“Can’t Hurt Me”

David Goggins

Introduction :

Here David talks about how he used to be a piece of shit not

living to his potential and blamed it on how life hadn’t been generous
to him, he was born in a difficult environment and suffered from being
poor and black. After becoming who he is today he once went to talk
about mental toughness in a university where a professor playing
smart said that we all had limitations and that there isn’t anything to
do about it. Goggins doesn’t agree and knows from experience that
one can always push further but it takes a lot of pain and effort. One
can become a true warrior.

Chapter 1 : Should have been a statistic

In this chapter David dives deep into his background, childhood

to be more precise. He was raised in a household that from the
exterior seemed fine or even more than fine. Nice house, nice
neighborhood, smiling father, loving mother and all of them worked
together in the family held “Skateland” isn’t it all beautiful ? Well.. not
really, his dad was violent, alcoholic, cheating on his wife and beating
the shit of all 3 of them. Inside that house was hell, everything kept
being worse and worse until his mom found the help and courage to
leave him and go live in Brazil, Indiana. It was a rural town and the
first year David was doing relieved because for once in his life things
seemed to become better but his mind was so handicapped by all
those years of abuse ended catching up to him and to his
performance in school. He ended up having to join a special ed
program with other kids that were more than handicapped and David
obviously didn’t belong there. He had some difficulties with school
but didn’t need to be “incarcerated” with the crazies.

Chapter 2 : truth hurts

David explains to us how he came to the realization that he was

the mess in his life and that he had to become accountable, brave
and fucking fearless to overcome his weaknesses and fears.
Everything was going downhill for him until he tried to join the army.
He failed the test because he was trying to go by the easy way,
cheating. Cheating didn’t work so well so he was left without any
solution, he didn’t know any better than to cheat. For that he had to
come up with something else, he started to see his flaws in his mirror
and calling himself out on them. Started to work for himself and not
to be the likable cool and popular kid, he started putting discipline in
his life and told himself that he wanted to get in the army, get the fuck
out of Brazil, Indiana. It wasn’t the fault of the racism or his fucked up
past it was his fault and his life was just waiting for him to make the
moves. He started working out, waking up early and studying hard.
Everything he called himself out on he would do something about.

Chapter 3 : The impossible task

Here David takes us through his experience and failure while

attempting to become a pararescue. He was good at what was
comfortable to him, he was good at running, was good at push ups
and so on but he was terrible in the water. The water was
uncomfortable for him, he wasn’t prepared and it ruined him. He was
taken out for medical reasons and was told he had the sickle cell trait,
it didn’t mean he was sick and he could still be a pararescue but he
had to restart from day 1. Choosing the path of least resistance and
fleeing the water he took the leave. From there he got an office job in
the air force and did his 4 years of duty. He gained some weight and
by the time he was out he was nearly 300 pounds, after the air force
all went down for him, he became a night guard in a hospital and then
started working at ecolab for pest control. He’d abuse his body by
eating and drinking anything, he had a miserable marriage and life,
after some time he got sick of it. One day he caught a documentary
on Navy SEALs on TV and they represented all he had aspired to be
and he paled in comparison. He saw the strongest men sweat, grunt,
cry and quit. This sparked a change in David and he started to aspire
to become a SEAL, some time later he would quit his job and start
preparing. He reached out to many Navy recruiters but most of them
didn’t take him seriously until one did, to get into BUD/S he had to
score high enough on a test and lose 100 pounds. That day he began
to start exercising and studying, he did all he could to lose the weight
and when weight wasn’t a problem anymore he became to train more
intensely, he failed the test once but at his next attempt he passed
and was enlisted for the next BUD/S. For that he had to go to San
Diego and his wouldn’t follow him so he left. He did what he had to
do to become something and didn’t care for what others needed or
wanted from his, he left his dying marriage and pursued his goal.

Chapter 4 : Taking souls

In this chapter David lays out what it was for him to go through
BUD/S and especially hell week. Most of the chapter revolves around
the activities, effort and pain that is part of the program but he brings
to the table an interesting concept, “taking souls” like rocky took the
soul of creed Goggins decided to stand up to the bullies, his
instructors. He wanted to show them that they couldn’t hurt him, that
he was going to go harder and further than any of them suspected
and that’s what he did, out of all the boat crews his didn’t lose any
men and made it though hell week. He wanted to come the one
nobody expected he could be.

Chapter 5 : Armored mind

David’s knee was getting worse and worse, he kept going

through BUD/S until at medical it was diagnosed that he had a
broken kneecap. That was all for David, he went through hell week for
the second time and had to leave because of a broken kneecap, he
went through all the time, effort and pain just to get set back once
more. Since this time again he was excused for medical reasons he
was still allowed to retry BUD/S one last time but David wasn’t so
sure anymore, he started to doubt himself, did he really want to
become a SEAL ? Isn’t he just wasting time, effort and getting more
in debt ? Was it time for him to stop and go back to a normal life to
try and right his situation ? How could he think that he would become
a SEAL ? With all those questions David went back to his mom’s, he
saw Pam again and they got along and soon after she got pregnant.
David didn’t know what to do, he didn’t love Pam anymore, he wasn’t
ready for starting a family or having a kid, he was in debt, didn’t have
a job and was constantly injured because of BUD/S. Once again
something changed in David’s mind, this time he wasn’t doing it just
for him anymore, stakes were high, it was his last shot for BUD/S and
the outcome will be decisive for his future and his child. He enlisted in
the next class for BUD/S and moved to San Diego with Pam for his
training. He started training with a small pain in his knee but he was
doing much better, in hell week he started to have shin fractures. This
is when he unlocked access to his armored mind, he continued to run
on broken legs, pushed through everything, he was started to find
comfort in discomfort, he was able to push more when he thought he
couldn’t. He discovered that when his body couldn’t anymore, his
mind could and by mastering his mind he could do anything. He
started to enjoy his instructors beatdown and see them as a
challenge. Any hard thing he would encounter he saw as a challenge
to push himself further to earn something out of things that are
supposed to take his will and energy away. And with this mentality he
finished BUD/S and graduated. Although it was all his life revolved
around for a long time now, all the training, sacrifice and preparation
he didn’t feel very satisfied. Yes he had succeeded in his goal, yes he
had done something many couldn’t but to him it meant that he
couldn’t take benefit of BUD/S to grow stronger anymore. It was time
for something new.

Chapter 6 : It’s not about the trophy

This chapter puts a finger on the period David truly became

Goggins. David was going through training as a SEAL, rotating from
deployment to being an instructor or going at school. To join
DEVGRU David had to qualify as being capable of free falling for
operations, for that he went to school with a certain Morgan who is
the twin brother of the today world-famous Marcus. During that
period at the end of the training they got word of the infamous
“operation red wings” where a total of 19 special operation warriors
died including 11 Navy SEALs. Having finished their training they
came back rushing to San Diego. Marcus and others at the time were
said to be MIA and presumed KIA, in the end Marcus was the only
survivor. For that David wanted to do something, he decided he was
going to raise money for the families that was now separated from
their husband and father, he decided to run the hardest marathon
there is, more than a marathon it was an ultra marathon. Badwater
135, 135 miles though death valley in the middle of July. For the man
in charge to accept David to participate he had to qualify, to do
something that would prove he wasn’t going to die in the middle of
death valley. He had to run either a 100 miles or a 24 hour run, luckily
there was a 100 mile run 3 days later that would let him in Badwater
135. On short notice and with no training David decided to run, at
that point he was 210 pound and built like a bodybuilder with no
cardio, so he went and ran. He ran 15 miles then 25 and when he
came to 25 he could feel the pain and started asking “Why do this ?
Who runs a marathon with no preparation ?”, doubting himself, but
he could still go fairly easily. He came to 50 miles and by that point he
had already started to fall behind the other runners. His mind started
to blur to the point where he thought he was dreaming, in his dream
he confronted himself, his doubts and fears, his pain. At mile 70 he
came crashing down on Kate’s chair (wife at the time), he pissed
blood and shat himself, after a few minutes he found the force to walk
back, walking slower and slower, he had a lot of time left but at this
pace we would’ve never made it to 100 before the 24 hours were up.
Even though he could feel the blood and broken nails and feet in his
shoes he found the strength to run. From then on until mile 100 he
discovered how truly powerful his mind was. This was the most
powerful experience he had ever lived, although he already knew how
far his mind could bring him we could’ve never imagined it could
bring a man into running 100 miles with no preparation. He
discovered the value of what he calls the “cookie jar”, whenever
achieving something, instead of brushing over it and not being
satisfied you should at least be happy of doing it. He discovered how
taking advantage of these fulfilling moments is part of the drive to go
for more. Making every small achievement count instead of directly
jumping to the big ones. At the end of 100 miles Goggins wanted to
enjoy this pain, for him it was the fruit of his effort the reward for what
he had accomplished.

Chapter 7 : The most powerful weapon

Here is described one of the most important phase in David’s

development. In his pursuit of qualifications for Badwater 135 David
continued to seek new marathons and ultra runs he would be able to
add to his resume. He found one in Vegas and although he was still
very worn out by the San Diego one still went and visited, he was
planning on just walking a bit with his mother while Kate would try
and run for 5 hours or so. Something happened at the start that he
didn’t expect, as soon as the countdown hit zero he bursted out and
ran, adrenaline took over him and he just ran, for the first 20 miles he
ran full on adrenaline, when fatigue and dehydration started to appear
he started to ask himself why he started running even though he was
injured ? Maybe he knew NAVY SEALs were the hardest men alive
and that they were made to run on broken feet and legs. He pushed
to the finish line and then he found one question, not based on fear,
not based on doubt or experience. Just an open and genuine
question, “What am I capable of ?”. From there on he had through
BUD/S and other experiences seen how the human mind could be
pushed further than most would think, however this time it was
different, this time he understood how much the brain’s “governor”
like in a car for example, would tempt you and help you rationalize
anything to make you stop when attempting to push yourself. To
make you comfortable, to try and save you, in reality taking authority
on your brain is the true way to break your limits. After this Goggins
decided he wasn’t done he went and found “Hurt 100” a one hundred
mile ultra in the middle of the jungle and mountains of Hawaii. It was
the first trail run he would attempt, the environment added a lot of
constraints compared to smooth asphalt. To avoid injury and wasted
energy he would have to constantly be aware of where he is going
and what he places his foot on because of the rocks and roots. So he
went and tried, he will run day and night, one thing that added to the
environment is rain, uphills turned to mud very fast and it felt like
running on sand. Eventually he would reach 100 miles. He felt broken
and got back to his bedroom in a wheelchair, David made one thing
his priority before getting any rest is sending a mail to inform that he
had beat Hurt 100. He got an answer saying that he was in, this felt
great and he was happy that after all this he had a shot at Badwater
135, for the foundation he was raising money for but also for himself.
This time he didn’t want to make the same mistake as with Hurt 100,
he went and looked for informations, videos and reports on running
Badwater 135, he wanted to know his environment and be ready. In
the military there is a saying that we don’t rise to the level of our
expectations, we fall to the level of our training, and this was
precisely what Goggins was going to do, train. For the next months
he will run as much as possible breaking 100 mile a week most of the
time, he even simulated the heat he will face during Badwater 135, he
would jump on the elliptical for 2 hours with 5 layers of clothing and
go hard. Soon the day came, Badwater 135 was in front of him and
he had his foot on the starting line. In the morning it wasn’t too hot
but soon death valley showed how hot it could get, he had trained for
this though and pushed through. He could feel his feet swole and his
thighs getting tired, while his quads would be on fire uphill but he just
kept going and going, he remembered how for Hurt 100 he had
started with his mind being at only 40% capacity, this time he was at
80, he stripped some clothing when it got too hot, drank water and
continued. After 30 hours he got to the finish line, along those 135
miles he saw how ultra runners he would see on the trail could go into
their mind and find every drop of strength, courage and willpower to
run these incredible distances in such conditions. He was inspired by
these people, even though he wanted to quit 30 times, even though
his mind was trying to tell him it was ok, that he had already done so
much. But now he had had finished one of the hardest marathons on
the planet, his mind told him something else though, it told him “there
is no finish line, Goggins. There is no finish line.”

Chapter 8 : Talent not required

This chapter starts by him attempting to win the “ultraman” title,

a title awarded for the competitor getting the best overall time spread
on 3 different stages set on the big island of Hawaii. Before starting
all the athletes were gathering up and getting ready and he did notice
one that stood out, that was more impressive than all the others, one
that had a bad ass aura. He was in a wheelchair and this is what
Goggins liked, that mentality, thinking out of the box, going into the
unknown and daring against all odds. This was the ultra mentality he
liked so much, this guy in a wheelchair was about to go into this
competition while 99.9% of all people wouldn’t even dare considering
it. First stage is 6.2 miles of swimming, second is a 261 mile bike ride
and the final stage was to run a double marathon. Not only was he
attempting to win the title but he was still raising funds for the special
operations foundation. These 3 stages were spread across 2 days, on
the first day David while swimming did end up failing to keep a
straight line in the ocean waves ended up swimming 7.5 miles, after
puking salt water again and again he finally got on the shore, took a
small break and jumped on his bike. Before the event he had
prepared himself, riding his bike for about a hundred mile a week and
ran every morning like he used to. He packed mile after mile, he was
catching up to the two athletes ahead but then the unexpected
happened, he drove through a bolt on the floor and the front tire
popped, he was thrown to the floor and although he was bleeding in
5 different places all he could think of was his bike. He needed to
repair it. Unfortunately he didn’t have anything and neither did the
event crew. He lost 20 precious minutes and continued on his
replacement bike that wasn’t nearly as good, sometime later the crew
caught up to him and had managed to repair it so he switched back.
He got the finish line and it was over for that day, the next day was
the marathon. During the run he did well but got tired fairly quick, he
knew he was the best runner and he knew he could make it, he still
struggled to finish first on that stage. In the end he came up second
to a guy that did something that Goggins didn’t fully expect. Wether it
was on a the swim, the bike or run stage he was trying to beat others,
trying to catch their timers instead of racing himself. The guy who
ended up number one that day had the best overall timer but during
the run or other stages he wouldn’t blow his energy because he knew
someone was ahead of him, he continued by his own standards and
stayed strong. This mindset had awarded him to be number one.
After this and the way he had made the media pay attention to him
and to NAVY SEALs an admiral called Goggins in his office. He
offered him to be a public speaker across the country in schools in
order to attempt to recruit more NAVY SEALs and especially black
ones since the ratios weren’t good at all (African Americans only
represented one percent of the special forces). He accepted and went
all over the country, speaking to young people about the NAVY SEAL
ethos, but not only that and knowing very well that most weren’t
going to be interested in joining the military at all, he preached the
mindset to always push yourself to accomplish things you thought
were impossible. And used his life to illustrate it, showing there is
much more to do with yourself than you would think. He would go
from town to town, sometimes running between towns and
participating in the local marathons and ultras. He got to speak to
nearly 500 thousand kids and young adults and for some of those it
had an incredible effect, opening their mind to this new possibility.
After this Goggins attempted ultraman a second time, this time with
another SEAL, he didn’t get first place but still gave his best, it did
make for some good advertisement for the NAVY them parachuting
down from a C-130 into the ocean and swimming escorted by a
Zodiac. He ended going back home when something unexpected
happened, during a run his heartbeat skyrocketed, his doctor thought
it was overtraining but still scheduled an echocardiogram to be sure.
Turns out Goggins had an ASP (Artial Septial Defect) a.k.a a hole in
the heart. This hole was putting him constantly at risk during dives
runs or any activity, it was a miracle David did all he did with a heart
that was only able to pump half of the oxygen another heart would
have and he was born with it. David realized that there was indeed
“no talent required”, wether it’s from that guy in a wheelchair
attempting a triathlon, a kid David spoke to and that decided to make
the efforts to push his limits and make every hour of his time count or
even Goggins going through BUD/S, getting deployed, running ultra’s
with a hole in his heart. All of it was achieved by discipline and
consistency.

Chapter 9 : Uncommon amongst uncommon

In this chapter Goggins walks us through his time in the SEAL

teams but also when building his resume for DEVGRU, going through
Ranger School and taking part in the Delta Force selection. During all
those things Goggins wanted to be uncommon among the
uncommon, many SEALs were uncommon by the fact that they went
through some of the toughest training and selection on the planet and
they were comfortable staying just that, Goggins wanted more, he
wasn’t satisfied by the idea that he had “already” reached the top, he
wanted more and he did just that. He was appointed to be
responsible for PT and every morning the workouts he had waiting for
his fellow SEALs were harder and harder making them earn their
trident every day and living that SEAL ethos. At some point the OIC
and Chief called Goggins in and told him that those workouts were
ridiculous. At that point Goggins knew it was time for him to move on,
that the people around him didn’t share his mindset and were getting
too comfortable in their minds. Truth is if you are the most intelligent,
strongest etc person in the room then you are in the wrong room. At
that point Goggins started to work towards getting into DEVGRU, he
went to Ranger School, in Ranger School you start from zero doesn’t
matter who you are. The training and selection was tough in the
mountains, it was cold and they were on minimal sleep and food
during some of the coldest storms out there but Goggins pushed
through and came out first with a 100% peer evaluation proof of his
leadership skills. He got a shot for a further selection for DEVGRU
which was an interrogation, the final papers accepting him in the
team never came and he never knew why. So he went and challenged
himself to go through the Delta Force selection, the selection was
hard but he was even harder and came in first every time with
amazing timing. At one point during an orientation course he popped
his ankle in the terrain and the next day he failed to make the time
because of his injury. A little bit of bad luck is what took Goggins’s
shot to Delta Force. All of this is what David was dreaming about in
his recovery bed after his second heart surgery. Goggins didn’t care
about how uncommon he was, what he cared about is that he still
had time on the clock, he was only so old, what else would he do ?
Sit back and get comfortable contemplating all he had achieved ? Do
nothing ? What else is there to do other than always going for more ?
Pushing yourself and going through these crucibles and experiences.

Chapter 10 : The empowerment of failure

Here David shows us how he has used failure as fuel for

success. In this chapter he explains how after his recovery form
surgery he went and gave Delta another shot, he gave his best and
was crushing it even more than last time, the moment he got to his
previous failure he was so overconfident that he got lost during the
orientation evaluation and ended up with a unimpressive time
compared to all the other evaluations. He failed Delta again even
though he could’ve made it if it wasn’t for that small mistake. After
that he was back to being a SEAL, he felt like there was no more
challenges in the army he hadn’t already attempted or overcome. He
then decided he will try to break the world record of pull-ups, the
world record at the time was 4 020 pull-ups. For this record Goggins
trained and tried, once again in the attempt of raising money for the
foundation. The first time he failed, second time as well and although
he had failed in front of the whole world, in front of people who came
to cheer him up, his crew and despite all the hate online saying he
was too heavy or his arms were too long and that it was impossible.
On his third attempt he claimed the record for himself. At 4 030 pull-
ups Goggins put his name on that world record. Throughout all these
challenges and failures he used those experiences to learn from his
mistakes and to act on them.

Chapter 11 : What if ?

In this last chapter David walks us through the years after his
retirement of the military. He suffered medical complications that
nobody seemed to understand, turns out he had put his body through
so much physical stress. He found that going through the stretching
advice and routine of a certain “Joe Hippensteel” he happened to
have met years ago while he was a SEAL. This stretching routine got
him to not feel nearly as much pain in his joints during ultra runs and
now runs without taping his ankles and at 43 he has the best time/
mile sustainable pace he has ever had. He also became a wildfire
firefighter and is part of crew hard as nails. At his age and after all he
has achieved and all the walls he faced he still goes after it every day
and pursues his potential. What if ?