Video review — tap to play
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
New York Times Bestseller Over 7 million copies sold For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself…
- Release Date
- 2021
- Length
- 395 pages
- Publisher
- David Goggins
We may earn a commission if you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Our Review
About the book
Former Navy SEAL and ultra-endurance athlete David Goggins recounts a childhood marked by abuse, poverty and racism, and his transformation through military training and extreme races. Each chapter ends with a challenge meant to help readers push past their own limits.
Our review
An intense memoir with built-in challenges, inspiring if you need a push and exhausting if you need rest.
Goggins’s life story is extraordinary, and he tells it without polish. The early chapters about his father, the poverty he grew up in, and his own insecurity are hard to read and essential to everything after. His account of getting through SEAL training on willpower alone is astonishing. The challenges at the end of each chapter, from auditing your excuses to tracking your progress, turn the memoir into a workbook, and many readers say it truly got them moving.
His philosophy has one setting: harder. Pain is always a teacher, rest is suspect, and injury is something you push through, which is risky advice for readers without his body or his support system. The repeated swagger and profanity will put some readers off. We would treat the book as a corrective for complacency rather than a complete model for living.
What we loved
- A raw, unvarnished life story
- Actionable challenges after each chapter
- Real energy for readers stuck in a rut
Keep in mind
- Glorifies pushing through pain and injury
- Relentless, one-note intensity
Read it if you like
Readers of Extreme Ownership, Shoe Dog or Relentless, and anyone training for a big physical goal.
The verdict
A jolt of determination with a remarkable story behind it. Use it as fuel, not as a training plan.
