Can’t Hurt Me
Can’t Hurt Me
- I wanted to write a few lines that resonated with me the most after reading this book.
In a society where mediocrity is too often the standard and too often rewarded, there is intense fascination with men who detest mediocrity, who refuse to define themselves in conventional terms, and who seek to transcend traditionally recognized human capabilities.
The man who finds a way to complete each and every task to the best of his ability.
The man who will adapt and overcome any and all obstacles.
My disadvantages had been callousing my mind all along and had prepared me for that moment in that pool with Psycho Pete.
My ability to stay open represented a willingness to fight for my own life, which allowed me to withstand hailstorms of pain and use it to callous over my victim’s mentality.
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.
If you can manage those moments of pain that come with maximum effort, by remembering what you have been through to get to that point in your life, you will be in a better position to persevere and choose fight over flight.
Rather than focusing on bullshit you cannot change, imagine visualizing the things you can.
Choose any obstacle in your way, or set a new goal, and visualize overcoming or achieving it.
But you must also visualize the challenges that are likely to arise and determine how you will attack those problems when they do.
I am the reason I still have a chance.
The reason I embrace my own obsessions and demand and desire more of myself is because I’ve learned that it’s only when I push beyond pain and suffering, past my perceived limitations, that I am capable of accomplishing more, physically and mentally- in endurance races but also in life as a whole.
Our culture has become hooked on the quick fix, the life hack, efficiency.
Everyone is on the hunt for that simple action algorithm that nets maximum profit with the least amount of effort.
There’s no denying this attitude may get you some of the trappings of success, if you are lucky, but it will not lead to a calloused mind or self-mastery.
If you want to master the mind and remove your governor, you will have to become addicted to hard work.
Because passions and obsession, even talent, are only useful tools if you have the work ethic to back them up.
My work ethic is the single most important factor in all of my accomplishments.
I didn’t let my desire for comfort rule me.
I was determined to go to war with myself to find more because I believed it was our duty to maintain a BUD’s mentality and prove ourselves every day.
Never work up to realize that my disappointment was my own problem, not my teammates’ fault.
Just know that your supposed superiority is a figment of your own ego.
So don’t lord it over them, because it won’t help you advance as a team or as an individual in your field.
Instead of getting angry that your colleagues can’t keep up, help pick your colleagues up and bring them with you!
There’s a lot of power in being the only.
It forces you to juice your own resources and to believe in yourself in the face of unfair scrutiny.
It increases the degree of difficulty, which makes every success that much sweeter.
That is why I continually put myself in situations where I knew I would encounter it.
If you truly want to become uncommon amongst the uncommon, it will require sustaining greatness for a long period of time.
I am the sum total of the obstacles I’d overcome.
The limits we create and accept become the lens through which they see us.
But for some, those limits start to feel like bondage, and when we least expect it, our imagination jumps those walls and hunts down dreams that in the immediate aftermath feel attainable.
Because most dreams are.
We are inspired to make changes little by little, and it hurts.
Breaking the shackles and stretching beyond our own perceived limits takes hard fucking work and when you put yourself on the line, self doubt and pain will greet you with a stinging combination that will buckle your knees.
Most people who are merely inspired or motivated will quit at that point, and upon their return ,their cells will feel that much smaller, their shackles even tighter.
The few who remain outside their walls will encounter even more pain and much more doubt, courtesy of those who we thought were our biggest fans.
But it’s not the external voice that will break you down.
It’s what you tell yourself that matters.