Never Finished by David Goggins
“The real work is unseen. Your performance matters most when nobody is watching.”
Strip away all excuses and look at exactly who and what you have become. Is that person in the mirror worth being?
In his sequel, David Goggins gives us a deeper understanding of his philosophy of life. He explains in great detail the mechanisms and strategies that helped him push through many obstacles he faced both in his personal life as an ultra-athlete, and professional life as a Navy Seal. It is a great continuation to his previous book and if you liked the first book, you are certainly going to enjoy this one as well.
You should by all means read this book for yourself. Below, I have written out my book notes, but I couldn’t cover hundreds of pages in just a couple of bullet points. That is why I highly encourage you to create your notes whilst going through the book, and for the time being use mine as a guide on what this book is about.
For more books check out Best Self-Improvement Books or Best Classic Books, and for a full self-improvement guide, you can also take a look at my Roadmap to Overman.
Book Notes
- The real work is unseen. Your performance matters most when nobody is watching.
- Most people are not desperate enough to fix their shit.
- It ain’t your fault you were dealt a bad hand, but it is your responsibility. So own it.
- To turn the odds in your favor, start living every day with a sense of urgency.
- Strip away all excuses and look at who and what you have become. Is that person in the mirror worth being?
- The clock is always ticking, and at some point, your golden hour will expire unless you take action.
- In your corner, there is no towel. There is only water and cut man, so there is no choice to be made.
- Don’t be afraid of disappointing people. Live the life you want to live.
- You must commit. If you are gonna do anything, do it al the way.
- Recreate yourself in your own Mental lab, even if it means creating an alter ego to access some of that dark matter in your own mind. (Be sure to use your alter ego consciously and wisely)
- One-second decisions. 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 examine the now and the future.
- If you ever decide to quit, make sure it is a conscious decision, not a reaction. If you must, quit when it’s easy, not when it’s hard.
- When the distance is unknown, it is even more critical that you stay locked in so the unknown factor doesn’t steal your focus. The end will come when it comes, and anticipation will only distract you.
- When you complain. you are not bringing your best self to the task, which means you are only prolonging the pain.
- Embrace your savage side and become imbalanced, there are no days off, and there is no downtime when you are obsessed with being great.
- There is no transformation without breakdown, and there is always another evolution, another skin to shed, a better or deeper version of ourselves waiting to be revealed.
- Task isn’t done until you complete it to the best of your ability.
- There are no tricks around fear. The only way to neutralize it is to commit to doing the fucking things that freak your out.
- Once a mistake has been made in the heat of battle, the only thing that matters is dealing with the aftermath with a clear head.
- Cultivating the willingness to succeed despite any and all circumstances is the most important variable of the re-engagement equation.
- There are certain things in life that warrant an “even if I die” mindset.
- Unfortunate situations never last, but a bad attitude always lingers and can turn any setback into a tailspin.
- It’s important that your goal isn’t too readily attainable. Most people rule out the spectacular by default. They put a hard cap on their own performance way before game day.
- Setting an example through action will always be the most potent form of leadership, and it’s available to all of us.
- When fear kicks in, in that moment stop thinking, look fear dead in the eye, and jump anyway.
- When you set an unreasonable goal and fall short, don’t look at it as failure, but simply your first, second or tenth attempt.