In David Goggins’s memoir Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his inspiring life story — starting
off with the moment he was born into the hands of a demonic father. He then takes readers along
on his journey of dramatically transforming himself from a depressed, overweight cockroach
killer to a world-class and record-breaking American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist,
triathlete, public speaker, author, a retired United States Navy SEAL, and former United States
Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War. As Goggins presents a
book full of realistically inspiring messages, he calls the typical human out for only tapping into
40% of our capabilities. With Goggins’s philosophy, “Everything is a mind game,” readers can
surely be motivated to achieve whatever goal they desire, no matter how many tries it takes, how
long it takes, and how “possible or impossible” it seems in the eyes of an average human being.
On the outside, first grade Goggins seemed to be living the American Dream — a fresh white
wooden home on Paradise Road of Williamsville, a Rolls Royce, Mercedes, and black Corvette
parked outside, handsome, smiling parents and everything else that gave his neighbors the sense
of living in an affluent version of America. However, behind the warm smiles of the Goggins
family was a dark, bloody world led by David Goggins’s father, Trunnis Goggins. Trunnis
Goggins forced David Goggins and his brother to abandon their wishes for a normal childhood
and instead work all day and night, and unsatisfactory results or one risky word from the boys
would lead to a night full of whippings and beatings. Readers throughout the first half of the
memoir find themselves face-to-face with his brutal childhood, so unimaginable that most will
want to flip the pages and avoid witnessing his life even in their heads. After Goggins and his
mother escape his father, Goggins encounters many more haunting opportunities to harden his
mind, even finding out (a little too late) that he was born with a hole in his heart, until he and his
mom finally find themselves on the opposite end of the horrifying world they started from, on
the refreshing deck of a sprawling multi-million beach house in Kona.
As I was reading everything Goggins went through, I kept catching myself wondering whether it
was even realistically possible for a human being to experience and succeed in everything that
Goggins did – every other reader probably had a similar reaction. However, those questions
eventually turned into motivational messages, and I should mention that this book transformed
my thought processes in the hardships I myself experience in my own life (although not nearly as
extreme as three Hell Weeks in a lifetime). Goggins embeds ten challenges for readers,
guaranteeing that the readers who accept the challenges and repeat them will become better and
impactful people — pain will definitely come as part of the package, but it will lead one to
eventually own all aspects of his/her life completely. Goggins encourages readers to abandon
their victim’s mentality and finish what they need to get done.
I would rate this book a 10/10. It is one of the most memorable books I have ever read recently,
and I recommend it to readers who are looking to be motivated to achieve anything in their lives.
Check out Can't Hurt Me from the Newport Beach Public Library.