DAVID GOGGINS: HOW TO BECOME THE TOUGHEST MAN ALIVE.

David Goggins is the toughest man alive.

There’s no doubt about it. Goggins is the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, US Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training.

How does someone consistently push himself to his physical and mental limits? Let’s find out.

Lesson 1: Purpose Trumps Motivation

David Goggins doesn’t believe in motivation.

One of the first things he tells us in his aptly named autobiography, Can’t Hurt Me, is that “motivation is crap.”

Purpose, on the other hand, is something that Goggins can get behind.

After some of his fellow SEALs were killed in a military operation, Goggins signed up for the San Diego One Day, which was a 24-hour race where competitors would run as many miles as they could.

Even after finishing Navy SEAL and Ranger school training, the 100-mile race was the toughest challenge Goggins had faced yet.

Pain obliterates our ability to think and function. But David Goggins was fuelled by a purpose greater than himself, something more compelling than that pain.

It turns out that you can still keep going if you have such a purpose.

Lesson 2: Deconstruct Things

The idea is to drain the trainees physically and mentally, and then see what sort of decisions they make. Instructors do their best to make trainees ring the bell, which is used to announce that they’re quitting. Nobody holds back here.

David Goggins went through 3 hell weeks — all in a span of a year.

Rolled over from his previous two classes first due to illness and then to injury, he was given one last chance to complete SEAL training. Goggins did just that, focusing on one challenge at a time. He would eventually graduate in this final attempt.

Broken down into small pieces, there’s no obstacle that is insurmountable. We find that there’s always a step that’s actionable. Add up the small bits, and we would’ve accomplished something we never thought possible.

Lesson 3: Remember The 40% Rule

Research suggests that statement – the 40% rule – has some truth. We are often physically more capable than we perceive ourselves to be. For instance, researchers found that subjects who were given a placebo but told it was caffeine were able to lift significantly more weight than those who were really given caffeine.

There’s a reserve tank within us that we never really tap on. Only by pushing ourselves to our limits — and then breaking them — can we reach our full potential.

Lesson 4: Mental Visualisation

David Goggins believes that he’s the toughest man on the planet. He thinks that he can complete virtually any task set before him.

He probably can. But the point is that you have to see yourself accomplishing something before it really happens. The mind has to conceive it before the body can achieve it.

These days, he asks himself the same question whenever he’s struggling through a run. It’s this question that helps him get through when his body and mind are broken and begging for him to stop.

Seeing himself succeed and do the impossible gives him the shivers. That drives him to attack every day and challenge with a vengeance.

Lesson 5: Use Your Cookie Jar

Goggins has a secret weapon that he calls upon when he’s about to break.

Like many others, he has a cookie jar that he reaches into for the occasional treat. But this jar doesn’t contain any of the things you might typically find; there are no Oreos or Chips Ahoy cookies in there.

Instead, it contains every setback he has overcome. He’ll remember that he’s a Navy SEAL, who’s completed hell week three times. He’ll remind himself that he’s been through this pain before – and survived. The obstacle in front of him is nothing compared to what he has faced.

Lesson 6: Be Willing To Suffer

In other words, David Goggins is the modern-day stoic. But unlike the ancient philosophers who advised that we should periodically embrace suffering, Goggins has actually made suffering a habit.

Strengthen your mind and your resolve by voluntarily putting yourself through situations in which you struggle. Callus your mind the same way you do your hands. Take the path of most resistance every day of your life.

That’s how David Goggins has become the toughest man alive. And according to him, the happiest as well:

“Having lived the life I’ve lived, and having seen the other side, not being afraid to attack what was in front of me, has made me happy.”

Physical Limitations

Here comes the kicker.

Up until 2010, David Goggins had been living with an undetected congenital heart defect, which essentially left him with a hole in his heart.

The condition leaves his heart functioning only at 75 percent capacity and typically prevents people from engaging in activities such as scuba diving or anything at high altitude. And yet, David Goggins has led an exemplary military career, with multiple athletic achievements in his name. He tells us that the world can’t hurt him, but really, he’s chosen not to let it.

It’s absurd what he’s been able to do despite the numerous disadvantages he was saddled with. Perhaps some of us are wired differently. Maybe he isn’t human at all.

Or maybe, we just need to leave our excuses at the door.

miles as they could.