Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

“Even the best pep talk or self-help hack is nothing but a temporary fix. It won’t rewire your brain. It won’t amplify your voice or uplift your life. Motivation changes exactly nobody. The bad hand that was my life was mine, and mine alone to fix.”

Goggins is not trying to motivate his audience. Instead, he is trying to awaken their potential by inspiring a deep-seated hunger for success even when motivation is lacking. The purpose is to develop the sort of character that overcomes adversity even without the motivation to do so. Goggins wants you to “rewire” your mind so that you think differently and actively change your behavior, not rely on the fleeting moments when you feel motivated.

“Odds are you have had a much better childhood than I did, and even now might have a damn decent life, but no matter who you are, who your parents are or were, where you live, what you do for a living, or how much money you have, you’re probably living at about 40 percent of your true capability.”

The 40 percent rule, which Goggins frequently employs, is the idea that most people can coast through life only giving about 40 percent of themselves. As a result, they only know about 40 percent of their true selves. The rest remains to be unlocked. For Goggins, unlocking and realizing that other 60 percent is his life’s work. It is the process by which he becomes more of who he always could be.

“And when you are born into a cyclone of terror and pain, you know it doesn’t have to be that way, and that truth nags at you like a splinter in your jacked up mind. You can choose to ignore it, but the dull throbbing is always there as the days and nights bleed together into one blurred memory.”

As a young child, all Goggins knew was work, stress, and trauma. His father made life hell for his family. A child doesn’t know that life could be different, but he can know that kind of life is no good. To be in a bad situation and to think that situation is