Current list of books read in chronological order.
Can’t Hurt Me
by David Goggins
Pages: 356
My Rating: 3 / 5
I am torn between two camps for David Goggin’s Can’t Hurt Me.
On the one hand, it is a story of resilience and mental fortitude that has carried this man from an absolutely nightmarish childhood existence to achieving seemingly insurmountable feats; he spent a hugely successful military career as a US Navy Seal who also completed Army Ranger School, has completed numerous grueling ultramarathon races including the infamous Badwater 135, Kona Ultraman, and Race Across America (cycling) among others, and broke the Guiness World Record for most pull-ups within a 24 hour window in 2013 (4030). He epitomizes mind over matter and is the quintessential embodiment of hard work and consistency. His humility and ability to acknowledge his faults and failures has allowed him to improve in all facets of his life, and be able to overcome some of the most difficult adversity imaginable.
As someone who has ridden their bicycle nearly 6,000 miles across North America, much of what Goggins tries to convey resonates particularly well with me. We really can push ourselves much farther than we think we can, and most of the challenges we face are mental in nature. I personally have experienced much of the same mental hurdles that he has faced with ultra-endurance racing events during my trip; the fortitude to keep pushing when you don’t think you have any gas left in the tank, or making sure to review your failures in great detail empirically without giving in to emotion. I do believe there is validity to his 40% rule (although I have no idea how he came to that number specifically). When he was in excruciating pain after running 101 miles for the first time, his wife wanted to take him to the emergency room for fear of kidney failure; however, he wanted to be left alone to relish in the pain and suffering that went into accomplishing something seemingly insurmountable. This is arguably one of my favorite parts of the book because most people will probably think of his stubbornness as stupidity given his condition (which a valid argument can be made), however, only those who have truly expended all of their energy chasing as close to 100% effort as possible towards a major accomplishment like that will ever understand this feeling. Too many people in this world are complacent and comfortable and never take that leap into the unknown; self-imposed hardship and mental fortitude are truly what separates the strong from the weak. For these takeaways, Goggins hit the nail on the head.
On the other hand, however, there are many head-scratching moments where his stories and actions seem to contradict the lessons he tries to instill in the reader. One such example being when he speaks of how important it is to rest and recover, but then example after example he goes on to face challenges without any semblance of preparation yet prides himself on never taking adequate recovery. There also does not seem to be much forethought to the long-term vision of what to he wants to become; given his physical stature he is able to push himself to complete whatever challenge he is presented with, but the chronology of doing so seems reactionary in nature based on whatever happens to fall into his lap at the time. There are also momentous gaps in the storyline. The strangest of all being his fatherhood (or lack thereof); he apparently has conceived children with both his first and second wives yet only leaves one negatively connoted sentence about it in all 356 pages. I completely understand wanting to keep your family and personal matters private, but for someone writing a book about perpetual improvement and mastering one’s mind and time management in order to “prepare for life”, this is a massive lapse in ethos.
Lastly, I am also a statistician by training and work in an intellectually-oriented white-collar job. His brute-force mentality simply does not apply to the work I do, in and of itself (in fact it will probably get you fired). When it comes to managing one’s time to fill every void in a given 24 hour day outside of working hours, his mentality absolutely holds; “conquer the morning”, keep consistency with workouts, remove wasted time on social media, etc. When it comes to career success through intellectual endeavors and solving complex problems, his headstrong mentality of jumping right into a situation wholly unprepared will put you on the fast track to a severance package. There are much smarter ways to prepare and train to conquer the same feats. There are a few lines sprinkled in where he tries to address these contradictory situations, yet it feels disingenuous as if he threw a sentence or two in there to cover all his bases. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that by nature of his career being almost entirely physically-oriented, it is difficult to tailor a story like his to every walk of life. I was much more enthralled with his background and the autobiographical nature of the book rather than his lessons to the reader.
Overall, I think there is a lot to be gleaned from this book if you take it at a high level. The book is distinctively different from the traditional “self-help” books; Can’t Hurt Me leads by example and is more autobiography than it is personal growth. To accomplish what he has cannot be done overnight as he very eloquently describes, but rather through repetition and a determined mindset to push yourself beyond your conceivable limits. However, I can’t quite bring myself past the contradictions and major storyline gaps to put this book in the 4 or 5 star rating.
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
by Matthew Walker
Pages: 340
My Rating: 5 / 5
Fascinating account that will scare the shit out of you for not getting enough sleep.
Total pages read for 2023:
696
Currently Reading:
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
2023 Reading List:
Adventure Psychology: Going Knowingly into the Unknown by Paula Reid & Eric Brymer
The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future by Richard B. Alley
John Adams by David McCullough
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
John Marshall: Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward-Smith
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Endurance by Alfred Lansing
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Fortune’s Formula by William Poundstone