In this article, I’m going to give you a review of can’t hurt me by David Goggins. I believe that everyone can benefit from reading this book.
David Goggins is a former navy seal and usaf veteran.
David had numerous hardships to deal with throughout his life.
Just to name a few. David lived in a family where his dad was abusive to him, his brother and his mother.
David got bullied throughout his school life and cheated his way through school.
He learned very little because of this.
By the time David was approaching adulthood life got tough for him.
He wanted to go in the us Air Force but he kept on failing the tests.
This was only another obstacle that he had to contend with.
But he overcame it failing the test many times but eventually getting in the usaf.
But after he served his time in the usaf.
He started to turn to food and he had a whole other beast to contend with.
This Beasts Name Was Obesity
At this point in Davids life after he served his time in the usaf the only job he could get was extinguishing rodents and cockroaches. Working the nightshift.
David came home one day after the night shift weighing 300 pounds.
He switched the television on and there was a show about navy seals.
David set his sights on a new goal.
He then embarked on the arduous task of becoming a navy seal. He fell and stumbled but eventually he went on to become a navy seal. And conquering some other achievements such as breaking the world record of over 4000 pull ups in 24 hours. Which is next level really.
He also ran marathons and ultra marathons some of the hardest things a man can possibly do.
Lastly he also climbed to top the New York Times best seller with this fascinating book.
What I like about this book is that it has practical steps to go out of your comfort zone.
So lets get into the 3 take aways from can’t hurt me.
Can’t Hurt Me Takeaway 1. The 40% Rule – Can’t Hurt Me Review
So the first takeaway from can’t hurt me is the 40% rule. When we look at someone who can go out of his comfort zone as much as David can it can be enlightening to view their paradigms and guiding principles. And one of the guiding principles that David uses for any physical or mental feat is the 40% rule.
To give you an example of this rule say your going for a run and you’ve been running for a while and then you eventually hit that wall where you feel like you can’t run anymore. This wall is 40% of your potential. You actually have so much more left in you compared to when you initially hit that wall.
Don’t Set Ceilings On Your Goals Make Them Interesting – Can’t Hurt Me Review
My note on this is we all set ceilings on what we do and can achieve. You may go to the gym and set a realistic goal. But an unrealistic goal will make you expend more effort and help you go far beyond that 40%.
Personally when I started lifting I never thought I would be able to bench press the 50kg dumbbells. But with using some fundamental principles like progressive overload and a slight calorie surplus I managed to be able to bench the 50’s for reps. Obviously a lot of guys can bench more than that but all I’m saying is don’t put a cap on your goals.
Because this principle exemplifies that we can do so much more.
It’s all within the mind and as Confucius said “The Man Who Says He Can and the One Who Says he Can’t Are Both Right”
There is this false sense of self that is called the ego and it’s the voice in our head that thinks ” I can’t do this because of who I am now” or what’s happened in the past.
You don’t need to identify with the ego and put a ceiling on your goals.
Stimulus And Response – Can’t Hurt Me Review
As Viktor Frankl says in mans search for meaning.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies your freedom and power to choose your response.”
We all get the chance to go further than we think we can. And we all get to choose if we want to stop at 40% or go all the way and reach our potential.
A practical way to implement the 40% rule is to do 50 push ups one workout and next time do 10% more totalling 55 push ups for the next workout.
This exercises our ability to go further than our previous limits and I think it’s a good place to start.
Can’t Hurt Me Takeaway 2. A Callused Mind
David likes to do all of these crazy challenges like breaking pull up world records and doing ultra marathons. But you don’t need to do that to develop a callused mind. Start small. For instance start consistently going to the gym.
And engaging in a resistance training program. Do it because it’s hard. Working out isn’t easy. And the more we put ourselves in hard situations the easier we’ll come out of our comfort zone on a consistent basis.
Or it could be as small as tracking your calories.
Yes tracking your calories and going to the gym will be hard and you’ll suck at it when you first start. But it takes on average 66 days to build a habit.
And once you’ve made that habit stick you’ve got used to going to the gym and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and callused your mind so to speak.
Think about a callus on your hand from deadlifting.
Your skin starts to irritate slightly after you’ve pulled that deadlift.
But from actually putting in the action and pushing your limits by getting stronger at the deadlift. Your skin comes back even harder. And stronger to deal with next weeks weight.
This is what your doing when you callus your mind.
Your putting In the work week after week after week. Constantly getting stronger and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone it’s a never ending process.
This strengthens your mind and resolve.
So that with each and every workout session your mind gets tougher and stronger.
Can’t Hurt Me Takeaway 3. “We Live A Life Defined By The Limits We Imagine And Desire For Ourselves Because It’s Comfortable As Hell In That Box”
After a long busy day at work or engaging in some other strenous task it can be extremely easy to get home turn on the tv and pick up some unhealthy food.
You know why?
Because it’s comfortable. There’s a reason why people like Wim Hoff walk up mountains in freezing cold snowy weather. Or navy seals like David Goggins take on extremely challenging tasks and come out of them stronger and prosper and do well in life.
It’s because there comfortable getting uncomfortable.
That’s why I personally believe that we should do something uncomfortable everyday.
Wether it’s having a cold shower or doing an intense workout.
So get out of that comfortable box and do something for no other reason than for the fact that it’s hard.
And when you can tolerate uncomfortable situations like going to the gym and constantly pushing your limits or any other physical feat that’s hard. You will be better prepared for when hard situations come up in your life.
Conclusion – Can’t Hurt Me Review
- David Goggins is a fascinating guy and you should read can’t hurt me.
- Use the 40% rule on a daily basis it can be as little as exceeding your previous limits in a workout.
- Develop a callused mind and do things because they’re hard on a daily basis. This will eventually make harder things easier because you will be used to doing the hard things.
- Get out of your box of comfort. Commit to a workout plan with a goal in mind and constantly try to improve your capabilities.
I believe we can all learn something from can’t hurt me.
David is human just like you and I.
Just like many extraordinary people.
I believe we can learn a lot from people who have done extremely challenging things.
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Thanks for reading!
So hopefully this can’t hurt me review has persuaded you to read it. It’s a great read!
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