Can't Hurt Me Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Even with Goggin’s hard upbringing, he was able to overcome his emotions, stop making excuses, and reach his highest potential by facing his fears, visualizing success, and sticking to a strict schedule.

About the Author

David Goggins is an American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, motivational speaker, triathlete, and author. He is a retired US Navy Seal and former US Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the War of Afghanistan and Iraq. He wrote his self-help memory, Can’t Hut Me, in 2018.

He is a motivational speaker who shared his story with students across the country, numerous sports teams, and staff at Fortune 500 companies

Topics

Biography & Memoir

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Key Insights

Most people don’t recognize their full potential. That’s because most of us are seeking stability and comfort in our lives rather than pushing ourselves forward and taking risks.

In life, it’s easy to adopt a victim’s mindset, making excuses for the reasons you are unhappy and unsatisfied in your current situation.

“It won’t always go your way, so you can’t get trapped in this idea that just because you’ve imagined a possibility for yourself that you somehow deserve it. Your entitled mind is dead weight. Cut it loose. Don’t focus on what you think you deserve. Take aim on what you are willing to earn!”- David Goggins

In, “Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds” by David Goggins, you will begin to understand why breaking free from this mentality is necessary for reaching your highest potential.

However, it requires mental toughness to really break this mindset and see things from a new perspective.

Take Note of Your Limitations

David Goggins grew up in Williamsville, New York. The town was a small suburb full of lawyers, doctors, and other wealthy people.

Goggins lived in a large house with a beautiful lawn. His dad wore suits and his mom was a housewife. Their life was picture-perfect on the outside.

But on the inside, their house was full of abuse.

In the ‘70s, David’s father, Trunnis, ran a roller rink called Skateland. Every night Goggin’s father put him and his brother and mother to work. When Goggins was only six-years-old he was in charge of running the rental counter.

The rink closed around 10 pm and afterward the boys were in charge of cleaning the bathrooms and wiping the counters. After that, the boys would try to get some sleep in the office while their parents worked at the bar above the rink. Then, at 6 am, the family would all return home.

Goggins would then attend school and inevitably fall asleep in class.

Trunnis not only deprived his children of a healthy lifestyle, but he was also violent. Trunnis would beat both Jackie, Goggin’s mother, and his sons.

Jackie eventually left, but she had no money of her own and her and Trunnis were not married so she could not claim any of his assets. She left with both boys and only a credit card to her name.

Because of Goggin’s hard upbringing, he could’ve made any excuse in the book not to follow his dreams and reach for the stars. But he decided to overcome those obstacles.

One of the first things he did was to identify his obstacles. When you identify your obstacles, it is much easier to overcome them.

Look At the Facts

Jackie Goggins moved to Indiana to try to start over. She had very little money but she worked hard, attending school, and working a full-time job while taking care of her two sons.

Because of Goggin’s struggle to stay awake in school at a young age, he missed a lot of the basics of education, which pushed him to cheat his way through his schooling.

However, when he decided he wanted...