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.