MBA2365 Must Read: You Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

0:09Heyo! Welcome to the$100 MBA show, the place to be to build a business you want. With our practical business lessons, I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zinhome. I'm also the co-founder of Webinar Ninja, an independent software company I started back in 2014. And today's episode is a must-read episode. On our must-read episodes, I share with you a book that has influenced me as an entrepreneur. I share with you its takeaways, its insights, and why you should read it too. Today's must-read is You Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins. This is a book that I've resisted reading for some time because David Goggins is a very intense guy.

0:44If you've ever seen him on social media, seen his videos, he's very much in your face, and it's almost like too much. I'm like, I'm not sure if this guy's my cup of tea. But this book is incredible. You Can't Hear Me is his memoir, and it's very inspiring. It chronicles the extraordinary life that he's had overcoming adversity after adversity, and how he was able to build relentless self-discipline, mental resilience, and an unstoppable spirit to conquer anything that comes his way. So I wonder, over 5 million copies have been sold. That's nuts. And in today's must read, I'm going to break down why.

1:20Why is this book so popular, so successful? What are the lessons we can extract from them and apply to our life and business? And why? You might want to jump in and read this book too. Let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Today's Must Read UK Hermes is all about David Goggins' journey through struggle. Struggling through obesity, abuse, a lack of self-esteem, and just frankly, looking at the mirror and not liking what he sees. He shares his transformative journey of becoming a Navy SEAL, an Army Ranger, and an ultra-marathon runner. And he does this through the process of cultivating an unbreakable mindset, an unwavering work ethic, and a determination that will confront pain and adversity head on.

2:03Now, if you think this sounds intense, well, it is. He went through some intense stuff in his life, and he really illustrates how life will get the best of you. You will be depressed. You will feel sad. You'll be unsuccessful. You won't be happy with your business. You won't be happy with your life if you just give in. if you don't become resilient. That's why he starts in the book with the idea of embracing suffering. I know this sounds strange or sounds maybe even morbid, but Goggins teaches that true growth and transformation only occurs when you embrace suffering and then push beyond your comfort zone.

2:39You gotta be okay with feeling bad, with feeling upset, with feeling like this is hard, like this is tough. Hey, if you're a business owner, you know exactly how this feels. You've got to relish almost in this suffering and say, yes, this is what all the great people that have come before me have gone through. And now I'm on the path. Just embrace it. Accept the fact this is going to suck, right? This is going to be really hard. And I've been through this with my business so many times where things are not working out, where things are not going according to plan. And it really feels like you're suffering.

3:13And you basically have two choices. You can either just quit or push beyond that point. And his advice is don't quit. Hang in there. Embrace the suffering and figure it out. This leads into another takeaway from the book, which is all about mental toughness. He says the only way to really cultivate an incredible mental toughness is to develop a mental resilience through self-discipline. You've got to really be your own master. You've got to almost talk to yourself. He calls it self-talk. And he says, don't underestimate visualization techniques. Here is a very clear example of this in action. Let's say you're a busy entrepreneur, but you know you have to exercise and you haven't fit in exercise in your routine, in your day.

3:59One of the ways you can fit it in is to get up a little bit earlier and hit that gym. He encourages you to tell yourself, to actually talk to yourself and say, hey, Omar, you're going to get up early and you're going to get up out of the bed and you're going to hit the gym. You're going to work out and you're going to feel great. It's going to make you feel amazing for the rest of the day. And you're going to have the sense of accomplishment. I want you to visualize. You're actually going to picture in your mind going to the gym, getting out of the bed, putting your feet on the floor, washing your face, getting your gym bag ready, walking out the door, walking to the gym, all that.

4:29And he says, by doing this, by being your own coach and own motivator, you will have the advantage that others don't to push through and have that mental toughness. He also says to set ambitious goals. You need to establish specific goals that will fuel your motivation and drive your actions. This is so applicable in business. If you have a goal to make a million dollars a year in your business, and you're almost kind of embarrassed to tell other people, that's good. That means it's an audacious goal. But it's not just enough to have the goal. Talk about what this goal means to you, what it's going to get you.

5:01Is it going to help you and your family in some way? Are you going to be able to go on these trips that you've been always wanting to? This is why vision boards are so powerful. Really see what you're going to get when you accomplish this goal. What is this going to unlock for you in terms of your business? Maybe you're going to be able to have investors come flocking to you. Maybe you're going to have partners that want to be able to partner with you. Use this as motivation to go and get that goal. In the book, he also dives into the idea of having an unwavering work ethic. I'm a big believer in working smarter, but working harder has its merits too.

5:34He says, commit to hard work and persistence, regardless of the challenges you face. Listen, it's easy to do things when it's easy, right? It's easy when you're motivated, when you feel like it, right? It's easy to do that webinar when you're feeling like a million bucks. It's easy for you to write that blog post when you're feeling fresh. It's easy for you to create that product that you've been wanting when you're feeling it and you're inspired. It's not easy to do it when you're not feeling inspired, when you're feeling tired, when you're feeling lethargic, when you have other things on your plate.

6:06The point he's making is that the people that make it are the ones that do the work regardless of how they feel. How you feel is irrelevant to your work ethic. You've got to keep on going. Throughout this book, David Goggins is giving you all this tough love. He's basically telling you what you need to hear, and he's very unapologetic about it. And this leads me to his chapter on no excuses. He says, eliminate excuses from your life and take full responsibility of your actions and your decisions, right? Everything that has led you to this point as an adult has been based on some decisions you've made.

6:43Just take ownership. Hey, I made those decisions. I own them. But that also means the next decisions you're going to make are going to result in certain results. So that empowers you. Hey, I can make some great decisions. I can make decisions that can take me to the place I want to be, be the person I want to be, have the things I want to have. Just take responsibility. It's freeing to take responsibility. I always say in business, it's always your responsibility. Fault and responsibility is not the same thing. Something can go wrong in business. A customer can get upset at customer service or a member of your team because they didn't handle something right or somebody didn't do their job.

7:20At the end of the day, you are responsible as the business owner. You're responsible for fixing it, making it sure that it's right, getting it done. It doesn't mean it's your fault. It can be somebody else's fault, but you're still responsible. So take ownership. That's why you became an entrepreneur in the first place. One of my favorite chapters in this book is all about resilience. How to bounce back from setbacks. How to bounce back from failures. And how to come back with even greater determination. This really resonates with me. And one of my favorite movies is Rocky. Because Rocky's all about that.

7:50The guy gets knocked down. He comes back up. He's even stronger and more willing to go another round. One of my favorite ideas about business is the whole idea of business, the whole goal of business is not so that you can be number one or have the most money. It's for you to continue to be able to play the game, to be in the game, to be in the arena, to keep on going, to be resilient. As long as you're breathing, as long as you're sustaining your business, as long as you're making an impact, you're in the game. You have a chance to make something happen. So keep that resilience alive. And there's so much more in this book.

8:27I'm going to let you explore it when you read it, whether it's a chapter on overcoming fear or constant improvement or how to tap into your own internal inspiration so that you never give up. You Can't Hear Me is not just a memoir. It's a testament to the power of the human spirit and a guide for you and me who are seeking to really conquer our own limitations, our own limiting beliefs and thoughts. and it's a great guide to cultivating mental toughness. I highly recommend you pick up You Can't Hear Me by David Goggins. It's a book I'm glad that I went and checked out. Took me some time, but I'm glad that sometimes you just gotta look beyond the interface and what you see on social media.

9:12Thank you so much for listening to The$100 MBA Show. If you love what you hear, leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We'd love to hear from you. It's a great way to support the show. Thank you so much in advance for doing that. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. I mentioned that, hey, I was kind of skeptical about David Goggins. I almost felt like this guy was a caricature, right? Like almost like this hyped up caricature that's all about go, go, go and be tough. And that's what I saw on social media. And I just kind of passed judgment. And I was really a bad move on my side.

9:41You know, you can't really judge people based on a couple of videos or a couple of posts. People are successful for a reason. And I'm glad that I basically looked beyond that and said, hey, wait a minute. This guy probably can teach me a thing or two. He's been through a lot and he's learned a lot. So whenever you find yourself judging somebody or passing judgment on an idea or a person or a book or a course or whatever it might be, see that as a signal to stop and give it a chance. Stop and maybe not be so judgmental and say, hey, I'm not perfect either. I'm sure this person can teach me something.

10:14Thanks so much for listening, and I'll check you in Wednesday's episode, Q &A Wednesday. I'll see you then. Take care.