David Goggins Interview

[Ishanga]

Bruce Lee can be compared to Goggins, when Bruce was on the floor playing with his baby, he was doing leg raises at the same time, on a plane rides and in his car he had stress balls that he would squeeze, on a daily basis back in his heavy training days he did 5,000 kicks on the bag and in the air a day on both sides, the man was obsessed. He was also a coke head, they recently found letters confirming his addiction and he was short tempered and had a chip on his shoulder due to being rejected in Hollywood, but he was a great inspiration and still Is, but his huge Egoic drive probably killed him!

[Davino]

On 11/12/2025 at 10:17 PM, Leo Gura said:

The purpose is to point out the dangers of giga-ego.

I think you're strawmanning Goggins and not giving him the proper credit, this man has gone to the hells of his own psyche and learned to push every limit again and again, to actualize the best version of himself.

Anyways, I don't share your position. I feel there's a lot to learn from him, he's very mature and special, probably the best coach out there if you're going through rough times or you're an ambitious person trying to push and breakthrough strong limits within yourself.

[Leo Gura]

@Davino He just rubs me the wrong way. But I see his value for Stage Orange.

[Hojo]

I dont know why you would be inspired by someone who is angry and works out all the time. Whats so cool about working out all day and being angry? He would suck to hang out with.

Do you even want to work out all day? Whats the inspiration here?

He dosent do anything cool with it he just uses it to boost his own ego. At least bruce lee made movies. This guy couldnt make movies cause he cant stop working out to prove his worth.

Edited Saturday at 05:55 AM by Hojo

[Eskilon]

He did accomplish great things and props to him for that, but you cant help but wonder that he is also neurotic, like all workaholics -- deeply addicted to activity. He is completely unaware of the spiritual dimension of life.

Edited Saturday at 12:46 PM by Eskilon

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

7 hours ago, Hojo said:

I dont know why you would be inspired by someone who is angry and works out all the time. Whats so cool about working out all day and being angry? He would suck to hang out with.

Do you even want to work out all day? Whats the inspiration here?

He dosent do anything cool with it he just uses it to boost his own ego. At least bruce lee made movies. This guy couldnt make movies cause he cant stop working out to prove his worth.

He doesn't have to be cool, the fact is that he is extremelly mentally strong on his own way, and made something of his life despite comming from an absolute bottom. Cool is a point of view anyway, it's largely decided by what the sheep currently think is cool, althought there is some objectiveness to it as well I suppose. As we can clearly notice throught mere observation, most people are not tryhards but despite that are not cool people either, so it's the worst of both worlds LOL

Strength is a usefull quality on it's own, you can use it to keep yourself afloat in life despite things not going your way which is the part that is inspiring to me personally, his approach to callousing ones mind throught physical exercise speaks to me in some ways althought you can translate that to a more mental activities as well, at the same time I also wouldn't want to be a glazer as I do find his achievements utterly meaningless and stupid. But the mental strength is a good quality to have regardless

[AerisVahnEphelia]

This guy is what happens when you let neurotic behavior run rampant.

Our society believes those guys build things, but they really do not build any real shit.

Geniuses are people like Einstein, Gödel, and other minds who were pretty chill and followed passion.

I doubt they developed this memetic capitalist neurotic malady of the mind.

Currently, the world is filled with people who are completely mentally ill, and this guy is us turning mental illness into a virtue.
In a sane world, he would be put in a zoo with other gorillas.

Human genius is the ability to think new thoughts, create new orders, new strategies.
Inferring reality does not take five thousand push-ups a day.

[Ishanga]

12 minutes ago, NewKidOnTheBlock said:

He doesn't have to be cool, the fact is that he is extremelly mentally strong on his own way, and made something of his life despite comming from an absolute bottom. Cool is a point of view anyway, it's largely decided by what the sheep currently think is cool, althought there is some objectiveness to it as well I suppose. As we can clearly notice throught mere observation, most people are not tryhards but despite that are not cool people either, so it's the worst of both worlds LOL

Strength is a usefull quality on it's own, you can use it to keep yourself afloat in life despite things not going your way which is the part that is inspiring to me personally, his approach to callousing ones mind throught physical exercise speaks to me in some ways althought you can translate that to a more mental activities as well, at the same time I also wouldn't want to be a glazer as I do find his achievements utterly meaningless and stupid. But the mental strength is a good quality to have regardless

Yes, but strength in this context only goes so far, its a temporary strategy to deal with life, but definitely not a solution.. It like the Rocky philosophy of never giving up, always Moving Forward in Life, or Life will take You down and You'll never give up, that appeals to the masses and the masses are actually living it, but in the end its not a solution to Suffering, just a band aid which soon falls off and the scratch is still bleeding and very few know how to stop the bleeding!! 

Strong ego's are attracted to other strong ego's that are doing things they cannot do or are not doing right now.. That is a sign of where You are in life, if You like it keep on keeping on, if not change things, time will tell what was the best way to be! 

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

40 minutes ago, Ishanga said:

Yes, but strength in this context only goes so far, its a temporary strategy to deal with life, but definitely not a solution.. It like the Rocky philosophy of never giving up, always Moving Forward in Life, or Life will take You down and You'll never give up, that appeals to the masses and the masses are actually living it, but in the end its not a solution to Suffering, just a band aid which soon falls off and the scratch is still bleeding and very few know how to stop the bleeding!! 

Strong ego's are attracted to other strong ego's that are doing things they cannot do or are not doing right now.. That is a sign of where You are in life, if You like it keep on keeping on, if not change things, time will tell what was the best way to be! 

It is a neccesity, simply for the fact that essentially noone gives a shit about the outcomes in our life except maybe for our parents a little bit. But not even them really. For that reason you need mental strength. I'm not looking at it esoterically cause that's just a bunch of salad speak to me, just purely logically and empirically

[Ishanga]

11 minutes ago, NewKidOnTheBlock said:

It is a neccesity, simply for the fact that essentially noone gives a shit about the outcomes in our life except maybe for our parents a little bit. But not even them really. For that reason you need mental strength. I'm not looking at it esoterically cause that's just a bunch of salad speak to me, just purely logically and empirically

Yes, we all need to learn some mental toughness, but again its not a solution and its not about what others think (that is ego coming up again)..

What is the solution, why do You think Goggins does what he does? He does it because it gives him a sense of fulfillment, that is his way to feel fulfilled, for others growing flowers makes them feel fulfilled, this is individualized for sure.. But the core is everyone wants a sense of fulfillment, and if you rely on external situations to stimulate that fulfillment feeling then You will in the end suffer it, because You cannot do it 24/7, even ppl that all all the money in the world get used to it and want more, or to do more, so the basically quality of being Human is "I want to be More than what I am right now", this is desiring process..

But as Humans we can Consciously create our Inner Experience, not have to rely on external situations to be a certain way for us to feel alive and fulfilled, its just a matter of knowing How to do it and then doing it, and there are plenty of methods available for that! The Key in Life is first establish Your BEING, that is I am Peaceful and at Ease naturally, content in a way, then go out and perform Action and DO, and then HAVE and receive things in life...

Edited Saturday at 02:51 PM by Ishanga

[Hojo]

@NewKidOnTheBlock try hards are by definition not cool.

[Jannes]

On 11.12.2025 at 0:19 PM, Rafael Thundercat said:

Well, when this sort of Dudes talk about Goggings I feel like not interested in him at all

Try not to cringe with this guy tone voice. Clearly in need of some mental help. Now I understand why Leo work is not to everyone. 

The message is mostly on point though, he directly tackles a huge spiritual fantasy. 

Leos teaching style also changed quite a bit, he didnt embrace the reality of what it means to be human in this world. So for the time this critique was even more on point. 

Edited Saturday at 04:49 PM by Jannes

[Davino]

Y'all have a lot to learn from Goggins. I recommend to watch the interview. You don't have to be like him, at all, he says it in the interview, yet the mentality to achieve great things in your passion and to do 'you' is based on principles of self-sacrifice and pushing through limits that are applicable across the board.

 

The main reason most people don't like Goggins is because when things get very very hard, only a handful continue, but when pain knocks the door, only one remains, the best. Goggins is a rare example of people who are able to endure pain to achieve, while most people that's where they draw their last line. But see, if you want to accomplish any extraordinary in your life, the last door to the treasure will be the dragon of pain.

[Hojo]

@DavinoWhats he acheiving? Working out all day? If you can ahcieve greatness by working out all day you can achieve greatness by sleeping all day.

Edited Saturday at 08:49 PM by Hojo

[Davino]

20 hours ago, Hojo said:

@DavinoWhats he acheiving? 

To name a few after a quick GPT search:

Quote

Radical Transformation: Lost over 100 pounds in ~3 months, going from nearly 300 lbs to qualifying for Navy SEAL training through extreme discipline and relentless effort.

 

Navy SEAL Completion (Hell Week): Completed SEAL BUD/S, including Hell Week—five and a half days of near-constant physical punishment, cold exposure, and extreme sleep deprivation—despite pneumonia, stress fractures, and repeated setbacks.

Graduating Army Ranger School as Enlisted Honor Man: Goggins later completed U.S. Army Ranger School, another elite and special forces course, and graduated as Enlisted Honor Man, a distinction awarded to the top-performing enlisted graduate as voted by peers and instructors—an exceptionally rare honor by itself.

Unmatched Triple Elite Training: Completed three elite special operations pipelines across three military branches—Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force TACP. This is an exceptionally rare achievement, and David Goggins is widely regarded as one of very few—possibly the only—individuals to complete all three, each requiring different forms of physical endurance, leadership, and mental resilience. Making Goggins one of the most trained soldiers alive.

 

World Record: Set a Guinness World Record with 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours.

Total Mental Rebuild: Overcame severe childhood abuse, obesity, and learning difficulties, forging elite mental toughness and turning trauma into discipline and self-mastery.

 

[...]

What have you achieved? Please tell me. 

Maybe you do have something to learn about Goggins, open your mind to such a possibility. It's not like I'm saying anything crazy, I don't understand all the hate towards his figure. I was kinda skeptical as well, but the more I know him and watch his interviews the more I realise how much I can learn from him and how my life has been enriched.

[Davino]

Just watch the interview.

Signing off

 

PD: another interesting one

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:13 PM by Davino

[CARDOZZO]

34 minutes ago, Davino said:

the more I know him and watch his interviews the more I realise how much I can learn from him and how my life has been enriched.

I am with you here. He is what he is. The problem is that his delivery is not for everyone. He is radically honest. Lots of lessons to learn from him  

[Hojo]

@Davino Are you going to start working out all day now? Anytime i see someone fawning over goggins I get lefou and gaston from beauty and the beast vibes. Listening to him does nothing you wont do it. All you can do is praise a man stronger than you which I don't care to do.

 

Edited yesterday at 06:25 PM by Hojo

[LambdaDelta]

Far be it from me to criticize the guy since I'm undisciplined and inconsistent, plus he seems collected and thoughtful when he's not putting on a loudmouth persona in one of his motivational speeches. His achievements and mental fortitude are undeniably extremely impressive, but none of it moves me in the slightest. It's simple personality and intention misalignment. For someone of phlegmatic temperament and insecure volition, there's next to nothing to take away from Goggins besides the bare essential universal principles of growth, endurance, and overcoming limits. The combative language (armor, war, beat down, competitor... from the first 20s or so) just doesn't resonate, my perception of the world is fundamentally different. Guess I'm also lacking in the masculine, haha. But it is certainly valuable if you have high levels of outward ambition and a desire to prove yourself. As far as mastering one's mind goes, figures like Jung, Ralston, or Leo are infinitely more inspiring to me; in fact these techniques are more flexible and can yield similar results if directed that way.