I took away a few things from this book, the most important being the axiom that "you can do more than you think you can". I first learned this at the police academy (way back when it was difficult and "moderate" stress), I learned if my mind said I was done, I could also go a little further, do a little more, etc. Goggin's uses this lesson during many of his setbacks. While everyone's body will eventually break down and that axiom may no longer apply (I find that the "one more rep or one more mile now equals a day or two of back and hip pain), our newer generation of police officers, the ones who were not exposed to the same stressors and "pain" that we endured either in the academy or in military training, would do well to learn - as it may become the difference between life and death.
In addition, I look forward to his follow-up book on stretching!
Thanks for the input John! Yea I feel the backslide of toughness happening all the time. Some of it has to be the crotchetiness of old age setting in, but there are objective standards which have been lowered. I fear the consequences of compromising our standards just to increase our numbers. I am more of a quality over quantity type of guy, but maybe that’s why I don’t make those decisions. As far as Goggins goes, I like most of the message (mental toughness and stretching alike), I just got turned off by all the whining and victim talk that was sprinkled throughout.
I found it intriguing that throughout the entire book he said callousing your mind is the key to success. Until the very end when he believed he was dying, but instead of using his mind to power through dying he laid down and gave up. Then he decided well maybe if I stretch I will get better, so he began stretching and got better. I guess a calloused mind doesn't matter, stretching does.
Good one. I found a lot of contradictions but I hadn’t thought of that. Funny thing is the part I gained the most value from was the section on stretching. It’s really true and I have found that when I spend 15 minutes a day stretching my overall quality of life is much better. But maybe that’s just my privilege talking.
Couldn't agree more with your synopsis of the book. I liked the personal improvement portions of the book at the end of each chapter, but I found a lot of the emphases throughout the bulk of the book to be distracting from his stated message. Thanks for the summary and I'm looking forward to the next book club meeting.
I took away a few things from this book, the most important being the axiom that "you can do more than you think you can". I first learned this at the police academy (way back when it was difficult and "moderate" stress), I learned if my mind said I was done, I could also go a little further, do a little more, etc. Goggin's uses this lesson during many of his setbacks. While everyone's body will eventually break down and that axiom may no longer apply (I find that the "one more rep or one more mile now equals a day or two of back and hip pain), our newer generation of police officers, the ones who were not exposed to the same stressors and "pain" that we endured either in the academy or in military training, would do well to learn - as it may become the difference between life and death.
In addition, I look forward to his follow-up book on stretching!
Thanks for the input John! Yea I feel the backslide of toughness happening all the time. Some of it has to be the crotchetiness of old age setting in, but there are objective standards which have been lowered. I fear the consequences of compromising our standards just to increase our numbers. I am more of a quality over quantity type of guy, but maybe that’s why I don’t make those decisions. As far as Goggins goes, I like most of the message (mental toughness and stretching alike), I just got turned off by all the whining and victim talk that was sprinkled throughout.
I found it intriguing that throughout the entire book he said callousing your mind is the key to success. Until the very end when he believed he was dying, but instead of using his mind to power through dying he laid down and gave up. Then he decided well maybe if I stretch I will get better, so he began stretching and got better. I guess a calloused mind doesn't matter, stretching does.
After the whole "train your mind" book, I'm wondering when the stretching book is coming out?
Good one. I found a lot of contradictions but I hadn’t thought of that. Funny thing is the part I gained the most value from was the section on stretching. It’s really true and I have found that when I spend 15 minutes a day stretching my overall quality of life is much better. But maybe that’s just my privilege talking.
Couldn't agree more with your synopsis of the book. I liked the personal improvement portions of the book at the end of each chapter, but I found a lot of the emphases throughout the bulk of the book to be distracting from his stated message. Thanks for the summary and I'm looking forward to the next book club meeting.