Mastering the Mind: Lessons from "Can’t Hurt Me" by David Goggins
David Goggins doesn’t just tell you to get motivated—he dares you to go to war with yourself.
Last month, I finally got around to reading David Goggins’ book, Can’t Hurt Me. It couldn’t have come at a better time and was really well positioned after reading Deep Work.
David Goggins doesn’t just tell you to get motivated—he dares you to go to war with yourself.
In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares a brutally honest journey from childhood trauma and self-doubt to extreme discipline and mental mastery. But this isn't just a story of transformation. It’s a manual for anyone seeking to break limits, rewire their mindset, and build an unbreakable inner foundation.
At the heart of Goggins’ message is the concept of radical personal accountability.
“You must take ownership over your life,” he declares early on. That means shedding any form of victimhood, however justified it may feel. As he puts it: “Taking ownership means ditching all victim mentality forever.”
The battle begins in the mind. Goggins describes the mind as having a “tactical advantage over you,” always searching for the path of least resistance. Your job? Reverse that instinct.
“Your mind is always looking for the path of least resistance. You have to personally challenge yourself each day.” He introduces the idea of the “accountability mirror,” a place where you face hard truths and set non-negotiable standards.
Discipline isn’t glamorous, and Goggins doesn’t pretend otherwise. “Motivation is fleeting. It comes and goes. You need to be driven and disciplined.” In other words, success is about repetition. “You gotta put the reps in.” Even when progress feels invisible, you’re either getting better or getting worse—there is no staying the same.
Throughout the book, Goggins makes clear that mental toughness isn’t about being fearless; it’s about mastering your fear. He advocates for facing your weaknesses head-on: “Only when you identify and confront the weaknesses can you overcome your past and use it as fuel to get better.”
He reminds us, “Everything in life is a mind game,” and one of the most powerful tools we have is visualization—imagining not just success, but failure and how to respond to it.
Suffering is not to be avoided—it’s the way through. “True happiness is on the other side of suffering.” According to Goggins, when your mind says “stop,” that’s when you must keep going.
“We have to stop telling ourselves stop.” Growth lives on the other side of discomfort.
“The best way to approach life and overcome your insecurities is to become a master of what you are afraid of.”
Goggins believes in turning the most painful experiences into sources of strength. He calls this the “cookie jar”—a mental reserve of past victories you can draw from when times get tough. “Find ways to use your past successes to fuel the challenging moment you might be going through today.”
In other words, you’ve been in tough situations before. How did you overcome them or get past them? Go to that cookie jar and remind yourself you can get through your current challenges as well.
Ultimately, Can’t Hurt Me is a challenge: to stop multitasking your life away, to win the morning, and to push beyond what you think is possible. The most important conversations, Goggins reminds us, are the ones we have with ourselves. If you’re willing to go to war with your own mind, peace—and power—awaits on the other side.
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P.S. I listened to this book on Audible and it is one of the most innovative Audible books I’ve ever encountered. The Audible is read by Adam Skolnick. However, at various points in the text, the reader pauses, and a podcast-like commentary ensues between Adam and David Goggins, which is really fascinating. It’s like side commentary on what’s happening at various points in the book. It made it more engaging. And also Adam did a great job of asking David some follow up questions that the reader/listener might have.
David Goggins is operating on another level than almost everyone on the planet. I’m not going to run an ultra marathon like him (he’s really insane) but there’s so much we can learn from him about the power of the mind. It’s time to master it.
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If you’re at all interested in not just reading books but also being part of a community of people who’s values align with this kind of mindset, I encourage you to join Fearless Journeys 2.0, which I just launched this past week. You might have seen my previous newsletter here, my new website updates here, and the opportunity to apply to join Fearless Journeys 2.0 here.
We each have unique talents and gifts to offer the world. Fearless Journeys devotes every ounce of our energy to make sure that members of our community hold nothing back. I look forward to hearing from you.