63 Motivational Quotes from David Goggins

David Goggins. If you know who he is, the hair stood up on the back of your neck just thinking about his name.

David Goggins is a former Navy SEAL and ultramarathon runner. When you look up the term "complete badass," a picture of David Goggins will appear. He's a world-class endurance athlete, a motivational speaker, and an accomplished author.

Born on February 17, 1975, Goggins lead a life full of hardship and defying all odds. He's reported having asthma issues, an obesity problem, and a congenital heart defect. In the late 1990s after spending four years in the Air Force, Goggins found himself weighing almost 300 pounds.

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He was told he was simply too heavy to make it through the SEAL training. Determined, Goggins returned three months later weighing 190 pounds. Jumping to 2005, Goggins decides to run an ultramarathon to raise money for charity. By this time, he weighed 280 pounds from years of lifting weights and powerlifting.

Eight months later he ran Kiehl's Badwater Ultramarathon weighing 177 pounds.
In 2010, Goggins was at a routine medical checkup and his doctor discovered a birth defect known as atrial septal defect — or a hole between the atrial chambers of his heart — and only functional at about 75 percent capacity. This condition generally prevents people from doing things at high altitude or scuba diving.
Days after the news, Goggins went under the knife to repair his heart.

Military Career

Goggins applied to join the United States Air Force Pararescue and failed the ASVAB twice before he entered into pararescue training. He later became a member of the United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party.

Goggins succeeded in graduating from the BUD/S training with class 235 in 2001 and was assigned to SEAL Team FIVE. He graduated from Army Ranger School with the distinction of enlisted "Top Honor Man."

Goggins also served in Iraq.

Charity

After a terrible helicopter crash in 2005 in Afghanistan during Operation Red Wings, Goggins lost several friends. He picked up long-distance running with the aim to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The foundation gives college scholarships and grants to the children of fallen special operations soldiers. Goggins has raised more than $2 million for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation after competing in many endurance challenges, including the Badwater Ultramarathon three times.

63 Motivational Quotes from David Goggins

Goggins is a motivational speaker and talks from the heart. He's a machine and is an inspiration to many. Goggins wants you to take the path of most resistance and test yourself.

#1 - Calluses

“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

#2 - Mindset

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

#3 - Just You

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

#4 - You Will

"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

#5 - The Truth

“You will never learn from people if you always tap dance around the truth.” – David Goggins

#6 - No Mediocrity

“Greatness pulls mediocrity into the mud. Get out there and get after it.” – David Goggins

#7 - Quick Fix

“Everybody wants a quick fix like 6-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

#8 - Embrace the Suck

“I’m all about callusing the mind. Do something that sucks.” – David Goggins

#9 - Resistance

“I’ve been guided by something much more powerful: The path of most resistance. Talent, not required.” – David Goggins

#10 - Greatness

“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 – hard work, dedication, sacrifice – that will set you apart.” – David Goggins

#11 - Can't Lie

“When you look in the mirror, that’s the one person that you cannot lie to.” – David Goggins

#14 - No Quitting

“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

#15 - Get Better

“If you want to get better, do the (expletive) that no-one else wants to do. Do the (expletive) that no-one is even thinking about doing.” – David Goggins

#16 - You're Capable

"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

#17 - Keep Coming

“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

#18 - Not Gifted

“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

#19 - Motivation Sucks

“Motivation is crap. Motivation comes and goes. When you’re driven, whatever is in front of you will get destroyed.” – David Goggins

#20 - Tighten Up

“If I don’t give you all of who I am, how are you going to learn? People take so much offense. I’m not going to try and find the right words so that I don’t hurt you because you have thin skin. Tighten up. It’s okay. Trust me.”

#21 - Suffer

“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

#22 - Educate Yourself

“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

#23 - Be Critical

“I became the roughest critic in the world on myself, and that’s what truly changed me.” – David Goggins

#24 - Be Uncomfortable

“In order for me to fix myself, I had to figure out what the (expletive) was wrong with David Goggins. 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

#25 - Do Better

“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

#26 - Fix It

“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

#27 - Make a Path

“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

#28 - Stay Strong

“I believed that for the last 19 miles that I was indestructible. 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

#29 - Be Uncommon

“You want to be uncommon amongst uncommon people. Period.” – David Goggins

#30 - Embrace the Suck

“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

#31 - Find Your Passion

“I’m just a scared kid who found drive and passion to be someone much better than who he currently was.”

#32 - The Journey

“They see me now as the guy who can do 4,000 pull-ups in 24 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

#33 - Go Through Hell

“Theory is bull. When you put yourself through hell, that’s the only way to realize how to get through it. You can’t read somebody else’s book about some theory on how to do (expletive). Some guy who’s been sitting up in his warm office that wrote some book with a nice cup of coffee in his hand. NO – I want to learn from that guy who immersed himself in hell who thought about quitting and leaving, ‘Why am I here?’, ‘Is this worth it?’ and still found out a way to get through it.” – David Goggins

#34 - You May Fail

“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

#35 - The Truth

“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

#36 - Will Power

“True will power. I’m going to (expletive) fail, I’m going to (expletive) fail, I’m going to (expletive) fail, and I will succeed.” – David Goggins

#37 - Visualize

“Self-talk and visualization are the two keys to my success.” – David Goggins

#38 - No Fear

“Thicken your skin. Become more of a human being. Don’t be afraid of the reflection in the mirror.” – David Goggins

#39 - No Excuses

“The things that we decide to run from are the truth. When you make excuses, you’re running from the truth.” – David Goggins

#40 - Today

“Nobody cares what you did yesterday. What have you done today to better yourself?”- David Goggins

#41 - Look Inside

“As humans, we’re reading books everyday 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

#42 - Happiness

“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.”

#43 - Be a Warrior

“There’s a bunch of guys that don’t like me and I don’t give a (expletive). I’m a warrior.” – David Goggins

#44 - Be the Best

“No matter what avenue I choose, I want to be the very best. And, the very best may not be #1, but the very best may be ‘Did I leave everything inside of me out there?'” – David Goggins

#45 - Comfort Zone

“The more things you can do to get outside of that zone that makes you feel good, the stronger your mind is 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

#46 - Choices

“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

#47 - Not Good Enough

“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

#48 - Just Words

“We use these words and phrases that ‘Only the strong survive’ and all of this other crap. They’re just (expletive) words.” – David Goggins

#49 - Look Inside

“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

#50 - Your Mind

“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

#51 - Greatness

“If you can get through doing things that you hate to do, on the other side is greatness.” – David Goggins

#52 - Don't Quit

“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

#53 - Take Control

“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

#54 - Get It

“Don’t worry about the elements around you and what’s going on… You gotta get out there and get it.” – David Goggins

#55 - Be Honest

“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

#56 - In Your Head

“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

#57 - Embrace Suffering

“The only way that you’re ever going to get to the other side of this journey is by suffering. You have to suffer in order to grow. Some people get it, some people don’t.”

#58 - Mentally Prepared

“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

#59 - Put Yourself in Situations

“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

#60 - Just Start

“You gotta start your journey. It may suck, but eventually you will come out the other side on top.” – David Goggins

#61 - Change

“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

#62 - Easy or Hard

“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 20 years of pain and suffering to try and get past it, but a lot of us die before truly starting our journey.” – David Goggins

#63 - Anything

“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

I invite you to check out David's interviews, books, and other content.