Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

David Goggins is a former Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner, and motivational speaker. He stepped out of his comfort zone by writing a memoir, Can’t Hurt Me, reading more like a personal survival story than a traditional self-help book.

The book begins with Goggins’s childhood, marked by abuse, poverty, and constant fear, which leaves him angry, insecure, and emotionally shut down. As an adult, he drifts into a dead-end life — overweight, directionless, and numbing himself with comfort — until he hits a breaking point watching Navy SEALs on TV and realizing how far he’s fallen from his potential.

What follows is a cycle: Goggins sets an extreme goal, fails painfully, adapts through brutal self-discipline, and then raises the bar again. He endures SEAL training despite repeated injuries, tackles Army Ranger School and ultramarathons, and deliberately seeks suffering as a way to harden his mind.

Every nonfiction book has a core message, and to me, that’s what determines whether a book is “good.” Writing style, real-world examples, or personality can’t save a weak idea, but a strong, applicable message on its own can make a book worth reading. For example:

The Let Them Theory — Peace and control come from letting others make their own choices.

The Slight Edge — Small daily actions compound over time, putting your life on an upward or downward trajectory. 

Why We Sleep — Sleep is vital and must be protected.

Range — Exploring broadly builds adaptable skills that lead to long-term success.

Here’s the takeaway from Can’t Hurt Me: your mind quits long before your body does, and real growth comes from embracing discomfort, taking responsibility, and doing hard things daily. Goggins calls it “callusing” your mind — training it to face difficult things so that when challenges inevitably come, you’re ready.

That said, Goggins definitely pushes past what most consider reasonable. He leans heavily on the idea that mental strength alone can carry you and the body will catch up. He’s backed this by running 100 miles with almost no training, completing Navy SEAL Hell Week three times, and doing over 4,000 pull-ups in 17 hours… but all of it came with a long trail of injuries. Your body does have limits, and sometimes the best way to reach a goal is gradually, not by blasting straight through.

Still, more people could benefit from this mindset. The core message is repeated across many self-help books: don’t make excuses for your circumstances, whether mental, physical, or professional, just get after it.

Goggins is polarizing, intense, and unapologetic, but that’s what works for him, and what makes the book a wake-up call rather than a comfort read. He uses profanity and tough love, so don’t expect a gentle self-help voice. The writing itself isn’t remarkable; he admits that this was out of his comfort zone and hard work for him.

I wouldn’t pick up the book for style, and some ideas need a grain of salt, but the core message is important, especially today. It reminds me of a quote by the ruler of Dubai: 

“My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, my grandson will drive a Land Rover, but my great-grandson will ride a camel.”

When asked why, he explained:

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, weak men create hard times.”