Book: Can’t Hurt Me
Author: David Goggins
Pages: 356
Date: 2/2/25
I chose this book because David Goggins is the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, US Army Ranger schoe, Air Force Tactical Air Controller training and almost completed Delta Force training. He is considered to be “The Fittest Man in America” having competed in more than sixty ultra-marathons, triathlons, ultra-triathlons, setting new course records and regularly placing in the top five. He once held the Guiness World Record for completing 4,030 pull-ups in seventeen hours. He describes “The 40% Rule,” revealing that we normally only tap into 40% of our capabilities. At the end of each of the eleven chapters, there is a challenge outlining what to do after reading the chapter.
I learned the following from this book & recommend this book for every person in prison or trying to massively change their life:
David had a very hard upbringing, living with his abusive father until his mother left with him when he was eight years old, moving to Brazil, IN – a small town outside Terre Haute. When he was a junior in high school, he was only reading at a fourth grade level and was almost flunking out of school. It was his desire to join the Air Force after graduation that made him develop his Accountability Mirror – where he posted post-it notes on what he needed to do to succeed. He started by making his bed & shaving everyday, going to the YMCA to work out, running before & after school, pulling up his pants, tucking in his shirt & wearing a belt. He studied 6 hours per day for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test & for his classes & ultimately got a score of 36, which was a passing ASVAB score for the Air Force. He wrote thousands of flashcards for vocabulary & math formulas. He believed that the military was the best way to get out of Brazil, IN.
After high school graduation, he joined the Air Force to become a ParaRescueman – the AF Special Forces. He failed due to his lack of confidence in the water and became a Tactical Air controller instead. After the AF, he worked for EcoLab as an exterminator and ballooned to 297 pounds. One day, he saw a show about the Navy SEALS and wanted to join, but was constantly refused due to his weight & low ASVAB score. He finally found a recruiter in Indianapolis who believed in him. He had three months to lose 100 pounds and increase his score to 50 on ASVAB. His schedule became as follows:
4:30 Wake up, eat banana and study for ASVAB.
Ride stationary bike for 2 hours while studying for ASVAB
Swim for 2 hours
Hit the gym for 2 hours
Stationary bike for 2 hours
Eat dinner of grilled/sauteed chicken & vegetables
Sleep & repeat
Three weeks before BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL) training, he passed the ASVAB with a score of 65 (needed 50 to join SEALS, was down to 215 pounds and was running 6 miles, biking 20 miles and swimming 2 miles per day. There are three phases to BUDS: 1) Physical Training & Hell Week during the 3rd week, 2) Dive Training & 3) Land Warfare Training. David got medically kicked out during his first attempt with pneumonia. He made it through Hell Week during his second attempt, but did not finish Phase 1 due to a broken kneecap. He passed all three phases on his third attempt in 2001, even though he had small fractures in his shins. To make it, he double-taped & double-socked each foot, ankle & shin and pushed through the pain. He was deployed to Iraq.
Upon return in 2002, he started participating in marathons, ultra-marathons and Ironman contests to raise money for the families of fallen SEALS. He participated in just about every major one you have ever heard of. In 2004, he went to Army Ranger school to learn leadership & passed as the Enlisted Honor Man and was one of 96 out of 308 candidates to make it. In 2005, he tried out for Delta Team Selection, but was cleared medically for a broken ankle. In 2011, he tried out again and missed it on the final checkpoint on the final test.
He retired from the Navy in 2015.
Two interesting statistics came from the book:
Heraclitus, a philosopher born in the Persian Empire in 5th century BC said the following about men on the battlefield, “Out of every 100 men, ten should not be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters and we are lucky to have them for they make the battle. But the one, he is the true warrior.”
Those raised in abusive homes have a 53% increased probability of being arrested as a juvenile. Their odds of committing a violent crime as an adult are 38% higher.
CHALLENGES:
1) What are your current factors limiting your growth & success? Start a journal on your computer and write them in minute detail. List out all your dirty laundry.
2) Write all your insecurities, dreams, and goals on Post-Its and tag up on your mirror. You need to be truthful with yourself about where you are and the necessary steps it will take to achieve these goals, day by day. Each step, each necessary point of self-improvement, should be written as its own note. Own it! Once that goal is achieved, remove the note and post the next goal until the ultimate goal is realized.
3) Step outside your comfort zone. Dig out your journal again and write down all the things you don’t like to do or that make you uncomfortable – especially those things you know that are good for you. Now go do one of them and then do it again. Doing things, even small things, that make you uncomfortable will help make you strong.
4) Choose any competitive situation that you are in right now. Who is your opponent? Is it your teacher, coach, boss or unruly client. No matter how they are treating you there is one way to not only earn their respect, but turn the tables. Excellence.
5) The average person thinks 2,000-3,000 thoughts per hour. Rather than focusing on bullshit you cannot change, imagine visualizing the things you can. Choose any obstacle in your way, or set a new goal, and visualize overcoming or achieving it. You must also visualize the challenges that are likely to arise and determine how you will attack those problems when you do. That also means being prepared to answer the simple question – Why are you doing this? All the strategies I employ to answer the simple questions and win the mind game are only effective because I put in the work.
6) Crack your your journal open again. Don’t just write down your achievement list. Include life obstacles you’ve overcome as well, like quitting smoking or overcoming depression or a stutter. Set ambitios goals before each workout and let those past victories carry you to new personal bests. If you are focused on intellectual growth, train yourslelf to study harder and longer than ever before, or read a record number of books in a given month.
7) The main objective is to slowly start to remove the governor from your brain. Get to the point where you are so tired and in pain that your mind is begging you to stop. The push just 10-15% further. If the most push-ups you have ever done is 100, then do 15 or 110. The bottom line is one big mind game. The only person you are playing against is yourself.
8) Schedule it in. This will be a 3-week challenge. During week 1, go about your normal schedule, but take notes. When do you work? How long are your meal break? Get super detailed and document it all in time stamps. In week 2, build an optimal schedule. By week 3, you should have a working schedule that maximizes your effort without sacrificing sleep.
9) I am here to tell you that you always have to fine more. Greatness is not something that you will meet it once & it stays with you forever. If you truly want to become uncommon amongst the uncommon, it will require sustaining greatness for a long period of time. It requires staying in constant pursuit and putting out unending effort. That mean not only getting into Wharton Business School for example, but being ranked #1 in your class.
10) Think about your most recent and your most heart-wrenching failures. Break out that journal one last time. First off, write out all the good things, everything that went well, from your failures. Be detailed & generous with yourself. A lot of good things will have happened. Now go back and make a list of things to fix. Be brutally honest, write them all out. Study them. Then look at your calendar and schedule another attempt as soon as possible The 40% rule is in the forefront of your mind. Control your mindset. Dominate your thought process. This life is all a mind game. Realize it. Own it!
I learned the following things that will increase my prospect for success after prison:
1) You can always do 2.5X as much as you think you can, meaning you are probably living at 40% of your true capability. If you think you can only do ten push-ups, with the right can-do attitude, you can probably do 25 push ups. I am going to use these challenges to help me read more books and do more push-ups/pull-ups than what I am doing now.
2) There is always be the 1% of us who are willing to put in the work to defy the odds. I intend to be this 1% while in prison and when I get out.
3) Human beings change through study, habit, and stories. I have read about 20 books since I came to prison, most of which are classics. I do not count the 3-4 fiction books I read as a break from teh heavy books. I intend to keep up this pace throughout prison.
