“Can’t Hurt Me” written by David Goggins, a former Navy SEAL and ultra-endurance athlete. The book is structured as a memoir, with Goggins sharing his personal story of overcoming physical and emotional pain to become one of the toughest men on the planet. He shares his difficult upbringing, including growing up in poverty and dealing with physical and emotional abuse. He explains how he joined the military to escape his difficult home life and eventually became a Navy SEAL.
Throughout the book, Goggins emphasizes the importance of mental toughness and perseverance in achieving success. He shares his personal techniques for pushing through pain and overcoming mental barriers, including visualization, goal-setting, and self-talk. Here are 5 big ideas to implement in our lives:
1. The Cookie Jar:
The cookie jar represents a mental storehouse of past accomplishments and triumphs that can be drawn upon in moments of difficulty. When facing a challenge or obstacle, Goggins suggests that we dip into our mental cookie jar to remind ourselves of past successes and moments when we overcame adversity. This can help to bolster our confidence and motivate us to keep going, even when things are tough.
Goggins shares an example from his own life, when he was attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours. During the grueling 17-hour mark, he began to feel intense pain and doubt that he could continue. He reached into his mental cookie jar and reminded himself of other challenges he had overcome in the past, such as running ultra-marathons and becoming a Navy SEAL. This mental boost helped him to push through the pain and ultimately break the record.
2. The Governor:
According to Goggins, like a car with a governor that places a ceiling on the car’s performance, we, too, have a governor that impedes us from reaching our true potential.
Governor according to Goggins is a metaphorical device that our minds use to keep us from pushing ourselves too hard or taking on too much risk. It’s a mental barrier that prevents us from reaching our full potential and accomplishing our goals. The governor is fueled by fear and self-doubt, and it often manifests itself in negative self-talk and a reluctance to take on new challenges.
Goggins argues that the only way to break through the governor is to push ourselves past our perceived limits and prove to ourselves that we are capable of more than we think.
Throughout the book, Goggins shares personal examples of how he has overcome his own governor, including running ultra-marathons, completing grueling military training, and setting world records.
Here are some of the key strategies to overcome Governor:
- Set challenging goals: By setting goals that push us outside of our comfort zone, we can prove to ourselves that we are capable of more than we think thus, breaking through the governor.
- Create accountability: By publicly sharing your goals with others or enlisting the support of a coach or mentor. This can help to keep you motivated and focused on your goals.
- Build mental toughness: to push through pain, discomfort, and adversity through consistent training and self-discipline, such as through physical exercise, meditation, or other challenging activities.
- Develop a growth mindset: Adopt a growth mindset by embracing challenges, learning from failures, and seeking out feedback.
- Practice visualization: Goggins recommends using visualization to overcome fear and self-doubt by visualizing yourself succeeding in challenging situations.
3. The 40% Rule:
Goggins argues that the mind has a natural tendency to want to quit when things get tough or uncomfortable. According to the 40% rule, when we feel like we are at our breaking point, we are actually only a fraction of the way towards reaching our full potential. By pushing ourselves just a little bit further, we can tap into the reserves of strength and determination that we didn’t even know we had.
Goggins uses the 40% rule in his own life to push through challenges and accomplish incredible feats, such as running ultra-marathons and breaking world records. He believes that by embracing the 40% rule, we can all achieve great things and push past our perceived limits.
4. The Accountability Mirror
I set goals, wrote them on Post-It notes, and tagged them to what I now call the Accountability Mirror because each day I’d hold myself accountable to the goals I’d set. At first, my goals involved shaping up my appearance and accomplishing all my chores without having to be asked.
The Accountability Mirror is a metaphorical mirror that we can use to hold ourselves accountable for our actions, behaviors, and beliefs. It’s a way to confront ourselves honestly and openly, and to take responsibility for our choices and their consequences. This can involve taking a hard look at our habits, beliefs, and attitudes, and being honest with ourselves about what we need to change in order to reach our full potential.
Some specific steps that Goggins recommends for using the Accountability Mirror include:
- Writing down our goals and reviewing them daily.
- Tracking progress towards our goals and celebrating small victories.
- Being honest with ourselves about our weaknesses and areas for improvement.
- Creating a plan to address these weaknesses and actively working to improve.
- Holding ourselves accountable for our actions and behaviors.
5. Conquer other people’s minds (and “take their souls”)
One of Goggins’ realisations growing up was how insecure people were. Bullies are battling their own demons and take their insecurities out on others. He talked about a process of taking the “soul” of another person, by doing something they could never imagine themselves having done, in the same situation:
There are so many insecure people out there. Even Navy SEALs, the elite of the elite, have demons. Alpha males hate seeing anybody being better than them. We have to know the human mind and how it works. So when they imagine themselves on Wednesday they were imagining themselves being beat down. They were thinking of themselves at the time I was at. So I thought, how can I win this? All I have to do is own some real estate in their mind. I have to show them that at the worst time of their life I am at their best time. And I took their soul. Because they were thinking: how did they do what I could have never done.
Goggins also cautions you have to know the terrain before you choose this tactic, and it’s not always appropriate. Or the way you do it might not be. Taking someone’s soul means you’ve gained a tactical advantage. Life is all about looking for tactical advantages.
Read the complete book for more such ideas and to know the personal story of Goggins overcoming physical and emotional pain to become one of the toughest men on the planet.
Check out the book here.
To get the free ebook of this wonderful book, you can drop your request in the comment section.
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David GogginsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I found this book very inspring and it has become one of my all time favourites The book is structured as a memoir, with Goggins sharing his personal story of overcoming physical and emotional pain to become one of the toughest men on the planet. He shares his difficult upbringing, including growing up in poverty and dealing with physical and emotional abuse. He explains how he joined the military to escape his difficult home life and eventually became a Navy SEAL.
5 Greatest lesson which I learnt from this book:
1. The Cookie Jar technique
2. How to overcome my Governor
3. 40% Rule
4. Accountability Mirror
5. Taking the Souls
For more details, Kindly check out my blog where I have written detailed summary and learnings from this awesome book.
https://5point-something.com/index.ph…
View all my reviews
