Can’t Hurt Me
Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
David Goggins
“For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare — poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him “The Fittest (Real) Man in America.””
This isn’t the type of book I’d usually pick up. I only read it because my doctor suggested it might help me manage stress. I had no expectations going in, just a vague idea that it was something about resilience. What I found was an intense memoir that completely pulled me in.
David Goggins’ story is nothing short of brutal. From childhood trauma and poverty to extreme physical and mental challenges, it’s hard to believe one person endured so much. The first few chapters were especially heavy, and I found myself totally immersed, like I’d stepped into another world.
I’ve always thought marathon runners were a little extreme. I had no idea what true athletic insanity looked like. Running over 100 miles in 36 hours? On 2 broken legs? In Death Valley? Up and down mountains? Not just once, but multiple times. Almost killing himself fairly often too! It’s hard to wrap your head around that kind of drive. Goggins pushes the boundaries of human endurance and then some. I did start to lose interest a little during the last stretch of those ultra-endurance race stories.
Can’t Hurt Me is about mastering your mindset. It’s about pushing past the limits we place on ourselves, most of which exist only in our heads. While there are a few tips at the end of each chapter, the book isn’t overflowing with practical advice, and honestly, I didn’t mind. The power is in his story.
This book can be read two ways: as a self-help guide or as a memoir. For me, it definitely resonated more as a memoir. It’s not trying to be polished or perfectly structured. It’s real, raw, and relentless, just like Goggins himself.
If you’re looking for motivation or just a jaw-dropping story of human grit, Can’t Hurt Me is worth a read, even if it’s not your usual kind of book. 4-4.5 stars.
Believe
Mind Fuel
You Can Do It
This book is very slow. It spends a good chunk of the start of the book “rethinking leadership” in a modern way. Although I agree that some leaders do need to rethink how they lead, the people that have picked up this book would already agree with the title and modern leadership and do not need to be convinced.
This book really dives into all the insights of habits and leaves pretty much nothing out. It gives an in depth understanding of how habits are formed and how to start new habits. My only downside was that it had a lot of tips to create new habits but not a lot on changing old ones.
I’d recommend this book to basically everyone, regardless of whether they have a family history of dementia or whether they’ve barely heard of the condition. It’s compassionate and sensible, and filled with ways to help people understand dementia rather than just judging someone by it.
Suzi picked this book up from the library, so the following review is hers. I was after a book that wasn’t theory based for a change, and had more real life examples and stories to learn from. he title misled me, sadly. “Leadership lessons from Australia’s iconic change makers” – from this, I really expected actual lessons, stories and examples. However, what I received was 2-3 pages from each leader of wishy washy, meant to be inspiring and motivating, crap. This was the type of motivating crap that says “lighten up” or “the measure of success must be yours” or “failure isn’t falling down, it’s remaining where you’ve fallen”. This was paired with a quote on a coloured background page in between each leader’s lesson. If I wanted motivational sentences, I’d read ‘The Secret’!
This nugget of a book takes each element of family life and breaks it down into how you can change the way you think about waste. It is basically essential that you have children to be thought of as a ‘family’ here. I think this book is best aimed at families with young(er) children, although it does have some hints about waste for teenagers. I think that if you actually sat down and tried to turn into a zero waste family in only 30 days, you’re going to feel overwhelmed by it all, despite Anita’s book being “gentle”.
I should have really enjoyed this book, but I sadly didn’t. What I mainly felt was a sense of envy that the case studies within the book had contact with such a fantastic, holistic MD. I am very grateful for the medical facilities in Australia, and I understand the importance of funneling resources, but the system sometimes makes it difficult to reach the professional you need.
I’ve spent the last 4.5 years (let’s be honest, probably my whole life) being completely stressed out by completing my PhD (you may now call me Dr. Rose). Now I have a summer ahead of me that seems pretty empty at this point. I think I’ll be practicing Slow living without trying. It’s sort of regressing to an old style of living, which I have always supported. If you enjoy making your own bread, take the moment to do so, and enjoy the process. Be mindful the whole time.