Truth be told, I’m a huge fan of the military. I spent my childhood growing up on the Air Force Academy and various other military installations as the son of an Air Force Colonel. I always figured that I would end up in one branch of the military or another, but for some reason it didn’t work out that way. Although, there was that one time my freshman year of college that my Dad drove to Iowa from Pennsylvania the night of my fraternity toga party and emphatically told me that if I didn’t get my sh*t together that “Sergeant So and So” would be expecting me to show up for boot camp later that semester (true story).

It should be no surprise, then, that I am also a huge fan of books about the military. However, the one genre that I’ve had a hard time connecting with is the “Ex-military Guy Wants To Tell You How To Live Your Life Outside of The Military.” While I have the UTMOST respect for those who choose to serve, having grown up in the bubble that is paid-for housing, guaranteed employment, easy access to health care, great pensions, etc., I never really believed that the “lessons from the trenches” really applied to civilian life. Or if they did, the connection was tangential at best. David’s Goggins’ book, Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy The Odds, changed my opinion of this genre in a major way.

First of all, this isn’t a book about David being in the military. Yes, he’s the only man on earth that has completed Navy Seal Training, Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training, and much of the book focuses on his experiences at these programs, but the stories that he shares and the lessons that he teaches are much more significant than the standard fare of most of these memoirs. Often referred to as “The toughest man on earth,” Goggin’s list of accomplishments almost feels fabricated, but is all very true. Some of the highlights:

• Losing 100 pounds in 3 months to prepare for Navy Seal Training
• Completing not ONE, but TWO, Navy Seal Hell Weeks. One of them on two broken legs.
• Setting the world record for pull-ups, completing 4030 pull-ups in 17 hours.
• Completing over 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons, setting many course records and regularly placing in the top five.

Although all of those things are amazing, this book is about the fact that, for him, physical and mental suffering are a journey of self-discovery, no other experience makes him feel more clear, focused, and alive. Can’t Hurt Me is about how David Goggins transformed himself into one of the toughest humans on earth through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work. Here are three key takeaways for me from the book (although I’m sure you’ll find many more):

You can Do More – Goggin’s shares what he calls the 40% rule, which states that, sadly, most of us give up when we’ve only given around 40 percent of our maximum effort. Even when we feel like we’ve reached our absolute limit, we still have 60 percent more to give!
You must Remember Your Successes – David Call’s this “The Cookie Jar” concept. He doesn’t dwell on his successes, but he keeps an actual cookie jar where he has written down every setback that he’s overcome. He doesn’t look at it often, but when he needs an extra push, he’ll remind himself that he’s been through this pain before — and survived. The obstacle in front of him is nothing compared to what he has faced.
You Are Not Your Past: Goggins grew up in an extremely violent household and truly expected to be nothing more than a statistic, but through hard work, perseverance, and unwavering commitment to himself and his goals, he became one of the most accomplished athletes of all time.

I hope that you go and buy the book! But make sure to get the AUDIOBOOK, as it includes a podcast-style commentary by Goggins and his co-author that helps you go much deeper than the printed version.