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A review by barnysanchez
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
In observance of Black History Month, I have usually read a historical piece or a novel in the last few years. This February, I went in a different direction and read "Can't Hurt Me" and immediately after listened to the audiobook.
I wanted to honor heroes like David Goggins whose true extent of what they have done for our country is prived to a few. Admittedly, given the nearly impossible feats I have heard, I was also curious about the guy. I thought he was an alien.
I don't like to recount many aspects of the books and spoil them for other readers, but to tempt you to read it, know that David is a world record holder and has undergone some of the most brutal military training on the planet (Navy Seal, Air Force Tactical, US Army Ranger). He has won many athletic competitions or placed at the top with broken feet and legs, sick with pneumonia, etc. Most of it while having a hole in his heart, which would have prevented him from most of his military accomplishments if detected many years earlier.
Pound by pound, this is the most badass human I have ever known. His capacity to overcome physical and mental adversity is unparalleled, and his methods are unfathomable to most human beings.
The book is less about the much-deserved bragging rights and selling you into the "if I could, you can" mentality. For me, it is an incredible history of vulnerability. David puts it all in the open: his life, challenges, uprising, failures, and how, every time, he overcame it. It's a story that teaches us about how any of us has an unbounded amount of potential that most have barely begun to realize.
Once I started reading the book, I learned there was an audiobook with a twist: a book reading (audible)/podcast/interview. I had to listen to it because I wanted to get more insight from David through his spoken words. It was fantastic, and if you ask me which one to tackle, for this once and for the first time, I would 100% suggest doing the audiobook.
Last, don't bother even contemplating this read if you are easily offended by F-bombs, P-words, M-Fkrs, and the like. This book is raw, primal, primitive in a way. But if you are curious and on the fence, all I offer is the advice to learn to extract the message and substance from anyone, regardless of their language. There is always something to learn from the person sitting across the table.