Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
David is one crazy crazy dude. He is one of the rare people who have succeeded in flogging themselves into greatness. For most people, being hard on yourself is not the ticket to achieving success. Such behavior results in a downward mental spiral that eventually depletes all energy needed for achievement. Everyone has experience of "putting their nose to the grindstone" and "buckling down". This kind of "monk mode" is never sustainable though since it is only done to achieve a goal, and deep down the "monk" knows that he is not enjoying the process. Goggins has somehow succeeded in turning suffering and self-abuse into fuel. Instead of seeking goals and withstanding the suffering, he seeks the suffering as the goal. He has radically redefined his values and what constitutes a meaningful life.
While this makes for terrific reading, it is only inspirational to some extent. All of us are living well below our potential, but Goggins' approach will not result in success for most people. I've tried being hard on myself to achieve more (as has almost everyone). This has never resulted in achieving much other than occasional short term results. What has worked for me is a long term mindset of incremental improvement and growth month after month, year after year. After any setback, I don't beat myself up or "buckle down", I look at what failed, and create a plan that will avoid such failure in the future. For most people, achieving success is more about creating quality life processes, not mentally pushing yourself beyond your limits day after day.
To be fair, Goggins does periodically touch on creating quality processes to achieve goals. Zone 2 training for aerobic improvement, after action reports to determine what went well in a race & what needs to be improved, optimizing routines, getting to bed early, minimizing things in your life that don't align with your values. The main point of the book though is his model of relentless, bullheaded mental tenacity. This model is not achievable for most people though.
The book I started reading after this is all about achieving things through the zen method of surrender and letting go of desire, attachment, and the identification with emotions as "us". Thinking back to Goggins' memoir, it seems that he is motivated purely by anger & fear. Anger at his past, his present state, and all the setbacks in his life. Fear of being stuck a loser his whole life, fear of not achieving his dreams, fear of looking back at his life as a waste, fear of fear itself. He uses anger to motivate himself to take action to avoid the fulfillment of his fears. He seems to be running scared, a victim of his relentless ego. This can be disguised as love of suffering, since the suffering is what temporarily shuts up his ego's fearful message of "you're a loser, and you'll never amount to anything." The ego always comes back and craves more validation though.
I have always found peace by looking at fears and emotions as clouds upon the sky of my awareness and letting them be there but not focusing on them. Trying to eradicate inner weakness is a weakness in itself. Better to identify good values and then live simply in accordance with them, pursuing gradual progression and self-betterment throughout life.
In summary, Goggins' mentality not only won't work, but even if it did, it probably won't be as good as tuning into positive emotions such as love, rather than tuning into fear & suffering as sources of energy. This can be seen in the top ranks everywhere. SEALs, Olympians, CEOs, and ultrarunners all have their share of people trying to prove something to themselves or others. Most of these people are motivated by positive emotions such as love of the game, patriotism, and curiosity of what the limits of business, technology, or their abilities are.
While this makes for terrific reading, it is only inspirational to some extent. All of us are living well below our potential, but Goggins' approach will not result in success for most people. I've tried being hard on myself to achieve more (as has almost everyone). This has never resulted in achieving much other than occasional short term results. What has worked for me is a long term mindset of incremental improvement and growth month after month, year after year. After any setback, I don't beat myself up or "buckle down", I look at what failed, and create a plan that will avoid such failure in the future. For most people, achieving success is more about creating quality life processes, not mentally pushing yourself beyond your limits day after day.
To be fair, Goggins does periodically touch on creating quality processes to achieve goals. Zone 2 training for aerobic improvement, after action reports to determine what went well in a race & what needs to be improved, optimizing routines, getting to bed early, minimizing things in your life that don't align with your values. The main point of the book though is his model of relentless, bullheaded mental tenacity. This model is not achievable for most people though.
The book I started reading after this is all about achieving things through the zen method of surrender and letting go of desire, attachment, and the identification with emotions as "us". Thinking back to Goggins' memoir, it seems that he is motivated purely by anger & fear. Anger at his past, his present state, and all the setbacks in his life. Fear of being stuck a loser his whole life, fear of not achieving his dreams, fear of looking back at his life as a waste, fear of fear itself. He uses anger to motivate himself to take action to avoid the fulfillment of his fears. He seems to be running scared, a victim of his relentless ego. This can be disguised as love of suffering, since the suffering is what temporarily shuts up his ego's fearful message of "you're a loser, and you'll never amount to anything." The ego always comes back and craves more validation though.
I have always found peace by looking at fears and emotions as clouds upon the sky of my awareness and letting them be there but not focusing on them. Trying to eradicate inner weakness is a weakness in itself. Better to identify good values and then live simply in accordance with them, pursuing gradual progression and self-betterment throughout life.
In summary, Goggins' mentality not only won't work, but even if it did, it probably won't be as good as tuning into positive emotions such as love, rather than tuning into fear & suffering as sources of energy. This can be seen in the top ranks everywhere. SEALs, Olympians, CEOs, and ultrarunners all have their share of people trying to prove something to themselves or others. Most of these people are motivated by positive emotions such as love of the game, patriotism, and curiosity of what the limits of business, technology, or their abilities are.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Big guy turns skinny and carries boats for a living, then runs a marathon.
I'm not a huge fan of self-help books, but I gave this a shot because everyone was raving about how of an amazing of a book this is. In all honesty, I enjoyed the autobiographical part of this book. But at the same time, it felt like I was watching someone who just by sheer luck didn't end up killing themselves for their unapologetic approach to life.
The "push through it" mentality can work sometimes and for some people, but it isn't a healthy way to approach issues in life. At some point, it felt like it was like the "Don't be depressed" and "get over it" advice but in a more elaborate way.
I understand this could be appealing to a lot of young people, but I would approach with caution and a degree of a critical eye while reading it.
The "push through it" mentality can work sometimes and for some people, but it isn't a healthy way to approach issues in life. At some point, it felt like it was like the "Don't be depressed" and "get over it" advice but in a more elaborate way.
I understand this could be appealing to a lot of young people, but I would approach with caution and a degree of a critical eye while reading it.
The final chapter somewhat saved this book for me, where it seems he has realized that perhaps running on broken bones and not taking proper care of your body isn’t the best idea, although he kept his strong perseverance and mindset from the experience. His background story was also heartbreaking to hear. The chapters in between seemed to be a journal of masochism.
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A little rough around the edges, not incredibly surprising considering who Goggins is. I found it highly motivating and it made me drop my 10k I was signed up for and instead did a half marathon. From there I have done. 35k and a marathon.
Inspirational story, although I wouldn’t look for any sort of relationship advice from Goggins. Highly motivating don’t expect to walk away from the book wanting to model personal relationships after him. If you need motivation to get fit or stick with goals it’s a heck of a read.
Inspirational story, although I wouldn’t look for any sort of relationship advice from Goggins. Highly motivating don’t expect to walk away from the book wanting to model personal relationships after him. If you need motivation to get fit or stick with goals it’s a heck of a read.