PROFILE
NAME: David Goggins
TYPE OF OUTLAW: The Dogged Outlaw
GOGGINS THE LOSER
“It’s so easy to be great nowadays, because everyone else is weak. If you have ANY mental toughness, if you have any fraction of self-discipline; The ability to not want to do it, but still do it; If you can get through to doing things that you hate to do: on the other side is GREATNESS ” – David Goggins
David Goggins was a loser. He was a broke exterminator living paycheck to paycheck. He was weak & not just mentally but physically. He weighed 300 pounds (21 stone) & standing at 6ft1 in height, that is a lot of mass. He suffered rejection at the hands of his dad who abused him physically & emotionally - constantly telling him he was a loser & when he got drunk he got mad & then violent. He suffered rejection at the hands of society. He was bullied in school & also out of school for the colour of his skin. For those of you who have experienced discrimination for something you have no control over will how much this hurts. On top of all of this he had severe learning difficulties & he used this an excuse to further internalise the narrative that he was a loser. This is what he used to tell himself. This is what he believed & this is what he became. We all have a choice though. YOU decide your reality, not other people.
One day, at 24 years old Goggins decided he didn't want to be that loser that everyone (including himself) had told him he was all his life. Despite all of his self-perceived shortcomings he was inspired to join the navy SEAL's. He received numerous no’s during the application process before finding an organisation that would even consider him, only to be told later on that he was too heavy to complete SEAL training. You can't lose if you never give up. Never accept NO for an answer. Yes you will fail when you do things that are hard but it's how you react to failure that counts.
When he decided to join the SEAL's he had failed at everything he had attempted previously & once again he was given an easy way out when he was rejected for being vastly overweight. He chose the hard way for once though. He didn't take no for an answer & in less than 3 months he returned weighing 190 pounds (13.5 stone). Failure doesn't have to be an option & you only truly fail when you give up.
GOGGINS THE DOGGED OUTLAW
“To Grow in Life, Be Willing to Suffer” - David Goggins
Becoming a SEAL requires completing one of the military’s most grueling training programs which can last up to 30 months. The toughest mental & physical challenge of the program is Hell Week, which I can't take seriously because I keep imagining everyone dressed in hell themed fancy dress costumes for a week. However It’s 130 hours of continuous grueling, soul destroying, training so it should be respected. It made me tired just writing that line so for Goggins to endure 3 Hell Weeks in 1 year (the only person to ever do this) & survive, it speaks to the phenomenal human he has become. He had to do this after pneumonia & stress fractures forced him to drop out of the first two, before finally passing on his third attempt.
The only way you can succeed through so much adversity is with a dogged mindset. The most successful individuals are “focused and obsessed,” he says. “They’re driven on whatever it is that they want to accomplish in life.” The bigger the thing you want to accomplish in life the more you will need to suffer. Goggin’s understood this & developed a dogged mentality so he could deal with the naysayers, the pain & that nagging voice we all have in our heads that tell us to quit when the going gets tough. I know that voice well, it tells me to abort mission at the first sight of sweat, mud & spider’s. I’m fairly tough though, so I only listen to it when there’s mud involved.
Goggin’s went on to fight for his country for 21 years. After several of his friends died in Afghanistan in a helicopter crash in 2005, Goggins began long-distance running to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He has gone on to complete over 50 endurance races, raised more than $2 million, & has become known as one of the toughest athletes of our generation along the way. Not bad for someone who was considered a loser 20 years ago. This is what happens when we mute that voice in our heads telling us we CAN’T. When we challenge ourselves & really commit to seeing what our limits are we will surprise ourselves. We are all capable of much more than we think we are. We can all over achieve if we give ourselves the chance to.
“Who on this f***ing earth would be going right now? YOU ARE!” I believed it enough to where my body said, “he’s not gonna stop”. – David Goggins
1 of his more remarkable achievements is completing the Mont Blanc 100-mile race. He had to complete 100 miles within 24 hours but after 70 miles his body had completely shut down. He had stress fractures in his legs, shin splints, his kidneys had shut down, he was pooping his pants because the bathroom was too far away, & peeing blood because his organs were failing. As if this wasn’t enough, he also had a hole in his heart & still managed to finish the 100 miles.
He was almost on the brink of death. But he didn’t stop. "According to him, in times of suffering, we forget who we really are. Whenever you feel down, you need to go down in the cookie jar and remember who you really are. You are not the weak person your mind may be trying to tell you, you are the person that has survived tough times in the past. You are your achievements. By going into the cookie jar, you can turn fear on itself and harness it for strength."
Time & time again Goggins used positive self-talk to keep going through the hard times & turn his pain into power. I can personally vouch for this method as use it regularly, normally around 2 minutes into my run & I’ve always lasted my full intended 10 minutes. It’s a legitimate practice & Goggin’s secret sauce to habitually overcoming adversity & achieving everything he sets out to do. This is how he has transformed his weak mindset into a dogged one, & if an obese exterminator who was depressed, broken & had nothing to live for can do it you can too. No excuses.
WHY WE ALL NEED A DOGGED MENTALITY
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius
External things can't transform your life it must come from within. It can only come from YOU. Integrity, mental toughness, work ethic, curiosity, vision, decisiveness, these are all key skills you develop when you train yourself to have a dogged mentality. Behaviour changes aren't easy, you will suffer but with hard work, courage, and self-discipline you will deal with the pain. Our brains are adapted to deal with pain. They're over 200,000 years old & they're designed to make you survive. That's it. Our brains are not designed to seek comfort or make you happy. We evolved trying to find food & escape enemies, it's in the human DNA to struggle. We're supposed to seek challenges & difficult tasks. It's how we rose to the top of the food chain. Throughout human history we have learned through trial & error. Attempting difficult tasks, failing, re-assessing & trying again until we accomplish our goals. This is what it means to be dogged.
What limitations have you put on yourself?
What have you told yourself you’re too weak, fat or stupid to do?
What story are you telling yourself everyday to hold you back from achieving your goals because you don't want to suffer or experience discomfort?
I hate waking up at 5.30am to meditate then go to the gym. It's always cold & dark & I never have enough sleep the night before so I always feel super sleepy first thing, but I do it anyway. I hate it when the personal trainer says let's do another round of the circuit when the class should be finishing & I'm already broken & drenched in sweat but again I do it anyway because I know through those little struggles I will have a better day. If you want short term results than feel free to take shortcuts, do 6 minute abs once a week & have various cheat days. In the end you will only be cheating yourself because you won’t have the tools to deal with life when it gets shitty. And life will get shitty at times.
If you want to create permanent results, permanent behavioural changes & thought patterns then you need to SUFFER. You need to respect the human reward systems that are carved deeply into our DNA. We're strange animals who get a weird sense of fulfillment from overcoming suffering. So what are you waiting for? If you want to be great, it's not enough to just coast through life. Stop seeking comfort & start doing the things you hate doing.
WHAT KIND OF OUTLAW ARE YOU
"The worst thing that can happen to a human is they become civilised. You want to be uncommon amongst common people." - David Goggins
It's important to look at Goggin's journey as a whole rather than where he is now. He earned the right to be called the toughest athlete of our generation but he wasn't a natural athlete. He was in fact the opposite of what he is today. He was the guy that ran away from all of his life challenges. When he struggled in school instead of doing the hard work to get better, he cheated. He was a quitter. He avoided his fears. He sought comfort, but the more he did this the more uncomfortable his mind became. At 24 he was left with 2 choices. He could carry on being that fat loser who sprayed for cockroaches making 1000 dollars a month & later reflect on his life thinking about the guy he never became. Or he could dare to be great, dare to be uncommon amongst common people & fail again & again until he succeeded.
It's clear which option Goggins chose & he contributes his success to living each day as if he hasn’t accomplished anything yet. No matter how many races he wins, books he sells or records he sets, he refuses to get comfortable or think he’s “made it.” Goggins is the dogged outlaw.
What kind of outlaw are you?