I just finished a book from David Goggins with the title “Can’t hurt me”. David is a famous ultra-endurance athlete, former Navy Seal soldier, and since a couple of years getting more and more attention given his books, interviews, and so on.
The book was a present from my kids for my birthday, and for quite a while I didn’t touch it. The story sounded too much of another American warrior, who is able to move mountains and overcome whatever target he set for himself. Eventually I started to read. While I was in the middle of the book, I already posted a blog “moving forward and going slow”.
Now, having finished, I am left sad and and pitiful for the author. David Goggins is definitely moving mountains and accomplishing things, nobody else on this planet ever has done before. But the price he is paying for that is absolut loneliness and a never stopping series of physical and mental pains during training and races. In this book there is no comment about social connects, about what marriage means (or not), about kids…nothing about emotional connects. His language is the language of a warrior being in war. He explains, that fighting thru his endurance challenges enables him to live his life – which is in total isolation.
His second book talks about winning the war inside of you.
For me, this is nothing to look for or even trying to copy. He gives challenges in his book which I would recommend people NOT to do, as they are leading into a dead end street. Fighting your whole life makes you not a better person – it hardens you and make you resistent to everything – also people. And our life has to do with people in the first place. The connection between people generate energy, motivation, thoughts, love, development and joy. Finding all these things being isolated by yourself must be hard and very sad.
I will not read the second book.
