Hello Readers! In today’s article, I will summarize my favorite part from ‘Can’t Hurt Me,’ whose nose author is David Goggins. David is the person who got the title of ‘Toughest man alive.’
There is a quote at the starting of this book about ‘Men in Wars’ written by a philosopher named Heraclits in the 5th century. Ten out of 100 men in war shouldn’t be there. That means they shouldn’t be there. Eighty are just targets who go to die there. Nine of them are real fighters whose existence is lucky for people.
Because the battle is fought only on their strength, and 1 out of them is a warrior. He decides whether the war will be won or lost. He is the person who saves people and brings them back. An uncommon, extraordinary warrior, based on which the whole result is decided. David says that when we breathe for the first time, we get eligible to die.
In the same way, we are eligible to become warriors. Unfortunately, most people don’t. But he chose to be a warrior. I want you also to be a warrior, which you can become.
David Goggins is a Warrior
First Attempt
He has done things in his life that we can’t imagine. Let me give you a significant example of his life: when he had surgery, after that, people didn’t go to the gym. But David Goggins thought, let me create a world record—word record of doing maximum pull-ups. Around 2013, the world record was around 4000 pull-ups, which David Goggins decided to break.
He started training himself after surgery. But when he went to make that world record, he did pull-ups around 1000-1500. But as soon as he did 2000 pull-ups, his condition started deteriorating. His actual rod was very different from his rod for practice. It was loose and thick, so it caused him not to get a grip. That’s why he tired early, and after 2500 pull-ups, he didn’t have power in his hands. His hand was powerless. He was not able to lift his hand. He failed in his first attempt.
Second Attempt
But as soon as he failed, he decided to try again after some months. This time, he learned what mistakes he had made the previous time. He improved and took on the challenge again. The second time, that got worse. For example, he did the first 1000 pull-ups well but started getting problems after that. Blisters started coming on his hands, which started bursting, and there was bleeding in his hands.
But he didn’t stop, even after extreme pain. Even at one point, the condition of his hand was so bad that his mother and other people started worrying too much that if he continued to do this, then there would be a problem. So then the doctor came, and when the doctor saw his hand, the whole bandage was opened, and the skin of his hand was also coming off along with the bandage; the condition of his hand was terrible.
The doctor then gave him injections and told him that he had Rhabdomyolysis. In simple words, it means that if you train your body part excessively, the fibers and proteins of those muscles start getting leaked into the body, which goes to the kidney through blood, also called Myoglobin. The kidney processes this, and if it fails, then it can kill that person. After listening to this, an average person would quit, but David Goggins didn’t accept it. He could die because of that condition, but he did pull-ups. He tried a lot, but after 2800 pull-ups, he had no power left. After trying a lot, he was not able to do it.
Third Attempt
He didn’t give up. After some weeks, he tried again. In the third attempt, because his hands had become so strong because he had given so much pain to his hands, thick layers had become on the hands, which were helping him in doing this, and in the third attempt, he finally achieved that world record.
David, First Ultra Endurance Race
He has run 70+ ultra-endurance races, which included Bad Water. If you don’t know about it, let me tell you. Bad water is one of the toughest races in the world. People go to Death Valley, where they can die because of the excessive heat. He ran 100 miles (160.93 km) to qualify for the primary race when he had to race there. The problem was that he was not prepared for the race. He had never run a marathon.
He had no idea. But because he had to run and raise funds for his fellow soldiers who had died, he said YES to the race in just four days. And obviously, he was not prepared. He had done a leg workout just a day before, and the next day, he had gone for the marathon—100 miles in 24 hours. At that time, he was also having problems. He says it was the most challenging race of his life because he didn’t have proper nutrition and training when running. Many things happened in that race.
He started having leg fractures, but even after getting fractures and bleeding, he tied his legs with tape so that his leg got normal and got stuck at one point, and he didn’t feel pain. He had no energy for 50 miles (80.47 km) and 60 miles (96.56 km). But still, he kept running with fractured legs. There was bleeding in his toilet. He was shitting bricks, blood, sweat. All these things were happening in 60–70 miles. If an ordinary person had been there, he would have quit by this time. His leg got fractured, and he was sick. But still, he didn’t stop. He kept running in pain, with fractured legs, and he completed that race.
David Completing the Hardest US Army Training
He has completed Navy SEAL Training. Before that, he had also done many things. For example, he has done the most challenging training, the US Army SEAL training, three times. He is the first to complete Hell Week training involving going through hell. He also completed the Army Ranger school, which was very tough, and Air Force tactical air controlling training.
Furthermore, he alone has completed all three, whereas most people can only complete one thing. If I explain more about Hell Week, it is a time when participants are tortured to quit. Only 25% of people survive Hell Week.
David Goggins has done Hell Week three times. Why? Because when he did it for the first time, he got pneumonia. Because when they used to pass through the sea, the cold water went through the nose and mouth, which caused pneumonia for the first time. The second time, he got so much injury in the leg during hell week that his leg was swollen like a balloon, and the doctor fired him. He didn’t give up even after all this but was fired. And for the third time, he completed the hell week.
There was a whole week in the hell week, in which people were given physical torture, calm, swimming in the sea, picking up logs, and moving from here to there; while doing all this, mental torture was also given to them to quit. They weren’t even given enough time to sleep. The students were given just 4 hours of sleep in the entire week. That’s why it is called hell week. And he did it three times. Trust me, I’ve read many such stories about him, which are very extraordinary, like a warrior. And it was not that David Goggins was a warrior since childhood.
Success Tips by David Goggins
Goggins says if a person wants to change his life, he can do it in three ways.
- First, by studying
- Second, by making habits of something
- Third, by listening to someone’s stories
That’s why he is sharing his story through his book. So that you can become a warrior like him. Trust me, after reading this book, I’ve had so much inspiration and three critical lessons that helped him become such a strong warrior and will help you become a strong warrior.