The 2-Word Question That David Goggins Uses To Achieve The (Near) Impossible

This might just change your mind

Navy SEAL. Ultra-Runner. Tri-Athlete. World Record Holder. Only Man to finish Special Forces Training in All Branches of the U.S Military.

David Goggins is a living legend. The man doesn’t even feel real. With his incredibly inspiring and hard life story, nothing even holds a handle.

But what about us mere mortals?

We may not have the intensity or the drive that Goggins embodies today. But lest we forget, even he started somewhere. And there’s definitely more that we can take away from him than short-lived motivation and an endorphin rush.

Can’t Hurt Me is one of the best biographies out in the market today. To truly do justice to what Goggins has to teach, the book is the best resource.

Heck, it’s a manual for life.

As the message he lives, there is no substitute for putting in the work. These takeaways might just help you when your plan gets punched in the face.

The Lie We Live

Until and unless you don’t accept your current reality, exactly the way it is, you can’t grow. All you do is risk beating your head against the wall due to a deluded ego.

If you can’t run a mile without feeling like you had a stroke — accept that! Unless you do so, you’ll never make true progress.

Sure, it sucks biting the bullet. But that’s the first step. Only once you face yourself, just the way you are, can you move forward.

Take a long honest look at yourself in the mirror. Ask whether you’re achieving your aims.

David calls this the Accountability Mirror. It’s what got him to change his life when he worked as a cockroach exterminator with no prospects for a better life.

Your Demons Are Your Demons Alone

I get it. Life’s hard. Things aren’t going the way they are supposed to. Sometimes even the best of your efforts aren’t enough. We all have our fair share of insecurities, trauma, and baggage that weighs us down in the present moment. That’s alright.

What do we do about them?

That’s the question that truly matters.

Over 75% of high-achievers come from troubled families. A coincidence, maybe? I’d beg to differ.

They had a darn good excuse to give up. Instead, they used the unkindness of life to their advantage.

Face your demons. Your deepest darkest insecurities. That’s the only way you will overcome them. That’s what therapy does as well.

I would’ve probably never gotten into fitness, had I not had a bullied school life as an obese introverted kid. It’s what drives me even today, and more.

That’s what David did, too. He found strength in the dark parts of his life.

The Two Words That Might Just Change Your Life

When David stared deeply into the mirror after watching a Navy SEAL documentary on television, he had a question.

A wildly imaginative and rebellious one at that.

What If?

What If you could do it too? What If you became a Navy SEAL? What If you pulled off the impossible?

That was the start, those were the words that fueled the journey and the man we see today. A mere question.

We should let our imagination loose sometimes. It might just be the catalyst to a greater life.

How Rare is Rare?

David is an uncommon man. In fact, he’s uncommon amongst uncommon men.

His primary mission in life, the one that drives him and gives him purpose, is to see just how far he can go. How much of an impact he can make?

“To be uncommon amongst uncommon men.”

A worthy purpose indeed. Critics might argue that it is insecurity and ego-driven.

But if this gives a man meaning, and enables him to have more of a positive impact, then why not?

Everyone has an ego. If we all let it drive us to achieve greater purposes, the world would surely be a better place.

How rare is rare for you? There’s only one way to find out.

Cookies and Souls

Arguably the most ‘handy’ tip of all is the concept of the Cookie Jar.

As a kid, like most of us, David loved pulling some delicious cookies out of the cookie jar. When his life got tough, these little rewards kept him going.

Now he built a metaphorical cookie jar of his own. He remembers all the times he emerged victorious in the face of overwhelming odds, when things start to get hard, he remembers all the times in the past when he persevered.

These are the cookies.

He reaches for them every time he hits a roadblock. When things start to suck.

In a world filled with cliche motivational videos and short-lived bursts of action, this stands out in raw contrast.

He doesn’t need to seek motivation. He’s driven.

Stack up your own victories in a cookie jar of your own, and pull from it when need be. Before you know it, you’ll have a jar of your own that keeps getting bigger.

Is There Truly an Option?

One of the things that I learnt from David was that there truly isn’t an option.

There is no getting away from hard things. Discomfort is a rudimentary part of life.

Ask yourself only this: should the discomfort be voluntary or involuntary?

You could choose to put the work in, and not let your situation define you. Sure, it sucks. But you at least get something out of it. It’s voluntary discomfort.

Or…

You could choose to let external things define you. Guess what? It still sucks, and you don’t even get anything out of it. Involuntary.

Life sucks. Make it worth the suck.

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