Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within

by David Goggins

Then there’s the belief born in resilience. It comes from working your way through layers of pain, fatigue, and reason, and ignoring the ever-present temptation to quit until you strike a source of fuel you didn’t even know existed.

A lot of folks feel like they are missing something in their lives—something money can’t buy—and that makes them miserable.

I’m haunted by my future goals, not my past failures. I’m haunted by what I may still become. I’m haunted by my own continued thirst for evolution.

if I wanted to be better, I had to start living every day with a sense of urgency. Because that is the only way to turn the odds in your favor.

We cannot afford to remain afraid of cutting away dead weight to save ourselves.

You cannot be afraid to disappoint people. You have to live the life you want to live. Sometimes, that means being the motherfucker who can put a middle finger up to everyone in the room and be totally comfortable with that.

The way we speak to ourselves in moments of doubt is crucial, whether or not the stakes are high. Because our words become actions, and our actions build habits that can coat our minds and bodies with the plaque of ambivalence, hesitancy, and passivity and separate us from our own lives. If any of this sounds familiar, grab your phone and record your inner dialogue as soon as you wake up.

you are either getting better, or you’re getting worse. You’re not staying the same.

But praise—whether it comes from your supervisors, your family, or anyone else—has a downside. It can soothe the inner savage and keep you from feeling the need to grind.

When you are in the grip of life and in danger of losing your shit, just think, It’s time to take a knee. Get a couple of breaths and flash to your future. If you fold, what will happen next? What’s your plan B? This is not some deep contemplation.

Never quit when your pain and insecurity are at their peak. If you must retreat, quit when it’s easy, not when it’s hard.

Respect is earned every day by waking up early, challenging yourself with new dreams or digging up old nightmares, and embracing the suck like you have nothing and have never done a damn thing in your life.

A prepared mind craves the worst conditions because it knows that pressure brings out its best and exposes almost everyone else.

no matter what type of event or challenge I engage in, the only competition that ever matters is me against me.

Remember, the struggle is the whole journey. That’s why you’re out there. It’s why you signed up for this race, or that class, or took the damn job. There is great beauty when you are involved in something that is so hard most people want it to end.

Your strongest moments will often make you think of your weakest.

when you are humble enough to remember that you’ll never know it all, each lesson you learn only makes you hungrier to learn more, and that will put you on a path that guarantees you will grow all the way to the grave.

ROGER with a bit more intention and define it as, “Received, order given, expect results.” When used that way, it is so much more than an acknowledgment. It’s an accelerant. It bypasses the over-analytical brain and stimulates action because, in some situations, thinking is the enemy.

When your entire day is fucked up, make sure that you achieve something positive before lights out.

I live with a Day One, Week One mentality. This mentality is rooted in self-discipline, personal accountability, and humility. While most people stop when they’re tired, I stop when I am done. In a world where mediocrity is often the standard, my life’s mission is to become uncommon amongst the uncommon.