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David Goggins On How To Turn Suffering Into Strength
8 lessons from the world’s toughest man & modern-day Buddha
Wearing running shoes and clutching energy gels, David Goggins doesn’t appear like the typical spiritual man.
But like the Buddha and other such types, he has put himself through the toughest of challenges, dived deep into the depths of his mind, and came out the other side to tell the tale.
He completed three Hell Weeks—one of the toughest military trainings in the world—over 60 ultra-endurance events—including a 241-mile race—and held the record for the most pull-ups in 24 hours (4030).
He even has his own mantra:
Stay hard!
You could be fooled into thinking Goggins is just another endurance junkie chasing the next high.
But what Goggins is chasing is something much deeper.
He wants to find out who he really is and what he is capable of. And one of the most reliable ways to do this is to not turn away from discomfort and pretend it doesn’t exist — the most common reaction — but to head straight toward it.
Again. And again. And again.
Under different circumstances, this could be called asceticism—a 2500-year-old spiritual practice of voluntarily undergoing physical and mental challenges to gain insight into the nature of ourselves and existence.
By accepting the reality of suffering and even welcoming it, Goggins is discovering more about himself and the nature of existence than he could have ever imagined.
And becoming more and more the one who is in control of his life.
Here I’ve summed up what I think are his eight biggest lessons from his highly recommended and inspiring book, Can’t Hurt Me.
Enjoy.
But not too much.
1. Acceptance is about getting real with yourself
“I was rejecting my past and therefore rejecting myself. My foundation, my character was defined by self-rejection. All my fears came from that…
