Review: “Can’t Hurt Me” By: David Goggins

Why Choose This Book

Can’t hurt me first came to my attention when a friend of mine, a runner, posted online that he was reading it for the 3rd time. He let me borrow it and I was so impressed that I read it again with my wife.

It is, without a doubt, a great book for anyone looking for inspiration to not give up. To carry on when you think you’ve reached your limits.

Main Takeaways

When you think you’ve reached your limits and your body is telling you its time to quit, you’ve actually only reached around 40% of your maximum.

Our bodies are designed to help us be comfortable. They want us to stay in bed in the mornings, warm under our covers.

They want us to take another bite of a delicious dessert even though we’re very full… you know… just because it tastes so good.

But your body, your flesh, as the scriptures call it, doesn’t always have your best interests in mind. Comfort and joy are great things but they do not always work towards the goals you want to achieve.

“Can’t Hurt Me” is a great book to teach you that you are quite capable of going above and beyond where you THINK your limits are.

How It Applied To Recovery

I know from my own experience that there is no better time to take on the “I can’t” mentality than after a surgery or hospital stay.

Everyone is looking for ways to help you when you get home.

• They bring you tons of food
• They buy your groceries for you
• They’ll cut your grass and do chores so you can rest
• They’ll call regularly to check in
• They’ll offer you rides if you need to go anywhere

And they do all of these things with the best intentions and they’re wonderful for it. But it wasn’t until I started to get up and force myself to do things for myself that I started to see recovery.

My wife and kids would have taken care of me for as long as I needed and my sweet Felicia was amazing, going above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen a wife do for a husband.

But eventually, I had to tell her “enough”. I had to walk. I had to feed and bathe myself. I had to relearn to drive and focus.

David Goggins will absolutely make you feel like a complete wimp with his no nonsense approach. He will shame you for enjoying your weakness and expose you for not giving your all.

And that is something we need a lot more of these days.

Would I Recommend?

8/10 I would. Let me explain.

While the book is great and I will most likely read it again (3rd time), there are some parts that I found concerning. Parts that made me wonder if there was something wrong with Mr. Goggins.

For instance, his refusal to quit is admirable but at one point, during a race that lasted more than 24 hours, he pushed his body so hard that he had bloody diarrhea running down his legs and refused medical attention.

As a nurse and a parent, I find this concerning. I am all for pushing past your boundaries and giving it your all. But bleeding from your rectum is a great sign that you need to stop a moment and get medical attention.

Your life is worth more than finishing any sport or competition.

But other than moments like that and the amount of language used (not my style) I would definitely recommend this to anyone going through difficult situations. And I understand that there is even a “clean version” available now.

Thanks for reading!

You can check out “Can’t Hurt Me” here!

And read my story in its entirety here!