There are many ways in which people choose to spend their free time, whether that is playing video games, watching films, playing card, or board games like poker, or craps for real money. It is undeniable that playing for high stakes and reaping cryptocurrency bonuses online is slowly becoming more and more popular in today’s world. Yet, people pursue other offline hobbies as well, such as health, fitness, and wellness, as they start to see the obvious benefits. Nevertheless, despite a significant amount of us having a routine of workouts, very few push themselves to the extent that a former Navy-seal and a motivational speaker, David Goggins does.
From weighing 290 pounds, working a job spraying for cockroaches, to becoming the man he is today, we will go over his incredible, inspiring journey, a journey proving that true strength comes from the mind and mentality.
Becoming a Navy Seal
What many people may not know is the fact that Goggins was in the Air Force already, prior to becoming a Seal, and prior the Ecolab job. The military has a well-known swimming test, where the participants have their hands tied behind their back, and have to balance their bodies properly to not drown.
The truth is that David Goggins was terrified of this test because of his fear of water, and as he later on would say, it was a primary reason as to why he quit the air force. Years past, after gaining weight during the Ecolab job period, Goggins would hit rock-bottom, as spraying for cockroaches did not quite pay well, and he was disappointed in himself for his lifestyle and position.
One time, at a night shift in a restaurant, he was done. Goggins made the decision that would re-define his life, he would get back to the military and this time, endure harder training and testing than he ever did prior.
While visiting the recruiters, he was told that he had very little chance of even getting a shot to be a seal, as because of the weight and height limit, he had to lose 106 pounds in a little over two months. It would have been very easy to quit with the odds stacked against you, but Goggins was determined to turn his life around.
He put himself through absolute hell, as he describes hardly eating anything and working like a lunatic. Going on runs, lifting, body-weight exercises, and all of it would eventually pay off. David Goggins got into shape, suitable for a Navy-seal, and he would become the only person to go through three hell-weeks in one year.
Hell Week
Hell week is a defining moment in the Navy training. To describe it briefly, it consists of cold, wet, brutally hard challenges, operating on a lower rest and sleep time from the participants, while also providing a mental test, with the instructors constantly tempting the exhausted participants to throw in the towel.
The students have to carry boats on their heads, run, swim, doing incredibly high volume of body weight exercises, all while on the sand, soaked by the salty, ocean water, as the cold wind cuts through them. The test has a 25% success rate from students, and is so brutal that people have died while taking it before.
David Goggins went through the hell week on three separate occasions in one year, a feat that prior was never achieved. Considering his crippling fear of water, the feat becomes even more unbelievable, demonstrating that anything is possible.
It was hard from being easy for David, as he fractured his patella during hell week, and even got pneumonia, yet that was not enough to stop him from reaching his newly set dream, and overcoming his biggest demons.
Life after military
Goggins retired from the Navy, having served in the Iraq war, and after accumulating an impressive resume. He wrote multiple books describing in detail his experiences, as well as trying to explain how to push yourself to the territories you never even knew existed.
Famously, he never stopped his athletic lifestyle, becoming a renowned marathon and triathlon competitor, setting records and regularly placing in the top five, also temporarily holding the pull up record of 4030 in just 17 hours.
He was able to achieve all of this with a health condition that went undetected for the majority of his life, a heart condition that would later on be patched up by a surgery. It is incredibly that Goggins went through his Navy training, and later on had several 100-mile runs with a literal hole in his heart. For reference, 100 miles can cover distances between cities, and running for that long is obviously incredibly taxing.
Motivational speaker
The man is also incredibly successful as a motivational speaker, reaching a huge audience and inspiring many. Most people believe that his success in this regard comes from his honesty. Goggins is never afraid to speak about his biggest insecurities and demons, talk about the fact that despite his superhuman achievements, he is still a man.
It is because of that, that people tend to listen to him. He is flawed, he is one of them. David Goggins had to work for every ounce of success he was able to reach, and that is what makes his story inspiring.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
