Bookish Weapon Number Seventy-One

David Goggin’s new book Never Finished is a real bookish weapon! His mindset is outstanding and his ability to withstand pain is unmatched. If you read his first book, “Can’t Hurt Me,” you will have a good sense of what this new book is about, but it surprised me a bit.

Goggins tells how he took endurance and the never give up mindset to a new level. I can’t imagine anyone who would not be inspired by this man’s ability to keep going.

Your Past

Goggins had a horrible childhood, but he eventually overcame that to become a Navy SEAL and then later an endurance athlete. He asks others with difficult pasts to step up, He asks, “How long will you allow your past to hold you back before you finally take control of your future?”

Many of us have faced difficult times. Goggins says, “It is so easy to get lost in the fog of life. Tragedy hunts us all, and any event that causes suffering will linger longer than it should if you let it. Because our sad stories enable us to grade ourselves on a forgiving curve. They give us latitude and justification to stay lazy, weak-minded m******s, and the longer it takes for us to process thsa pan, the harder it is to reclaim our lives.” Now that’s a wake up cal some of us need!

Step Up – The Clock is Ticking

We only have so much time. As Goggin’s says, “…there is a drop-dead time on everything we do in life. All our dreams and visions come with expiration dates etched in invisible ink.”

Some of us are reminded of our death all the time after we get to a certain age. It is popular these days to tell young people to remind themselves to create urgency. Older people are reminded wether they want to be or not. Goggins has been reminded a lot. Once he had to have his heart shocked back to working order. There is a picture of him lying in a hospital bed waiting for the paddles.

Journaling

In my book “Attacking Adversity,” journaling is one of the key strategies I recommend. It helped get me through a very tough time. Goggins says there is another level to journaling. He recommends you make audio recordings and then listen back. He says they have a “more profound effect on the mind.” It is something I may try.

He is not saying to just record your daily thoughts, but rather your deepest trauma. Canyou imagine that? Goggins claims thst, “With each subsequent listen, you will claim more sindmoer power and gain enough transformational energy to change your life.”

Our Mental Lab

Goggins says we all have a Mental Lab where we can recreate ourselves. He says, “If you don’t feel like you are good enough, if your life lacks meaning and time feels like it’s slipping through your fingers, there is only one option. Recreate yourself in your own Mental Lab. Somewhere you can be alone with your thoughts and wrestle with the substance of what and who you wasn’t to be in your one short life earth.” David crested “Goggins.”

He describes a race called the Moab 240. Yes that is a 240 mile race. Then he also discusses the Leadville Trail 100 which has an elevation gain of 15,000 feet or more. That caught my attention since typically I hike 6-10K and it wipes me out.

Get the Book

There is so much on mindset in this book I could never do it justice here, but get it and read the whole thing. You will be glad you did.

You will also read about all the injuries David suffered and how he bounced back. Those stories by themselves are worth the read.