Before I start this article on David Goggins I want to let people know-Goggins’ story is a mental story not a physical one…I think I’m late to the David Goggins bandwagon; it doesn’t bother me. I’m just glad that I came across him on Instagram. I was wasting time-cruising through Instagram, checking out the peacocks and motivators.
I follow quite a few people who move the needle, people who have done good in life and try to motivate others to do the same. It’s one of the things I like about ‘the Gram”. It’s easy to eliminate people who post-drama or who are totally about peacocking and no substance, I try to exclude those people from my Gram feed.
So I see this guy who has little to no body fat jogging talking into a camera. I usually scroll Instagram with the sound off, but I wanted to hear what this guy was saying, so I turned it up.
Goggins
Goggins had a gravel voice like a drill sergeant or a pirate. He was out west someplace jogging during the heatwave the happened a couple of months back. There were tons of heat advisories in California, and the news was talking about people dying because of the heatwave. But Goggins was out jogging barking at his followers talking about STAY HARD.
This leads me to do a couple of Google Searches and look at some Youtube videos of this man David Goggins. It turns out this wasn’t a waste of time. Goggins I came to find out was the real thing. He grew up in the Midwest (Indiana) like me (Iowa).
His high school problems were the same as mine. He had decided to enter the military after high schools, like me. David Goggins became a Navy Seal, Paratrooper and Army Ranger. I went into Miltary Intelligence. By the way, no one has ever been a Navy Seal, Airforce Tactical Air Controller, and an Army Ranger. The U.S. Defence Department and numerous publications who monitor these things have called Goggins Toughest man in the world.
Goggins the Book the Legend
I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about Mr. Goggins; I found out that Goggins was a Navy Seal legend for going through Seal boot camp three times in one year. But digging deeper into his story, I found out he was also an ultramarathoner, once held the world record for pull-ups doing 4031 in an 18-hour span. But there was a lot more to Goggins than the physical feats.
He continued to push his body and mind to new levels and that was the real message of his book “You Can’t Hurt Me”. Goggins self-published autobiography, the book was No.2 behind Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming” for a couple of months when it was first released. The book has went on to sell more than a million copies and seems to have really connected with the readers.
I purchased his book and brought the book on tape to listen to during my workouts and walking my dog-Juniper. His book was compelling, he was a man that had a tough childhood, and he could have easily taken the comfortable path that most people take and lived a whole different life.
This, in my opinion, is what resonated with readers, and is also what he preaches in his YouTube videos and his “Goggin shorts” his minute-long videos he records on his runs. What I take from his message is that each of us has a lot more in the tank, a lot more, we could accomplish if we can push past that voice that says- “I’m uncomfortable and should probably quit now”. 90% of people listen to that voice and shut it down every time.
In his book, Googins faced numerous obstacles, from high school learning challenges to losing 100 pounds in three months to join the Navy. Along with having to repeat the Navy Seal Boot camp three times, and running 100-mile marathons on two bad legs and three days’ notice. During each of these challenges in his life, he ignored that voice and pushed through, to accomplish things most people dream about.
Goggins 40% Rule
Goggins showed in his book that if you can get your brain to push past that initial urge to quit when things got uncomfortable you could really surprise your self and become stronger both physically and mentally.
If there is anything that Mr. Goggins was a master at was not listening to that voice that tells you to stop. Goggins talks about how people push to about 40% of their max. To Goggins that little voice usually shows up at 40 % of max and this is when this feeling uncomfortableness sets in and people shut it down.
It’s true; I remember going through basic training when I was in the Army and being on a mountainside that was almost straight up, with a rucksack that weighed 50 pounds and a rifle in my hand and thinking about how incredibly hard it was not to make a mistake and being dead.
I was three fourth of the way up, and I wanted to stop, I was scared. But no one was coming to save me. I pushed through and made it to the top. It was one of the first times I had to go past 40% in my life. It took about 90% of me not to meltdown and maybe not be here. I that was 25 years ago, and I still think about that time all of the time and measure things in my life by that.
There were other instances in the military that got my motor up to 75-80% but nothing even close to as much effort as that mountainside took out of me to-just-not-die. Goggins did this all of the time, and he had trained his mind to push past and even enjoy the uncomfortable goals in life.
David Goggins Unreal Work Ethic
Goggins has run more than 60 Ultramarathons (over 100 miles). He has entered numerous triathlons and has built a career speaking to pro sports teams and fortune 500 companies about tapping into the 60% percent that we all leave on the table.
I’ve listened to his books a couple of times and have read the book as has my wife. I thought I was being a fanboy, because Goggins had made me think about how much I was left in the tank, in my work and my workouts. Goggins is known for doing 10-20 mile runs every day and maybe 1000 situps and pushups.
Another thing Goggins was known for his cold water training in the seals and in his training. This is just one day, so he’s showing that these large goals can be done regularly.
As he says over and over in his books and videos a person doesn’t have to do the stuff that he does, but also a person shouldn’t try to say that he some superhuman or something, he just a person that pushes through that voice in your head that says that this isn’t comfortable lets shut it down.
For example, I worked with a trainer for the last ten months. My trainer Stan is a good guy; he helped me when I need to get back into shape. But he didn’t push past tat 40% much either.
I’m in Miami; it’s very hot and humid down here in the summer rainy season. Stan had me working out in the shade. We would do 3 or 4 sets with 5 or 6 reps; he didn’t believe in setting rep totals. It was good, I would sweat through, and I guess he thought he was doing his job.
David Goggins Mental Toughness
For me after discovering Goggins -I knew that I could do more, a lot more. I stopped seeing Stan my trainer and did research on my problem areas and https://e-healthynews.com/how-to-lose-10-pounds-in-one-week/. I work now in full sun, on the roof of my building, I do five sets with 12 reps.
Plus I run on the roof with a 50-pound weight vest. When I am finished with that part of the workout, I swim 20 laps, and as I get stronger, I will add more reps and more laps to this workout because I want to at least get up to 80- 90 % of myself and push past being uncomfortable.
Goggins’ message seems to resonate with a lot of people-his videos on Youtube have millions of views. If you read the comments on his social media or videos channels people love him and understand that they have been coming up short on what they can accomplish.
Being in tip-top shape-with your mind, and body is something that people will see a lot and embrace more in the future. The smart crowd is not going to want to get mixed up with our hospital system. They understand that a lot of the worst germs are in the hospitals.
Along with avoiding hospitals, people are also discovering the health benefits for your body but also you’re MIND when our in great shape. I’ve noticed that a lot of Tech titans in California and New York- Jeff Bezo’s owner of Amazon, looks like a bodybuilder, Mark Zuckerberg owner of Facebook is jacked, and in great shape. Look at your a lot of your favorite music artist and actors, these people hit the gym hard daily.
These people got the memo, Doctors have stated in numerous new health and exercise studies that they have NO MEDICINE THAT REVILIES EXERCISE. When I heard that, it told me everything that I needed to know. The future of healthy living will be people who exercise and people who don’t, it’s as simple as that, Goggins figured this out before a lot of us, but we still have time to change our ways.