David Goggins is an American ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, motivational speaker and author. Goggins is a retired United States Navy SEAL and former United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. Inspirational David Goggins quotes will help you to develop mental toughness and make you unbeatable.
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Most Famous David Goggins Quotes
I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done. – David Goggins
The only person who was going to turn my life around was me. The only way I could get turned around was to put myself through the worst things possible that a human being could ever endure. – David Goggins
Greatness pulls mediocrity into the mud. Get out there and get after it. – David Goggins
We are all great. No matter if you think you’re dumb, fat, been bullied, we all have greatness. You gotta find the courage. It’s going to be hard work, discipline, and the non-cognitive skills like hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, will set you apart. – David Goggins
It won’t always go your way, so you can’t get trapped in this idea that just because you’ve imagined a possibility for yourself that you somehow deserve it. Your entitled mind is dead weight. Cut it loose. Don’t focus on what you think you deserve. Take aim on what you are willing to earn! – David Goggins
If you can see yourself doing something, you can do it. If you can’t see yourself doing something, usually you can’t achieve it. – David Goggins
You gotta start your journey. It may suck, but eventually you will come out the other side on top. – David Goggins
You have to build calluses on your brain just like how you build calluses on your hands. Callus your mind through pain and suffering. – David Goggins
In order for me to be the person that I wanted to become, I saw myself as the weakest person (that God) ever created. I wanted to change that into being the hardest man ever created. – David Goggins
It’s so easy to be great nowadays, because everyone else is weak. If you have ANY mental toughness, if you have any fraction of self-discipline; The ability to not want to do it, but still do it; If you can get through to doing things that you hate to do: on the other side is GREATNESS – David Goggins
Everything in life is a mind game! Whenever we get swept under by life’s dramas, large and small, we are forgetting that no matter how bad the pain gets, no matter how harrowing the torture, all bad things end. – David Goggins
It’s okay, you might be called a nigger one day. It’s okay…Let them call you that. What are you going to do now? They don’t own your life. How you’re going to control that now?…Thicken your skin. – David Goggins
We live in an external world. Everything, you have to see it, touch it. If you can for the rest of your life, live inside yourself – to find greatness, you have to go inside. – David Goggins
Human beings change through study, habit, and stories. Through my story you will learn what the body and mind are capable of when they’re driven to maximum capacity, and how to get there. Because when you’re driven, whatever is in front of you, whether it’s racism, sexism, injuries, divorce, depression, obesity, tragedy, or poverty, becomes fuel for your metamorphosis. – David Goggins
Very few people know how the bottom feels, but I do. It’s like quicksand. It grabs you, sucks you under, and won’t let go. When life is like that it’s easy to drift and continue to make the same comfortable choices that are killing you, over and over again. But the truth is we all make habitual, self-limiting choices. It’s as natural as a sunset and as fundamental as gravity. It’s how our brains are wired, which is why motivation is crap. Even the best pep talk or self-help hack is nothing but a temporary fix. It won’t rewire your brain. It won’t amplify your voice or uplift your life. Motivation changes exactly nobody. The bad hand that was my life was mine, and mine alone to fix. – David Goggins
Everybody comes to a point in their life when they want to quit. But it’s what you do at that moment that determines who you are. – David Goggins
It hurts, but that’s all it does. The most difficult part of the training is training your mind. You build calluses on your feet to endure the road. You build calluses on your mind to endure the pain. There’s only one way to do that. You have to get out there and run. – David Goggins
When you think that you are done, you’re only 40% in to what your body’s capable of doing. That’s just the limits that we put on ourselves. – David Goggins
Failure is an option. It’s what you do with the failure that makes you who you are. Our failures mold us. I have failed at several things in my life. What sets some of us apart, is that when we fail, we can’t sleep at night. It haunts us until we have our time at redemption. – David Goggins
Don’t Stop when you are Tired. Stop When You are Done. – David Goggins
I’m different than most people…when I cross the finish line of a big race, I see that people are ecstatic, but I’m thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow. It’s as If my Journey is everlasting and there is no finish line – David Goggins
With the Special Ops Warrior Foundation’s help, we put 266 kids through college last year. And that’s what keeps me going. I’ll be honest, I don’t like running. I don’t like biking. I don’t like swimming. I do it to raise money. But, now that I’m in this sport, I want to see how far I can push myself. What makes me tick is that pain you feel when you do these ultramarathons. I love knowing that everyone’s suffering because I know I can suffer just a little bit more. I can take a lot of pain. – David Goggins
Be more than motivated, be more than driven, become literally obsessed to the point where people think you’re f*cking nuts. – David Goggins
From the time you take your first breath, you become eligible to die. You also become eligible to find your greatness and become the One Warrior. But it is up to you to equip yourself for the battle ahead. Only you can master your mind, which is what it takes to live a bold life filled with accomplishments most people consider beyond their capability. – David Goggins
No matter what you or I achieve, in sports, business, or life, we can’t be satisfied. Life is too dynamic a game. We’re either getting better or we’re getting worse. Yes, we need to celebrate our victories. There’s power in victory that’s transformative, but after our celebration we should dial it down, dream up new training regimens, new goals, and start at zero the very next day. I wake up every day as if I am back in BUD/S, day one, week one. – David Goggins
We are all fighting the same battle. All of us are torn between comfort and performance, between settling for mediocrity or being willing to suffer in order to become our best self, all the damn time. We make those kinds of decisions a dozen or more times each day. – David Goggins
We are all guilty of allowing so-called experts, or just people who have more experience in a given field than we do, to cap our potential. One of the reasons we love sports is because we also love watching those glass ceilings get shattered. If I was going to be the next athlete to smash popular perception, I’d need to stop listening to doubt, whether it streamed in from the outside or bubbled up from within, and the best way to do that was to decide that the pull-up record was already mine. I didn’t know when it would officially become mine. It might be in two months or twenty years, but once I decided it belonged to me and decoupled it from the calendar, I was filled with confidence and relieved of any and all pressure because my task morphed from trying to achieve the impossible into working toward an inevitability. – David Goggins
Most of us sweep our failures and evil secrets under the rug, but when we run into problems, that rug gets lifted up, and our darkness re-emerges, floods our soul, and influences the decisions which determine our character. – David Goggins
Very few people even bother to try to control the way their thoughts and doubts bubble up. The vast majority of us are slaves to our minds. Most don’t even make the first effort when it comes to mastering their thought process because it’s a never-ending chore and impossible to get right every time. The average person thinks 2,000 – 3,000 thoughts per hour. That’s thirty to fifty per minute! Some of those shots will slip by the goalie. It’s inevitable. Especially if you coast through life. – David Goggins
Similar to using an opponent’s energy to gain an advantage, leaning on your calloused mind in the heat of battle can shift your thinking as well. Remembering what you’ve been through and how that has strengthened your mindset can lift you out of a negative brain loop and help you bypass those weak, one-second impulses to give in so you can power through obstacles. – David Goggins
We know life can be hard, and yet we feel sorry for ourselves when it isn’t fair. From this point forward, accept the following as Goggins’ laws of nature: You will be made fun of. You will feel insecure. You may not be the best all the time. You may be the only black, white, Asian, Latino, female, male, gay, lesbian, or [fill in your identity here] in a given situation. There will be times when you feel alone. Get over it! Our minds are fcking strong, they are our most powerful weapon, but we have stopped using them. – David Goggins
We use these words and phrases that ‘Only the strong survive’ and all of this other crap. They’re just (expletive) words. – David Goggins
Somewhere in your life, there’s going to be a point where you have a decision to make. You’re going to have to choose between taking the easy route and the hard route. A lot of people take the easy route and they have a good life that way. But the better life was by taking the hard route. You may have years of pain and suffering to try and get past it, but a lot of us die before truly starting our journey. – David Goggins
Life is a battle between trying to find more of yourself knowing that the real you is afraid, likes comfort, likes to be patted on the back, and doing what you need to do together better. – David Goggins
In order for me to fix myself, I had to figure out what the (expletive) was wrong with . I was afraid of my shadow and I thought, ‘How can I overcome that? Go to the military, get your teeth kicked in, and go do the things that you hate to do. Be uncomfortable every (expletive) day of your life.’ Roger that. – David Goggins
The things that we decide to run from are the truth. When you make excuses, you’re running from the truth. – David Goggins
I’m not the smartest kid in the world. Instead of having somebody say ‘Oh no David, you’re smart, don’t say that to yourself!’, I said to myself ‘No, you’re a dumb (expletive). Ok, roger that. So, how do I get smarter? Educate yourself. – David Goggins
The only reason why I became successful was because I went towards the truth. As painful and as brutal as it is, it changed me. It allowed me, in my own right, to become the person who I am today. – David Goggins
We have the ability to go in such a space, if you’re willing to suffer, and I mean suffer, your brain and body once connected together, can do anything. – David Goggins
Motivation is crap. Motivation comes and goes. When you’re driven, whatever is in front of you will get destroyed. – David Goggins
You’re not going to find greatness by looking in a book or by listening to me. I may give you the spark, but you’ve got to go inside yourself to find it. – David Goggins
In times of hell, in times of suffering, even the hardest men tend to forget who they really are. – David Goggins
I believed that for the last miles that I was indestructbale. I took myself while I was sitting in that chair, crapping up my back, peeing blood down my leg, shin splints, stress fractures, I used all of that for motivation instead of negativity. I asked myself ‘Who on this (expletive) earth would still be going right now? You are. – David Goggins
I’m not a naturally gifted or god-given guy. I don’t have a great amount of talent in anything. What got me through horrible times was my dark side. I created Goggins. Goggins is the guy who would take anything you put in front of him. You wanna break my (expletive) legs, then so be it. – David Goggins
I want you to know that I’m comfortable being very uncomfortable. – David Goggins
People say ‘Man, you cuss all of the (expletive) time. Why?’ Well, I can’t sit here and say ‘I went through hell week and it was really hard. No. That (expletive) takes your damn soul, rips it inside out, and then they say now we’re going to (expletive) start. – David Goggins
You will never learn from people if you always tap dance around the truth. – David Goggins
Thicken your skin. Become more of a human being. Don’t be afraid of the reflection in the mirror. – David Goggins
Most of this generation quits the second they get talked to. It’s so easy to be great nowadays because most people are just weak, If you have any mental toughness, any fraction of self-discipline – the ability to not want to do it, but still do it – you’ll be successful. – David Goggins
Inspirational David Goggins Quotes
The reason why I put myself through the things I hate doing is because I am callusing my mind. Im training for life so that when something tragic happens in my life, I don’t fall apart. I’m training my mind, my body, my spirit so its all one so that I can handle whatever life is going to throw at me. – David Goggins
If you’re not physically and mentally prepared for what life is going to throw at you, then you’re just going to crumble, And then, you’re no good to nobody. – David Goggins
You are stopping you. You are giving up instead of getting hard. – David Goggins
I hated shooting guns, I hated jumping out of airplanes, I hated the job as a Navy SEAL. But, I did it so that I could change myself. – David Goggins
No matter what avenue I choose, I want to be the very best. And, the very best may not be #, but the very best may be ‘Did I leave everything inside of me out there?’ – David Goggins
The mind is the most powerful thing in the world. The mind has capabilities that are so unknown, and being able to tap into that is on the other side of suffering. – David Goggins
A lot of us don’t know about another world that exists for us because it’s on the other side of suffering. That’s the real growth in life. – David Goggins
Every morning in our lives, we have a choice to make. You have the choice to stay in bed and say ‘Forget it, I’m not going to work out today.’ or ‘Forget it, I’m not going to work hard today.’ That’s your choice that you make every single day of your life. Make the right decision. – David Goggins
If you ever tell me that I can’t do something, I’m going to let you know, in some way, that I am going to do it. – David Goggins
What I realize is that I wasn’t born as this (expletive), I made him. At the bottom of insecurities, fear, self doubt, lies… was me – buried in the (expletive) fetal position. How I got out of that was by recognizing it, being honest with it, being truthful with it and then fixing it. – David Goggins
We like to live our lives on social media with lies about ourselves about how great we are… Get to the source! Fix the problem. – David Goggins
I’m a big believer of doing something that sucks every single day of your life. I believe it’s a key component into strengthening your mind. – David Goggins
Everyday you’re trying to find more of what you’re capable of – and that’s the big question. What are you capable of? Stop doing the things that you do every day. If you run everyday, go swim. – David Goggins
I became the roughest critic in the world on myself, and that’s what truly changed me. – David Goggins
Don’t worry about the elements around you and what’s going on… You gotta get out there and get it. – David Goggins
At the end of the day, hard work may not be enough. You still may fail. But you keep going out there and go after it. – David Goggins
The more things you can do to get outside of that zone that makes you feel good, the stronger your mindis going to get. It starts getting used to doing (expletive) like this. It’s not fun, but now my mind is used to it. – David Goggins
They see me now as the guy who can do, pull-ups in hours, but what they don’t understand is the journey that got me to this point. Before this, I was the exact opposite of the person I am today. – David Goggins
People take classes on self-help, mental toughness, breathing control… the only way to get tougher is to put yourself in hellacious situations. – David Goggins
The people that can control that feeling of flight and say ‘No (expletive), there’s a way through this. It’s not going to be forever.’ are the ones that make it through it. – David Goggins
When you take a hot shower, the first thing that you think about is why the (expletive) did I quit. So what keeps me going is that I have quit several things. I know what’s on the back end of quitting. It’s a lifetime of thinking why the (expletive) did I do that. – David Goggins
Everybody wants a quick fix like minute abs – you may get some results from it, but those results won’t be permanent. The permanent results come from you having to suffer. You have to make that a tattoo on your brain so that when the hard time comes again, you don’t forget it. – David Goggins
We all like to take this four-lane highway, but we always step over the shovel. All I did was pick up that shovel and made my own path. – David Goggins
You’re gonna fail, you’re gonna be in your head, and you’re gonna be saying I’m not good enough. It’s about how you overcome that. – David Goggins
The worst thing that can happen to a man is to become civilized. – David Goggins
To those people who say ‘I’m good’ – You aint good man, you ain’t never (expletive) arrived. That’s just my mentality… You may have more than I do, but you’ve never (expletive) arrived. – David Goggins
You want to be uncommon amongst uncommon people. Period. – David Goggins
There’s a bunch of guys that don’t like me and I don’t give a (expletive). I’m a warrior. – David Goggins
A warrior is a guy that goes ‘I’m here again today. I’ll be here again tomorrow and the next day.’ It’s a person who puts no limit on what’s possible. – David Goggins
True willpower. I’m going to (expletive) fail, I’m going to (expletive) fail, I’m going to (expletive) fail, and I will succeed. – David Goggins
My happiness is my reflection on the suffering during my journey and knowing that I never quit nor was I guided by anybody on this earth. – David Goggins
We all want to take this four-lane highway, but we always step over the shovel. All I did was pick up that shovel and made my own path. – David Goggins
If you can get through doing things that you hate to do, on the other side is greatness. – David Goggins
As humans, we’re reading books every day to try to figure out how to be someone else. What we don’t do is go inside, turn ourselves inside out, and read our own story. You have to look inside to find out what you really want. – David Goggins
A warrior is a guy that goes ‘I’m here again today. I’ll be here again tomorrow and the next day.’ It’s a person who puts no limit on what’s possible. – David Goggins
You are giving up instead of getting hard! Tell the truth about the real reasons for your limitations and you will turn that negativity, which is real, into jet fuel. Those odds stacked against you will become a damn runway! – David Goggins
Pain unlocks a secret doorway in the mind, one that leads to both peak performance, and beautiful silence. – David Goggins
Suffering is a test. That’s all it is. Suffering is the true test of life. – David Goggins
When you’re exhausted, weak, and tired and everyone around you looks just as bad as you or even worse – that’s the perfect time for you to make a statement. You let everyone around you know that when their life ends, that’s when yours begins. – David Goggins
Life is one big tug of war between mediocrity and trying to find your best self. – David Goggins
A lot of people put motivational quotes up on the wall and all they do is collect dust. Become what that quote says. Live it every day. – David Goggins
If you want to get better, do the things that no-one else wants to do. Do the things that no-one is even thinking about doing. – David Goggins
Every morning in our lives, we have a choice to make. You have the choice to stay in bed and say ‘Forget it, I’m not going to work out today.’ or ‘Forget it, I’m not going to work hard today.’ That’s your choice that you make every single day of your life. Make the right decision. – David Goggins
The reason it’s important to push hardest when you want to quit the most is because it helps you callous your mind. It’s the same reason why you have to do your best work when you are the least motivated. That’s why I loved PT in BUD/S and why I still love it today. Physical challenges strengthen my mind so I’m ready for whatever life throws at me, and it will do the same for you. – David Goggins
It’s easier to accept the fact that you’re just not good enough. We all have a lot more than we think we have. – David Goggins
You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential. – David Goggins
From then on, I brainwashed myself into craving discomfort. If it was raining, I would go run. Whenever it started snowing, my mind would say, ‘Get your f*cking running shoes on.’ Sometimes I wussed out and had to deal with it at the Accountability Mirror. But facing that mirror, facing myself, motivated me to fight through uncomfortable experiences, and, as a result, I became tougher. And being tough and resilient helped me meet my goals. – David Goggins
We live in a world where a lot of people need goals, motivation, and a lot of other words to get started. It’s just a big excuse to not get started. – David Goggins
Teach yourself that it isn’t OK to take the easy way out. Make sure you are bothered by the things you set out to do but did not complete or make time for in the day. – David Goggins
The most important conversation is the one you have with yourself. – David Goggins
I understand the temptation to sell short, but I also know that impulse is driven by your mind’s desire for comfort, and it’s not telling you the truth. It’s your identity trying to find sanctuary, not help you grow. It’s looking for status quo, not reaching for greatness. – David Goggins
Stop making excuses. Stop being a victim. Take personal responsibility. – David Goggins
We all need small sparks, small accomplishments in our lives to fuel the big ones. Think of your small accomplishments as kindling. When you want a bonfire, you don’t start by lighting a big log. You collect some witch’s hair, a small pile of hay or some dry, dead grass. You light that, and then add small sticks and bigger sticks before you feed your tree stump into the blaze. Because it’s the small sparks, which start small fires, that eventually build enough heat to burn the whole f*cking forest down. – David Goggins
