David Goggins is an American author, endurance athlete and retired Navy SEAL, and the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Army Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. His memoir Can’t Hurt Me became a New York Times bestseller, and his ideas on mental toughness, from the 40% Rule to the cookie jar, have inspired people all over the world to push past their limits, according to Wikipedia.
Who is David Goggins?
David Goggins was born on 17 February 1975 in Buffalo, New York. He has written openly about a hard childhood, including a stutter and a learning disability, and about the long road he took to overcome them, according to Wikipedia. He has also described himself as a lazy kid who started to change by making small, uncomfortable choices: making his bed, cleaning his room and mowing the lawn before anyone asked, according to Big Think.
He served in the US Air Force from 1994 to 1999 as part of a Tactical Air Control Party. Later, weighing close to 300 pounds, he set his sights on becoming a Navy SEAL, lost the weight and joined the Navy, serving as a SEAL from 2001 to 2015, according to Wikipedia and Big Think. Along the way he went through Hell Week three times and graduated from Army Ranger School.
After friends were killed in Afghanistan in 2005, he began running ultramarathons to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which supports the children of fallen special operators, and raised more than $2 million, according to Wikipedia. With almost no running experience he ran 100 miles in under 19 hours in his first race, then took fifth place at the Badwater 135 in 2006 and third in 2007, according to Runner’s World. Runner’s World named him a Hero of Running in 2008, and in 2013 he set the Guinness World Record for pull-ups, with 4,030 in 17 hours, according to David Goggins.
His memoir Can’t Hurt Me came out in December 2018, followed by Never Finished in December 2022, according to Wikipedia. He was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, has completed more than 70 ultra-distance races, and in 2026 he re-enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 51, according to David Goggins. His books and talks are read and watched by millions, from the US and Canada to the UK, Europe, Australia and India.
His approach in brief
- Own your shortcomings. Growth starts with an honest look at where you fall short.
- Do the hard thing first. Small, uncomfortable acts each morning build a stronger mind.
- Remember what you’ve overcome. Reach into your cookie jar when things get hard.
- Go past 40%. When your mind says you’re done, you have far more left.
At a glance
Work: author, endurance athlete, retired Navy SEAL
Born: 17 February 1975, Buffalo, New York
Service: US Air Force 1994 to 1999 and from 2026; Navy SEAL 2001 to 2015
Books: Can’t Hurt Me (2018), Never Finished (2022)
Charity: more than $2 million raised for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation
Good fit if
You respond to straight talk and personal challenge, and you want a practical way to build discipline, push through discomfort and stop settling for less than you know you can do.Our take
Start each day with one thing you don’t want to do, and write a list of hard things you have already overcome. Those two habits, discomfort and your cookie jar, are the heart of his message.The tools of David Goggins
David’s message is simple and demanding: the mind gives up long before the body has to. These are the tools he returns to most often. Tap a card to read more.
The 40% Rule
The idea David is best known for is the 40% Rule: when your brain tells you that you’re done, you’re only about 40% done, according to David Goggins. In Can’t Hurt Me he describes it as his belief that most people, even when they work hard, tap into only about 40% of what they are capable of, according to Wikipedia.
He explains it with the image of a car’s governor. A car might be able to reach 130 miles an hour, but a governor stops it at a much lower speed. Our minds do the same thing: when we feel pain, discomfort or insecurity, we stop and tell ourselves we gave 100%, when in truth the governor kicked in long before our real limit, according to Big Think.
He adds that everyone has a wall in their mind, but most walls have a door or a window. It takes courage to find it, and once you go through, you see how much further you can go, according to Big Think. To try it, next time you want to stop a workout, a study session or a hard task, do a little more than you planned, and notice that you were able to.
The cookie jar
The cookie jar is David’s tool for hard moments. He explains that we have all overcome many things in our lives, but we forget them, and when a new challenge hits we panic and forget who we are, according to Big Think.
The cookie jar is a mental store of those past victories. When you feel like quitting, you take one second to reach in and pull one out: a time you got through something hard. For him, one cookie is remembering that he went through three Hell Weeks. It reminds you how strong you really are and puts you back in the right frame of mind, and it shows that most problems are not as big as they first seem, according to Big Think.
How to try it: write down ten things you have overcome, from exams and job losses to injuries or tough seasons in life. Keep the list where you can see it, and read one item next time you want to give up. Our self-esteem guide has more ways to recognise your own strengths.
Self-talk
David has said that self-talk has been the biggest thing in his life. He believes much of our inner dialogue is shaped by what we see on TV and social media, so the first step is to quiet the noise and get the static out before you can have a real conversation with yourself, according to Big Think.
Then you create a positive dialogue and back it up with action. He teaches that positive self-talk only works if you believe it, and you believe it when you put in the work behind it. Doing something hard every morning, before you look at your phone, is part of how he says you “win the war in the morning”, according to Big Think.
To try it, spend five quiet minutes each morning before checking your phone, and write one honest sentence about what you will do today and why it matters. Our overthinking guide offers more ways to quiet a busy mind.
Living uncomfortably
“Mental toughness is a lifestyle,” David says. It is not a class or a technique but something you live every day, according to Big Think.
He began by acknowledging his shortcomings rather than only building on his strengths, because he believes you are either getting better or getting worse. From there he took small steps out of his comfort zone. At first the brain resists, but it slowly learns a new way of thinking, according to Big Think. In his words, you have to have friction in your life to gain growth, and the way to get it is to make yourself uncomfortable and face the things you would rather run from.
How to try it: choose one small thing you have been avoiding, such as an early run, a hard conversation or a cold shower, and do it every day for a week. Our procrastination guide has more ideas for getting started.
Day one, week one
David credits much of his success to what he calls the “day one, week one” mentality: living each day as if it were the first day of the first week of a new job, according to CNBC Make It.
He points out that before a job interview, people lay out their clothes and prepare everything the night before. That energy may last a month or two, but once they feel they have made it, they settle in and the drive fades. He calls this the “I arrived” mindset, where reaching a target turns into a finish line, according to CNBC Make It.
His answer is to keep raising the bar and to treat every day as a fresh start. To try it, prepare tonight for tomorrow as if it were your first day somewhere new: lay out what you need, set one clear target and show up early.
Videos with David Goggins
Hand-picked and checked one by one, from Big Think, the Joe Rogan Experience and the Huberman Lab.
Start here
His story
Go deeper
Articles about David Goggins
David Goggins’s books
David has written two books, both drawing on his own life to show readers how to master their minds, according to Wikipedia.
Buy Can’t Hurt Me in your country: US · UK · Canada · Australia · India. David also offers a free copy of the introduction to Can’t Hurt Me on his website, according to David Goggins.
Free resources and ways to follow him
David does not sell courses; his books, free introduction and interviews are the main ways to learn from him. The books are available worldwide in print, e-book and audio, so they suit readers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and India alike.
What the Research Shows
David’s ideas come from military training and endurance sport rather than the lab, but research supports several of the habits he teaches.
- Hard goals. Decades of goal-setting research found that specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than easy or vague ones, according to Locke and Latham. This fits his message about raising the bar.
- Tracking progress. A large review found that monitoring progress toward a goal, especially in writing, makes reaching it more likely, according to Harkin and colleagues. Writing your own cookie jar list is a simple way to keep score of your progress.
See: David Goggins on Instagram
Here is a post from David Goggins’ official Instagram account.
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Frequently asked questions
Who is David Goggins?
David Goggins is an American author, endurance athlete and retired Navy SEAL, known for his memoir Can’t Hurt Me and his teaching on mental toughness.
What is David Goggins’ 40% Rule?
The idea that when your mind says you are done, you are only about 40% done. He teaches that the mind stops us long before we reach our real limits.
What is the cookie jar method?
A mental store of past challenges you have overcome. When you feel like quitting, you recall one of them to remind yourself how strong you are.
What books has David Goggins written?
Can’t Hurt Me (2018) and its follow-up, Never Finished (2022).
What is David Goggins known for in sport?
He has completed more than 70 ultra-distance races, placed third at the Badwater 135 in 2007, and once held the Guinness World Record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours.
What does “day one, week one” mean?
His mindset of living each day like the first day of a new job, so you never slip into feeling you have arrived.
How can I start applying his ideas?
Do one uncomfortable thing each morning, write a list of hard things you have overcome, and push a little past the point where you want to stop.
Books and sources
- David Goggins: About
- Wikipedia: David Goggins
- Big Think: David Goggins, From 300lbs to a Navy SEAL, how to gain control of your mind and life
- Runner's World: The Warrior, David Goggins (2008)
- David Goggins: Athletic achievements
- David Goggins: In the media
- CNBC Make It: Retired Navy SEAL David Goggins, this mentality led to my success
- Locke and Latham, Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation, American Psychologist 2002
- Harkin et al., Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? Psychological Bulletin 2016
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