Geeta,

I think David Goggins writes for those people that have lost hope. And also identifies as a person that had no hope.

As a former pro athlete, his topic of suffering is part toxic masculinity / part hilarious to me -- pushing yourself to break and pee blood and treat yourself like dog shit-- is silly.

It's part of the culture of our patriarchy which is what he came from-- a system of military power passed down and down and down. The hierarchy is made to make the person below them feel smaller than the person above them.

This is David to a T.

He grew up in this. He dreamt about this. He made it through this. It's hard and he did it.

kudos to him.

But a lot of people don't need to push harder--they need to slow down. They need to take action with intention. They need to breathe and connect and build a life that suits their tempo, lifestyle, and helps them live a fulfilling life, not a military one.

Getting through suffering has been part of sport and it does help raise the bar (if you have no other culture in place) in terms of mental toughness and gritting hard challenges out if everyone acts tough.

I mean, lots of life is hard and just like David, he's a byproduct of a hard life. The question is, does staying "hard" and pushing through the pain to the ultimate level always work to create a happier, healthier you?

No. I don't think so. I could be wrong, but I get the sense that David loves the identity of "being hard" instead of being happy. But I don't know him and it seems like his motivation is to try motivate others to pee blood and break bones.

But there are forms of inspiration. There are other ways to coach. There are other ways to love. Even if he never felt them in his life.

Eventually your body breaks down. Your mind can't handle being in Navy Seal training every day of your life just as I couldn't handle being a freshman on a d1 basketball scholarship every day of my life (without much physical deterioration and health). For people that have a hard time pushing themselves to stick with fitness or goals or anytign in life, i think David is talking to them. Get your lazy butt moving. It doesn't have to be extreme like him, but just a 1% of what he does would get