Never Finished

About the book

Book author: David Goggins

This is Goggins second book. It is a follow up from Can’t Hurt Me. In it, we follow David and his life for the last couple of years. We learn his most recent achievements, what he has done and what he has discovered in his “mental lab” while grinding through life and the most extreme endurance races the world has to offer with a broken body.

It’s just a really good book. A man who came from nothing, had all odds stacked against him, and became the most savage man on the planet.

Confession: I listened to this as an audio book, because after each chapter there is a mini podcast starring David and the narrator and they talk about the content.

Reflection and takeaways

There are books, and then there are the kind of books that get me to go for a run after a mere 10 minutes of listening to the introduction. I have only ever gone running while reading Born to Run and Goggin’s other book Can’t Hurt Me, so I know this is special. This book is not for everybody, and that’s fine. His message is raw and there is a lot of cussing, and it might make some people uncomfortable because you will be attacked. I loved every second of it, but that’s because I love grinding too. I’m not nearly at Goggins level but I train every day. I believe him when he says that people are putting limits on themselves.

For my first reflection, I have been thinking a lot about my limits. Not only exercise-wise, but with working and everythign else in life. While I am much more disciplined now than before, I know I can do much better. Show up and stop when it’s done, not when it’s hard.

My second reflection from this book is that I am becoming interested in ultra-running again. It just seems that if you complete a 100-miler, no matter what you do you can just think “well, it doesn’t suck as much as running in the dark after being at it for 18 hours”.

My third reflection is that Goggins have some really good mindset tricks. I really enjoy the idea of a “what if?” to a crazy idea. You shouldn’t strive to be mediocre. And that you shouldn’t make excuses – you can always find them. I also like the power of the “one second decision” to just get out on a run.

He really proves that greatness is within everyone, you just have to be willing to suffer.

“Every minute you spend feeling sorry for yourself is another minute not getting better, another morning you miss at the gym, another evening wasted without studying. Another day burned when you didn’t make any progress toward your dreams, ambitions, and deepest desires. The ones you’ve had in your head and heart your entire life.”

“When a half-assed job doesn’t bother you, it speaks volumes about the kind of person you are. And until you start feeling a sense of pride and self-respect in the work you do, no matter how small or overlooked those jobs might be, you will continue to half-ass your life.”

Why did I pick it

Loved his last book and had a free Audible credit, so I spent it on this immediately.

Verdict

4.⁷⁄₅. I loved the book, I love his achievements, I love his mindset. Unfortunately, some parts of his childhood were a little too long, but I get that they had to be to convey how much it sucked. I think that might have been audio-book-only.