The David Goggins Story: How Toxic Gurus Are Becoming Popular

If you know about David Goggins, then there’s a 99% chance that you worship the guy. And honestly, I don’t blame you!

Most of us can’t even think of the amount of pain this guy went through his whole life just to prove a point. He inspires millions of people around the globe to change their lives and take ownership of their problems. However, there are some nasty flaws in the “David Goggins Ideology”, which can literally ruin your life and/or do irreversible damage to your body.

I hope David’s fans read this post thoroughly and understand the points. Let’s get started.

What Makes David Goggins a Toxic Influencer:

I am a huge fan of David, don’t get me wrong. I listened to the audiobook version of Can’t Hurt Me 5 times and read the eBook twice, so please don’t label me as a “p#ssy” or “hater”. After studying Goggins’ work for about a year and trying out all the challenges and joining David’s community, I’ve found out major flaws in the Can’t Hurt Me mindset.

However, most of David’s fans don’t address these issues or ignore them. This results in people getting hospitalized, isolated, and clinically depressed.

In this section, I’ll share my experience with Goggins’ community and the crooked mindset that is often promoted there.

Extreme Misinterpretation Of Can’t Hurt Me & David’s Mindset

The problem starts here.

Readers and followers of David Goggins are not studying the book carefully with their full attention. It is partially *Adam Skolnick’s fault, as the book is more emotionally driven than fact. I think you’ll relate to this part if you’ve read the book at least once:

The book constantly focuses on the emotional trauma and physical abuse around David’s life. However, the author & the ghostwriter miserably fail in conveying the important facts to the listener/reader. I would’ve put all the blame on David’s followers, but after going through the book once more before writing this report, I realized how badly it conveys some crucial points.

This issue is not limited to his book, Goggins takes it to the next level on his Instagram & Twitter. There, he posts short motivational videos which are sure to get you pumped up, but he conveys the messages in an even worse fashion there.

Goggins and Skolnick are not 100% to blame, because we, the fans, don’t help the case as well. Want proof?

Head over to the David Goggins subreddit and scroll for a few seconds. You’ll probably see at least half a dozen posts about people saying they’ll lose 50lbs in 2 months, or quit smoking cold-turkey, or change their whole lifestyle. They start to follow a brand new routine just like Goggins did to lose 100 lbs in 3 months, without realizing some brutal truths about human behavior.

People flock to the Can’t Hurt Me mentality because of one simple reason: They want 1 quick solution to a problem (bad habit), they built over many years.

No one becomes overweight after 1 unhealthy meal, it takes months or sometimes even years of habit formation and coping mechanisms to become a fat person. There can be many reasons why a person overeats, but instead of going to therapy or figuring them out, people want a quick solution. Now, Goggins’ method is akin to the fake fat loss supplements you find everywhere, the main difference is the cost. While a fat loss pill might just cost you $100 and some regret, Goggins’ method can cost you your joints & self-confidence.

Instead of slowly working on building good habits and getting rid of bad ones, people go cold turkey and fail miserably. And the absolutely horrific workouts that Goggins promotes, only make matters worse. As they try to lose inches off their waist in a matter of weeks, they run and swim for miles while hitting the weights, ignoring the advice of actual trainers who have actual qualifications for giving fitness advice.

*Adam Skolnick is the ghostwriter of Can’t Hurt Me. He is also the narrator of the audiobook version of the book

Lawsuits Against David Goggins:

Please put a disclaimer on your website!

I’m pretty sure Goggins is aware of the millions of people who look up to him. And it is only a matter of time before some teenage kid breaks his legs trying to do the most bodyweight squats in 24 hours, and their parents sue David for millions in damages.

There is no disclaimer on Goggins’ website or social media, I checked out everywhere and it’s nowhere to be found. I honestly believe that David’s lawyer is taking advantage of him right now. Because any good lawyer would put a fine text disclaimer on David’s website, considering the nature of David’s advice.

You need a better lawyer Goggins.

As David is not a certified trainer or any kind of health specialist for that matter, he cannot give advice in such matters without adding a disclaimer. I’ve heard there are lawyers and legal teams who specialize in targetting people like David who don’t know much about these legal issues and they sue them.

I don’t know if David will even read this, but if you want the best for the guy, please share this info with him. I might not agree with him 100%, but I’m still a stan.

The last thing anyone wants is Goggins getting sued for being a quack.

Disclaimer: I’m no lawyer, so this is not professional advice. Please consult a professional before further action.

See! It is not that difficult.

David Goggins Book: Can’t Hurt Me Review

Can’t Hurt Me single-handedly changed my life, period. I’ve read it 5 times in total and I’m still planning to read it again. The thing that makes David’s book so much better than other “self-help” books, is the disgustingly raw tone and story.

(Spoiler Alert)

He talks about defecating in his pants, peeing blood, burning his palms for a pull-up record, and literally almost dying. I did not expect this book to have this much of an impact on me as a person. The craziest thing about Can’t Hurt Me is that it is based on the real-life of a person, it isn’t fancy fiction.

(No Spoilers From Here On)

The book gives you a challenge after you finish each chapter (except for the final one). There are a total of 10 challenges in the whole book. Honestly, if you did all the challenges in the book, you will be a more disciplined person than before, that’s guaranteed. The challenges are not difficult if done correctly. They will slowly shift your mindset as you prove to yourself that you could do so many things that you once thought impossible. It is some advanced-level stuff. I didn’t expect David to have such an understanding of human behavior and tendencies.

However this book isn’t perfect.

In the audiobook version, the narrator is a total boot licker and always gives his own thoughts about the story, instead of letting Goggins speak more. And the narrator’s voice is nasally and annoying. This really bothers me because David could’ve easily worked with Shawn Dobbs who has a 100x better voice than the ghostwriter (who voiced the actual audiobook).

This is not the worst thing though.

The second half of Can’t Hurt Me is really boring and repetitive.

After the Hurt 100 chapter, I felt like the rest of the book was very heavily edited and badly put together. There is no flow in-between the later chapters and the ghostwriter has tried to blend in stories together but he clearly lacks the skill to pull it off properly. This section shows that Adam Skolnick might’ve taken advantage of David’s naivety. The accomplishments are obviously great and inspiring, but they are presented in a very poor manner. Adam could’ve definitely done a better job with it.

David himself said on the podcast with Joe Rogan that he has removed hundreds of thousands of words of stories from the book and if you read through the book with focus, you can notice the sheer lack of flow in-between sections and chapters. Adam and David have rushed the second half of the book (apart from the final chapter maybe), and I think this is because halfway through they wanted to remove some stories from the book so that they can save them for a second book (Built Not Born).

Who should read Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins?

Everyone. At least once. You don’t have to be an obese underachiever in life to be entertained or inspired by David’s story. Even if you find the narration corny, you can read it for sheer entertainment. I think everyone can get some piece of knowledge from this book. But if you are an athlete, or if you often do physical exercises, then you should read this book with caution.

David Goggins Net Worth Is Massive

I added this section to lighten the mood a bit.

That’s the estimated David Goggins net worth.

Some of you might think that it is a ton of money, but for a guy with one of the highest-selling books on Amazon, he isn’t that rich. I think it is because that David Goggins deliberately didn’t want to monetize the hell out of his fans. And I have immense respect for him for this.

He does sell apparel now and I strongly suggest that you purchase something from his official store. There are dozens of knockoffs of David’s clothing brand so make sure to double-check the website link before making a purchase.

I have personally not bought his clothing stuff yet, but it is mainly because of the shipping issues in my local area. I do have the water bottle and it has a nice build.

Support the guy if he has helped you.

David Goggins Podcast Appearances

As a big fan of David, I realize how addictive this guy can be. I’ve listened to his podcast with Joe Rogan & Rich Roll more than 6 times by now and it is my go-to media when I’m feeling low.

Here is the list of all the podcast appearances of David Goggins. Feel free to bookmark this, or copy this section into your Evernote, because these are golden:

1. Wrestling 411 Archive
2. Wake Up Minute
3. Finding Mastery
4. The Earl Hall Show
5. The Hey My Man Podcast
6. Alpha Male Buddhist From Brooklyn Podcast
7. Team Never Quit
8. Old: Tall and Taller
9. Tall and Taller
10. The Art of Charm
11. The Mindvalley Podcast with Vishen Lakhiani
12. The Joe Rogan Experience (Must Listen!)
13. Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu
14. Mark Bell’s Power Project (If you haven’t seen Goggins laugh, then skip to the end of this one and you’ll be surprised)
15. SME Podcast
16. The Cardone Zone
17. The Unbeatable Mind Podcast with Mark Divine
18. Project Reclamation Podcast
19. The Michael Caz Podcast
20. Order of Man: Protect I Provide I Preside
21. The Tom Ferrry Podcast Experience
22. Becoming The Lion Podcast
23. On Purpose with Jay Shetty
24. Young Entrepreneur Lifestyle 2.0
25. OBryan with a Why?
26. Laughs Are Up – Official Podcast of the Amish Patel Comedy Corporation
27. The Disruptive Entrepreneur
28. Comp + Coffee
29. One Minute Book Review
30. Babbittville Radio – Babbittville
31. The Jim Rome Podcast
32. Leadership Lounge with Jack Tester
33. Lazy Millennial
34. The James Altucher Show
35. Monday Fun-Day Motivation
36. The Rich Roll Podcast (Must Listen!)
37. The School of Greatness

These are all the podcast appearances I could find. If you have more, definitely add them in the comments.

The David Goggins Quotes You Must Read to Understand His Influence:

I wholeheartedly agree with this one. If you have a healthy value system, you will be the one responsible for choosing where you want to go with your life. And thus the conversations that you will have with yourself are going to be the most important ones.

I hope more people realize this ugly truth of life. No one owes anyone anything, and having unreasonable expectations can destroy your life. Living life is going to be the longest thing you will ever do, so you should make sure that you set your expectations straight. Otherwise, you will start to hate life, which is a horrible mindset that a surprising number of people have.

I wish that I had understood this concept earlier in life. Sometimes working like a mule isn’t enough and life still knocks you out. Luck is a factor and while most of us avoid even considering that there’s no guarantee to success, the truth is bitter. Even though there might not be a guarantee, you can sure as hell increase your chances by “getting after it” (like Jocko Willink says)

No one likes to wake up at 4AM or eat bland foods, but people who suffer that pain, get to enjoy the greater goods of life. Sometimes it is just a matter of pushing through, having one donut will not ruin your diet, but it will sure as heck ruin your dopamine receptors.

I honestly think you cannot stop blaming others without starting a meditation practice. And it is such an important thing to realize that I can guarantee that you won’t reach your full potential until after the day you accept that you are responsible for your life.

David Goggins Diet & Workout (Lost 100lbs in 90 Days!)

“I ate a grilled or sauteed chicken breast and some sauteed vegetables along with a thimble of rice.”

This is what a “real meal” composed of when David Goggins was trying to lose a hundred pounds in 90 days.

Thermodynamically speaking, David Goggins was in a massive calorie deficit during his 90-day cut and that’s how he lost such a large amount of weight in such a short duration.

He was doing hours upon hours of cardio while also hitting the gym and doing weight training.

One thing to note is that David had been seriously going to the gym for a couple of years and had built a solid muscle base as he trained as a powerlifter. So when he decided to start doing tons of cardio daily, his body was quite ready for the beating.

If you have no experience in working out (especially with weighted training), then you shouldn’t start doing hours of cardio all at once. Take this advice seriously, and your joints will thank you in the future.

Can you lose 1/3 of your body weight in 90 days?

Technically yes. Do I recommend such a thing? Definitely not.

Here’s the issue with massive short-term weight loss. You are not actually fixing your eating habits when losing weight with insane amounts of cardio, you are just forcing your body to burn all the calories. A working person simply cannot do 2-4 hours of cardio every day. But when you do such a feat for 60-90 days, you lose a large amount of weight in a very short period of time.

You may be interested in: Tom Bilyeu

But as soon as you go back to living your normal life, your old eating habits start to kick in, as you are not doing as much cardio now and your cravings will be quite intense.

Research shows that 80% of people who lose weight, put it back on in 12 months.

Why?

Because these people are not fixing the issues from the root, they are trying to brute force themselves into something they are not.

David promotes a really unhealthy and unsustainable method of training which is literally guaranteed to leave you with serious injuries. He does add a few disclaimers here and there, but he also is only proud of the moments he pushed his body past its limit. This mindset is really addictive for most people to grab on to because it is extremism. People want a one-click solution and they love to punish themselves. David’s ideology combines these two and creates a poison of self-harm.

I’m not saying that everyone who reads Can’t Hurt Me is going to injure themselves, but a majority of people are going to start “pushing their body past the limit” to “callous their mind” and while doing so, they’ll be doing nothing but abusing their body.

The slow and steady is the way to go. You might want to lose 50lbs in 2 months, but that kind of weight loss is impossible to sustain and is likely to cause a lot of strain on your organs.

I highly suggest hiring an actual personal trainer if you can afford to, or start learning about macros and the science behind nutrition. Losing weight is not as difficult as you think once you understand how it all works.

Here’s a simple way to start your weight loss journey. Just follow these steps:

1. Get a kitchen scale and install MyFitnessPal: From today, start measuring everything you eat, from a teaspoon of olive oil to the bag of chips you plan to eat in the evening. Track it all.
2. Find out your TDEE: This will give you an estimate of how many calories your body burns in a day. I like using this calculator for BMRs. Once you calculate your TDEE, reduce 500 calories from it and this new number is your daily calorie goal now.
3. Eat within the daily calorie goal: That’s it! If you eat in a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

You don’t have to run on the pavement until your legs give out, or cycle until you faint. All you need is consistency.

This method is stupid simple but guesses what, 90% of people reading this will not want to follow this. Why? Because it isn’t fancy and fast. They want to undo their years of binge eating in a couple of weeks and they think that’s a reasonable request.

Please gives this method a try. And give yourself a pat on the back for believing in yourself.

Is David Goggins Vaccinated?

For some reason, plenty of people are interested in finding out whether David is vaccinated or not. According to the Chips N Caviar podcast, he is indeed vaccinated and regrets the decision.

There are Reddit discussions on this matter as well.

David Goggins Need To Be More Careful With His Words

David is one in a million. There are probably only a handful of people who have the mental toughness levels of David Goggins. However, David is not good at giving sound advice and he makes horribly non-sensical statements which can lead to terrible misinterpretations and injuries. David’s ADHD and high levels of stress make it impossible for him to stick to a train of thought and thus, his sentences have no connection with each other. He starts by talking about one topic and finishes with a whole different one.

But these speech patterns shouldn’t discredit the man’s effort to help the world. He has changed more lives than most of these “self-help” gurus like Loral Langemeier can even imagine to. I hope he works on these issues and stays hard.

The David Goggins Story: How Toxic Gurus Are Becoming Popular

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