grain of salt, you can learn a lot from this book. In fact, I love reading self-help books like this because you know they came from a person who has lived through the struggle. Goggins is a living example of everything he talks about in this book.
Give the Audiobook a Try
If you’re going to read Goggin’s Can’t Hurt Me book, I highly recommend the audiobook version.
The audiobook version of Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins blends traditional narration with small interviews with Goggins himself. That means you actually get extra information and insights in the audiobook that you don’t get from the physical copy.
Adam Skolnick did a really good job as the audiobook narrator, and it’s fun to hear his discussions with Goggins.
Key Takeaways From Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
If you aren’t going to read this Navy SEAL leadership book, you may as well gain insight from some of its important quotes!
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me book:
- “You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.”
- “We live in a world with a lot of insecure, jealous people. Some of them are our best friends. They are blood relatives. Failure terrifies them. So does our success. Because when we transcend what we once thought possible, push our limits, and become more, jealousy and self-doubt are born.”
- “Nobody cares what you did yesterday. What have you done today to better yourself?”
- “Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.”
- “The only way to become the best is to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
- “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.”
- “We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.”
- “Suffering is the true test of life.”
Some of these quotes are really motivational. And some of them don’t speak to me personally at all. But from reading this list of quotes, and the review above, you’ll likely be able to tell if this book is for you.
I think if you are someone looking to better your life and seeking to push through barriers and be more self-motivated, there are parts of this book that could be really inspirational for you.
There is absolutely no doubt that David Goggins is a remarkable individual. What he has overcome and accomplished with his life are astounding, and he did it through grit, perseverance, and a set of guiding principles that you can learn yourself through reading his book.
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