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Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

byDavid Goggins
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Top positive review

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L Harrison
TOP 500 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 starsThe single most useful book I've ever read.
Reviewed in Australia on 17 December 2018
That's a big statement, I know, but David Goggins has such a unique, refreshing, and honest way of looking at things that unless you're intellectually and emotionally comatose (or would like to be), you can't help but grow as you read. After decades of conscious self-discovery I thought I knew myself well. Goggins showed me how I only knew the areas I wanted to know, and how the unexamined areas had been mud wrestling me behind the scenes for years. I'm going to come right out and say the one thing I never expected to say in a review: If in your life you're only going to read one book that will mess you up and set you right, you can't get better than this one.
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30 people found this helpful

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Fendy T.
1.0 out of 5 starsLooks like a fake copy
Reviewed in Australia on 14 April 2021
The quality of the print is terrible. It looks like a fake copy. I have compared my copy to the ones at the stores and its different. The ones at the store have much better printing and better quality paper. Avoid this version as it ruins the experience of this book.
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One person found this helpful

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From Australia

XS
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important individuals of our generation
Reviewed in Australia on 15 December 2018
Verified Purchase
A year ago, I survived a heart attack, age 30 - doctors told me I couldn't be able to do anything too physical in the future, and that I need to take it easy for the rest of my life. I couldn't handle this, as I refused to accept the advice of clinicians locally here, who relied heavily on out-dated research and mostly knew how to help a much older group of people. Feeling very alone, I started researching cardiologists and athletes with a heart condition, and this guy David Goggins shows up.

Ever since then I've been following and consuming every piece of material and interview he has made - his advice and his philosophies to life was instrumental in helping me complete the very challenging Kokoda track in Papua New guinea a year after my heart attack - I climbed 6 mountains in 7 days in extreme tropical mud and heart, listening to David's voice in the back of my head.

The important thing about Goggins is he's a normal guy who's been through some tough challenges in life, and has come out on top. There is no end to the challenges though, and he's pretty much going to tell you what you already know - this is all hard work. This book teaches you, through his experiences, how to embrace the intensity, how to face your demons, and how to commit to your goals, and the dangers of "living happily ever after"

Get on to it. Oh and if you're someone who complains about profanity and bad language, then don't f***ing read this book. Stay hard.
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Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Look at me book.
Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2020
Verified Purchase
Pretty much a look at me book. Not real motivational. Hes an exceptional human being and he lets us know it.
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Ryko
5.0 out of 5 stars 2 words
Reviewed in Australia on 8 March 2021
Verified Purchase
What if?

I wish I could end my review there as it pretty much summarises the entire masterpiece.

Don't hesitate read this.
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From other countries

Tabitha
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖💥💪
Reviewed in India on 16 July 2021
Verified Purchase
“What is to give light
  must endure burning” – Viktor Frankl         

David Goggins is supposed to end up as a statistic, let alone write this book. He had everything going against him...born as an African American kid, poverty, domestic abuse, bullied at school, a stutter and he also had a severe learning disability. He was all set to end up in a job, spraying for cockroaches at night and earning $1000 per month. He was pretty much resigned to this way of life, plonking on the couch, stuffing himself with junk food and being an overweight man...but destiny had something else planned for him.       

In this no-holds-barred memoir, CAN’T HURT ME, David Goggins takes us through his traumatic childhood, being abused by his father physically, being taunted by his school friends in Mexico and racism that he had to go through as a kid. Given the hard childhood he went through; it wouldn’t be surprising if he had ended up in a prison for drugs or any other crime as a juvenile. Luckily, David didn’t tread that path and the rest is history...

The day that changed his life for the better: The day he began to take charge of his destiny started out like any other day.One night, after coming from his night shift, he switched on TV and saw Navy SEALs getting their ass kicked during that gruesome hell week...where the officers will try their best to test your limits and break your soul. While watching those images, something clicked and he just knew that is exactly what he wanted to do in his life. Throughout his life, he kept taking the easy way out and becoming a Navy SEAL is exactly what he wanted to do...so he can face himself and be proud of himself. That’s when he gave up his job and started working towards this ephemeral dream of becoming a Navy SEAL.

          “My life was devoid of any drive and passion, but I knew
           if I continued to surrender to my fear and my 
           feelings of inadequacy, I would be allowing them to 
           dictate my future forever. My only other choice was 
           to try to find the power in the emotions that had 
           laid me low, harness and use them to empower
           me to rise up, which is what I did.”       
            
However, the road to becoming a Navy SEAL was not easy. At that time, he weighed a whopping 297lbs. He had less than 3 months to lose 109lbs and also get through the ASVAB test in 5 weeks. Most of the recruiters took one look at him and politely said he didn’t have any chance. Schaljo, seemed to find some spark in him and gave him a chance. That is all David needed at that time. Someone who believed in him and his latent potential. After 3 months of working hard on himself ...he finally passed that test and made it to Navy SEALs. 
       
He not only became a Navy SEAL, but he also ended up going through hell week thrice and is probably the only person to go through Hell week thrice and lived to tell the tale!!!

             “The reason its important to push hardest 
             when you want to quit the most is because 
             it helps you callous your mind. It’s the same 
             reason why you have to do your best work 
             when you are the least motivated.”

One gift that David had was the gift of visualisation. He could always see himself walking through those hallowed halls of Navy SEALs building and that is exactly how he achieved that dream. In 2001, he became the 36th African American BUD/S graduate in Navy SEAL history!!!

Becoming a Navy SEAL (2001) has opened up more avenues for him and not one to rest on laurels, he also enrolled into US Air Force Tactical Air Control Party Traffic and also graduated from Army Ranger School (2004) with the distinction of enlisted “Top Honor Man”. He was also part of many international covert operations.           

In this book, he also refers to the ‘40% rule’, his belief that most of us only tap into 40% of our capabilities. According to him, we only tap into 40% of our potential and our mind gives up, once we reach 40% of our ability. This is where champions like David are made. He believes we need to push past our mind’s chatter to achieve excellence in life...physically and mentally.

         “Sadly, most of us give up when we’ve only given 
          around 40% of our maximum effort. Even when 
          we feel like we’ve reached our absolute limit, 
          we still have 60% more to give! It's simply a 
          matter of stretching your pain intolerance,
          letting go of your identity and all your self-limiting stories,
          so you can get to 60%, then 80% and beyond without giving up.”

David also mentions the ‘Cookie Jar’ method, to push himself to greater glory. Whenever we set ambitious goals and go after them...there comes a time where boredom, pain and self doubt kicks in and we are almost ready to hang up our boots...thinking ‘it can’t be done’, ‘its far-fetched’ and ‘too hard to achieve’ etc. That’s when we can use this “Cookie jar method” where you can either write in a list of all things you have overcome in the past or remember those incidents to fuel you further in life and succeed in the heat of battle!

           “Include life’s obstacles you’ve overcome as well, 
            like quitting smoking, overcoming depression or a stutter.
            Add in those minor tasks you failed earlier in life,
            but tried again a 2nd or 3rd time and ultimately 
            succeeded at. Feel what it was like to overcome 
            those struggles, those opponents, and win”                      

Another turning point came in Goggins life when he lost several of his friends in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2005, he started running as a way to support severely wounded warriors and their families. Since 2005, he has helped raise funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation(SOWF), which provides scholarships and grants to the children of the fallen special operations soldiers.          
So far, he has raised more than 2 million for this foundation(and counting). And he has been running in marathons ever since ...to raise money for this noble cause. 
       
When you are in a dark place, you have two options to choose from. First option - you can let that darkness consume you and be stuck in that hell hole forever. The other option - take that darkness, hurt and everything that is going against you and FLIP THAT NARRATIVE!!! Use that pain as a fuel to propel you forward.  
       
And that is exactly what David has done. He used that angst to push him to greater heights, to achieve things no one has ever achieved. It is this fighting spirit that made him one of the most decorated men in the USA and was also honoured with 2018 Americanism Award by VFW.           

As a child, he used to stutter (common among kids who come from abusive childhood) and now, he has become one of the major recruiters for NAVY, visiting different parts of the USA and sharing his story and encouraging kids to dream a bigger dream. He has become a role model not only for African Americans but for people across the world.           

After retiring from the Army, he has become an active speaker and is a source of inspiration to countless people across the world!       
   
He is also one of the greatest endurance athletes in the world. He has completed 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, setting new records and regularly placing in the top 5. He also set a Guinness world record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17hours. No wonder he is referred as “the toughest man on the planet”

        “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.”     
            
It is very easy to live with “victim’s mentality” and hide behind excuses and blame someone else for the way your life is. What is hard is to take responsibility for your life and work towards a better life and David has shown us by the way he had changed his life narrative.          

Just as in Bible, we have David, who slew Goliath with a swing and a few stones...here David slew many Goliath’s in his life, such as ignorance, awkwardness, obesity, weak mind, being a quitter, not being accountable, his stutter, abusive childhood, racism and flipped all these issues and used them as a springboard to launch him into greatness and become invincible.

David’s work ethic is the single most important factor in all of his impressive accomplishments. David has achieved some incredible physical feats because he believed he could and also backed it up by putting in the work. He didn’t achieve all these feats on his first attempt. He failed his way to success.          

That is one of the biggest takeaways from this memoir. He wasn’t offered all these glorious titles on a platter. He worked his way to success and always looked to the next impossible task to take on.   
 
“You cant let a simple failure derail your mission,
      or let it worm up so far up your ass it takes over your
      brain and sabotages your relationships with people
      who are close to you. Everyone fails sometimes and
      life isn’t supposed to be fair, much less bend to your every whim.”

I firmly believe, everyone will go through something that shatters them to their very core and we can either let those incidents in life to paralyse us or we can use these experiences to fuel us and propel us forward. The choice is always with us.         

And David didn’t succumb to this negativity that the world has thrown at him. Instead, he turned these things and used them to his advantage to propel him forward...to a better life filled with passion, drive, meaning and purpose.         

David always wanted to become ‘Uncommon amongst uncommon crowd’ and he ended up becoming a trailblazer!!!         

I’ve been hesitating to review this one because I cannot possibly write objectively about what is decidedly my most favourite memoir ever. I have loved other books, I will love others, but this will have a special place in my heart as its none other than (The)David Goggins memoir. What elevates it from great to one of my absolute favourites, is the actionable steps that he lays out at the end of each chapter. He distills down the lessons he learnt as a list of questionnaire/exercises for you to work with.           

There are many books out there that expand your mind, educate you, show you the way forward and inspire you. This book is special, because it not only does all the above but also compels you to take ACTION! Reading this book makes you want to run up a mountain and sign up for Marathons. It pushes you to become the best version of yourself and live your grandest dreams and also inspire people around you.         

Strength comes in many forms. While David’s story not only shows us an incredible display of strength, it is also Herculean mental strength! That fortitude to do, to overcome, to be more than what others think you are capable of. That is the rarest and most powerful of strengths to train.         

Thank You David Goggins for showing us the way forward and for being an inspiration for millions across the world. You have inspired a generation of people to live their best life and to keep pushing harder and further in life!!!

Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖🙏💥
Customer image
Tabitha
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖💥💪
Reviewed in India on 16 July 2021
“What is to give light
  must endure burning” – Viktor Frankl         

David Goggins is supposed to end up as a statistic, let alone write this book. He had everything going against him...born as an African American kid, poverty, domestic abuse, bullied at school, a stutter and he also had a severe learning disability. He was all set to end up in a job, spraying for cockroaches at night and earning $1000 per month. He was pretty much resigned to this way of life, plonking on the couch, stuffing himself with junk food and being an overweight man...but destiny had something else planned for him.       

In this no-holds-barred memoir, CAN’T HURT ME, David Goggins takes us through his traumatic childhood, being abused by his father physically, being taunted by his school friends in Mexico and racism that he had to go through as a kid. Given the hard childhood he went through; it wouldn’t be surprising if he had ended up in a prison for drugs or any other crime as a juvenile. Luckily, David didn’t tread that path and the rest is history...

The day that changed his life for the better: The day he began to take charge of his destiny started out like any other day.One night, after coming from his night shift, he switched on TV and saw Navy SEALs getting their ass kicked during that gruesome hell week...where the officers will try their best to test your limits and break your soul. While watching those images, something clicked and he just knew that is exactly what he wanted to do in his life. Throughout his life, he kept taking the easy way out and becoming a Navy SEAL is exactly what he wanted to do...so he can face himself and be proud of himself. That’s when he gave up his job and started working towards this ephemeral dream of becoming a Navy SEAL.

          “My life was devoid of any drive and passion, but I knew
           if I continued to surrender to my fear and my 
           feelings of inadequacy, I would be allowing them to 
           dictate my future forever. My only other choice was 
           to try to find the power in the emotions that had 
           laid me low, harness and use them to empower
           me to rise up, which is what I did.”       
            
However, the road to becoming a Navy SEAL was not easy. At that time, he weighed a whopping 297lbs. He had less than 3 months to lose 109lbs and also get through the ASVAB test in 5 weeks. Most of the recruiters took one look at him and politely said he didn’t have any chance. Schaljo, seemed to find some spark in him and gave him a chance. That is all David needed at that time. Someone who believed in him and his latent potential. After 3 months of working hard on himself ...he finally passed that test and made it to Navy SEALs. 
       
He not only became a Navy SEAL, but he also ended up going through hell week thrice and is probably the only person to go through Hell week thrice and lived to tell the tale!!!

             “The reason its important to push hardest 
             when you want to quit the most is because 
             it helps you callous your mind. It’s the same 
             reason why you have to do your best work 
             when you are the least motivated.”

One gift that David had was the gift of visualisation. He could always see himself walking through those hallowed halls of Navy SEALs building and that is exactly how he achieved that dream. In 2001, he became the 36th African American BUD/S graduate in Navy SEAL history!!!

Becoming a Navy SEAL (2001) has opened up more avenues for him and not one to rest on laurels, he also enrolled into US Air Force Tactical Air Control Party Traffic and also graduated from Army Ranger School (2004) with the distinction of enlisted “Top Honor Man”. He was also part of many international covert operations.           

In this book, he also refers to the ‘40% rule’, his belief that most of us only tap into 40% of our capabilities. According to him, we only tap into 40% of our potential and our mind gives up, once we reach 40% of our ability. This is where champions like David are made. He believes we need to push past our mind’s chatter to achieve excellence in life...physically and mentally.

         “Sadly, most of us give up when we’ve only given 
          around 40% of our maximum effort. Even when 
          we feel like we’ve reached our absolute limit, 
          we still have 60% more to give! It's simply a 
          matter of stretching your pain intolerance,
          letting go of your identity and all your self-limiting stories,
          so you can get to 60%, then 80% and beyond without giving up.”

David also mentions the ‘Cookie Jar’ method, to push himself to greater glory. Whenever we set ambitious goals and go after them...there comes a time where boredom, pain and self doubt kicks in and we are almost ready to hang up our boots...thinking ‘it can’t be done’, ‘its far-fetched’ and ‘too hard to achieve’ etc. That’s when we can use this “Cookie jar method” where you can either write in a list of all things you have overcome in the past or remember those incidents to fuel you further in life and succeed in the heat of battle!

           “Include life’s obstacles you’ve overcome as well, 
            like quitting smoking, overcoming depression or a stutter.
            Add in those minor tasks you failed earlier in life,
            but tried again a 2nd or 3rd time and ultimately 
            succeeded at. Feel what it was like to overcome 
            those struggles, those opponents, and win”                      

Another turning point came in Goggins life when he lost several of his friends in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2005, he started running as a way to support severely wounded warriors and their families. Since 2005, he has helped raise funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation(SOWF), which provides scholarships and grants to the children of the fallen special operations soldiers.          
So far, he has raised more than 2 million for this foundation(and counting). And he has been running in marathons ever since ...to raise money for this noble cause. 
       
When you are in a dark place, you have two options to choose from. First option - you can let that darkness consume you and be stuck in that hell hole forever. The other option - take that darkness, hurt and everything that is going against you and FLIP THAT NARRATIVE!!! Use that pain as a fuel to propel you forward.  
       
And that is exactly what David has done. He used that angst to push him to greater heights, to achieve things no one has ever achieved. It is this fighting spirit that made him one of the most decorated men in the USA and was also honoured with 2018 Americanism Award by VFW.           

As a child, he used to stutter (common among kids who come from abusive childhood) and now, he has become one of the major recruiters for NAVY, visiting different parts of the USA and sharing his story and encouraging kids to dream a bigger dream. He has become a role model not only for African Americans but for people across the world.           

After retiring from the Army, he has become an active speaker and is a source of inspiration to countless people across the world!       
   
He is also one of the greatest endurance athletes in the world. He has completed 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, setting new records and regularly placing in the top 5. He also set a Guinness world record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17hours. No wonder he is referred as “the toughest man on the planet”

        “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.”     
            
It is very easy to live with “victim’s mentality” and hide behind excuses and blame someone else for the way your life is. What is hard is to take responsibility for your life and work towards a better life and David has shown us by the way he had changed his life narrative.          

Just as in Bible, we have David, who slew Goliath with a swing and a few stones...here David slew many Goliath’s in his life, such as ignorance, awkwardness, obesity, weak mind, being a quitter, not being accountable, his stutter, abusive childhood, racism and flipped all these issues and used them as a springboard to launch him into greatness and become invincible.

David’s work ethic is the single most important factor in all of his impressive accomplishments. David has achieved some incredible physical feats because he believed he could and also backed it up by putting in the work. He didn’t achieve all these feats on his first attempt. He failed his way to success.          

That is one of the biggest takeaways from this memoir. He wasn’t offered all these glorious titles on a platter. He worked his way to success and always looked to the next impossible task to take on.   
 
“You cant let a simple failure derail your mission,
      or let it worm up so far up your ass it takes over your
      brain and sabotages your relationships with people
      who are close to you. Everyone fails sometimes and
      life isn’t supposed to be fair, much less bend to your every whim.”

I firmly believe, everyone will go through something that shatters them to their very core and we can either let those incidents in life to paralyse us or we can use these experiences to fuel us and propel us forward. The choice is always with us.         

And David didn’t succumb to this negativity that the world has thrown at him. Instead, he turned these things and used them to his advantage to propel him forward...to a better life filled with passion, drive, meaning and purpose.         

David always wanted to become ‘Uncommon amongst uncommon crowd’ and he ended up becoming a trailblazer!!!         

I’ve been hesitating to review this one because I cannot possibly write objectively about what is decidedly my most favourite memoir ever. I have loved other books, I will love others, but this will have a special place in my heart as its none other than (The)David Goggins memoir. What elevates it from great to one of my absolute favourites, is the actionable steps that he lays out at the end of each chapter. He distills down the lessons he learnt as a list of questionnaire/exercises for you to work with.           

There are many books out there that expand your mind, educate you, show you the way forward and inspire you. This book is special, because it not only does all the above but also compels you to take ACTION! Reading this book makes you want to run up a mountain and sign up for Marathons. It pushes you to become the best version of yourself and live your grandest dreams and also inspire people around you.         

Strength comes in many forms. While David’s story not only shows us an incredible display of strength, it is also Herculean mental strength! That fortitude to do, to overcome, to be more than what others think you are capable of. That is the rarest and most powerful of strengths to train.         

Thank You David Goggins for showing us the way forward and for being an inspiration for millions across the world. You have inspired a generation of people to live their best life and to keep pushing harder and further in life!!!

Read it!!! It’s one of the most transformative books I've ever read!!!📖🙏💥
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Nat J
1.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring story ruined by misogyny and dangerous advice
Reviewed in the United States on 29 January 2021
Verified Purchase
I was intrigued by this book after reading the free preview. I saw the negative reviews, but decided to give it a chance anyway. The first half of the book, in which Goggins describes overcoming a horrific abusive childhood and going on to become a Navy SEAL, was indeed an incredible and inspiring story. But it was also littered with misogynistic language, and as the book went on it only got worse. I'm not a prude, and I really don't have a problem with profanity in general. I'm not the sort of person who's offended by F-bombs (although people who feel the need to drop one in every sentence are honestly just annoying). However, I am disturbed by Goggins' habit of using slang for female body parts as a synonym for weakness. I get this is probably the way a lot of guys in the military actually talk, but you know, maybe there's a problem with that. I don't get the impression Goggins is a misogynist in the sense of consciously seeing women as inferior. He speaks of his mother and some other influential women in his life with respect. I think he has simply absorbed a lot of misogynistic language from the environment he's lived in, and it's disappointing that he hasn't bothered to examine this. It's incredibly ironic that he claims to empathize with women due to his own experiences of discrimination as a Black man and being called the N-word, then turns around to suggest you call yourself a "f*cking p*ssy" if you're being too cowardly to go after your goals. When I got to the passage around 70% through the book where Goggins calls himself a "whiny b*tch" who needs to "hem his vagina" to hype himself up during a race, it got to be too much for me and I had to put the book down. I'd lost all respect for the author at this point.

Besides the misogyny, Goggins also gives a lot of advice that seems downright dangerous. He actually encourages you to do things like running on injuries, describing his own experience of running on broken legs during SEAL training. I'm no doctor, but just speaking as a runner who has done my research on injury management, I'm pretty sure risky behavior like this can cause permanent damage to your body. Goggins also describes refusing to go to the emergency room when experiencing symptoms of what appeared to be renal failure after running an ultra race. He says he "didn't want to give up the pain" because it reminded him of what he'd accomplished. That's not "being a hard motherf*cker." It's just plain reckless and frankly disturbing. He's lucky he hasn't been permanently injured or died, and as someone with no medical qualifications he should not be advising the average person to take such risks. Although there is certainly something to be said for pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, trying to train through serious injuries is something else entirely.

This man has certainly overcome a lot in his life, and I have to give him props for that. But it's also clear to me that he's still deeply disturbed. Although cultivating the ability to push through pain and discomfort is a good thing, Goggins has taken it too far. He seems to have an *addiction* to pain, which seems to me like an unhealthy coping mechanism. He constantly alternates between beating himself up for not pushing hard enough, and being impressed with himself for surviving his reckless antics. It gets old fast, and I don't find it inspiring at all. Frankly it's sad.

As far as I see it, the whole book can pretty much be summed up as an ode to toxic masculinity. That's not a good thing to be teaching anyone.
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David Duncan
4.0 out of 5 stars You Dropped the “F-Bomb”on Me.
Reviewed in the United States on 25 December 2018
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I first learned of David Goggins through Jesse Itzler’s book, “Living with a SEAL.” Inspired and somewhat intrigued, I found him on several episodes of the Joe Rogan podcast. It was there that I first experienced his potty mouth. Folks, this guy (and Joe R. too) drops the F-Bomb more often than a rebellious pimple-faced adolescent!

Having said that, I pretty much got used to the excessive and often gratuitous profanity that pops up on almost every page of this book. A simple search reveals David uses the F-word, or some variation there of, 338 times!

Anyway, this is an inspiring story of someone who keeps beating the odds again and again. The biggest takeaway for me is that life has no f#%*ing finish line; you can’t afford to rest on your laurels.

A great book, but the excessive cussing almost overshadows the message. Come on Goggins! Your potty mouth is simply a habit, like drinking too many milkshakes, and you should clean it up ASAP. That is, if you want to be a positive influence on children, like my other favorite former SEAL—Jocko Willink.
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Bookworm_12345
2.0 out of 5 stars A Great Story – With Major Shortcomings
Reviewed in the United States on 3 June 2019
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The story in its own right is pretty amazing, and much respect to the author to find that inner drive to avoid being yet another statistic and overcoming all the obstacles he had to endure along the way. No one should be put through what this man endured as a child….and beyond.
The lessons Mr. Goggins leaned along the way about mastering the mind, and how it works against you in your pursuit to achieve your goals are spot-on. His techniques for will prove invaluable for many a reader. Also, it is very well written and Goggins articulates his points with real precision and passion. Rare to find someone who is an expert at one craft make so smooth the transition to another.
That said, while his passion is admirable and again, he makes valid points about taking control of your mindset, his obsession for pushing himself further and further and further is akin to someone being an addict. Satisfaction in all cases is seen as a compromise, contentment and moderation are seen equally as weaknesses in Mr. Groggin’s world. In his own words, he says that he will always be running a race – damn the costs, and damn the consequences.
As the fallout is pretty well overlooked, and barely mentioned at that. Three failed marriages attest to that fallout, and given how he squeezes in any ‘free’ drop of time into pushing his body into further pain is a testament to how he puts himself over others. When a superior officer suggests that he bonds with his team in some off-hours, he sees little value in it. He barely mentions that fact that he is a father to a child – and not in the context of keeping a family member’s privacy at that.
Oh, some military and adrenaline junkies will call this being ‘hard,’ but running with a pair of broken legs, in the context of when it occurred is not ‘hard,’ it is outright foolish. Certain situations call for drastic measures, but unless you are in the bush in enemy territory, looking to escape, for example, just pushing through the pain in this instance is ridiculous. Your body is trying to tell you something, friend. Hope you enjoy that arthritis that will be coming in your later years.
Yes, the language is off-putting, and totally unnecessary. I know there are some ‘geniuses’ here who tell others to “grow up” [oh, the irony], or that he is “keeping it real,” but to that I say, “Is it any LESS real?” Besides, the author is a civilian now, and unless this book is intended for just a certain segment of the population, he is really doing himself a great disservice in the long run. I assume this book was made to make money – more readers mean more money. Is that hard to understand? How many people are going to want to pass on an otherwise incredible book to an unmotivated teenager, for instance? If I want a ghetto-sounding book, I’ll go get it elsewhere. The guy is clearly smart, clearly tough, and this aspect just undermines it.
Having said all that, there are a lot of life lessons that clearly eluded Mr. Goggins, and ironically, it is there in full display in the pages you will read, if you choose to. As a result, the book comes up glaringly short.
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AmazonJackson
5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Has Changed My Life – – Forever!!
Reviewed in the United States on 12 June 2019
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This tell-it-like-it-is, eye-opening, riveting book has changed how I see myself. I realize that I’m not even mediocre! I am simply an underachiever, pretty much, a loser.

Growing up, all I did was cry and moan about my circumstances for years, playing the victim, hoping someone would save me. I trudged through a foggy maze, not knowing where I was going, and barely knowing where I was coming from.

It wasn’t until later on in life, In my 40s, that I began to pick myself up by the seat of my pants and realized that no one was coming to save me. No one was going to magically make me OK. Not even God. I knew there was work I was gonna have to put in. But even then I wanted to take shortcuts. I wanted things to move fast and easy. It wasn’t until these last few months that I realize that I’m going to have to earn my way through life. No shortcuts!

David’s book yanked my mind out of the mud it was trudging in and made me look at myself in a new way. Staring at my mental reflection, It’s hard to admit it’s not pretty... I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. But the beautiful part of it all is I’m still alive. No matter how old I am, it doesn’t stop me from being responsible for myself and turning my life around and facing those mysterious dark challenges that inevitably loom before me.

I’m rolling up my sleeves and I’m going in — not elbow deep — but all the way in! It’s not going to be pretty, but I’m tired of getting in my own way.

Time to get it-get it! Thanks, Goggins!
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Katie
4.0 out of 5 stars It was good. I've even recommended to others.
Reviewed in the United States on 9 April 2019
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The book is great and is very entertaining. It definitely keeps you reading. However, I felt like it was pretty much every other self-help / motivational book I've read over the years. But all in all, a good story. I did feel a little annoyed with Goggins at times though, much like I felt with Alex in the movie Free Solo. These people stop at nothing to achieve their goals and at times come off as very selfish and arrogant.
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Justin Cremer
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, uplifting, and just incredible.
Reviewed in the United States on 27 March 2019
Verified Purchase
Amazing book. Anyone looking for a just little motivation? Well don't read this book, because this one will give you a motivational overload. Do you think your pretty tough, pretty successful, pretty "well put together?" You could be so much more than that!
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