127 David Goggins Quotes To Be Successful

Looking for the best collection of David Goggins quotes? Then look no further!

David Goggins is a man who was intent on making himself the “toughest man alive” and has arguably earned that reputation.

Growing up in an unimaginable childhood, Goggins went on to become a United States Navy SEAL and United States Air Force Tactical Air Control Party member who served in the Iraq War.

He is now an ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, triathlete, motivational speaker and author. He is the former world record holder for the most pull-ups done in 24 hours. He once ran 205 miles in 39 hours without stopping. And he’s completed more than 60 ultra-endurance events in his career. He started all this after telling himself that he was the weakest man alive.

His bestselling book, Can’t Hurt Me is one of the most inspirational autobiographical accounts of a man’s life you’ll ever read and will definitely help you find perspective and drop your excuses.

In saying that, Davids Goggins mindset and way of thinking are not for everyone, but if you truly want to achieve your own personal greatness and strive to squeeze out every single last drop of your potential then these David Goggins quotes are a great place to start.

Below you’ll find the best David Goggins quotes on motivation, being driven, mediocrity, suffering and success. I hope they help you to fulfill your potential.

Inspirational David Goggins Quotes

1. “High achievement doesn’t require inborn talent. It requires working your ass off. Period.” – David Goggins

2. “The path to success will leave you callused, bruised, and very tired. It will also leave you empowered.” – David Goggins

3. “Success is based off of your willingness to work your ass off no matter what obstacles are in your way.” – David Goggins

4. “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

5. “Most people who doubt you doubt you because they can never see themselves doing what you are trying to do.” – David Goggins

6. “Most people who are criticizing and judging haven’t even tried what you failed at.” – David Goggins

7. “Before you open your mouth and criticize someone, think about how you would feel if you were the person you were criticizing.” – David Goggins

8. “When you fall down, focus on the solution, not the problem. You might quit or fail 100 times. Keep that clear picture of where you want to be.” – David Goggins

9. “Champions never complain. They are too busy getting better.” – David Goggins

10. “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

11. “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

12. “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

13. “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

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

15. “The most important conversation is the one you have with yourself.” – David Goggins

16. “I tried to do so many things to fit in. But when you look in the mirror, that’s the one person you can’t lie to.” – David Goggins

17. “Be true to whoever or whatever you are and wear it like a badge of honor. Fit in with one person and one person only: yourself.” – David Goggins

18. “The only thing more contagious than a good attitude is a bad one.” – David Goggins

19. “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

20. “If you’re not good enough don’t try something else – make yourself good enough.” – David Goggins

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

22. “If you’re a person who is stuck in life: figure out how to not be that person anymore.” – David Goggins

23. “Your spirit lives forever when you die. It’s too powerful to go after a single lifetime.” – David Goggins

24. “Look at your whole life, list your obligations and tasks. Put a time stamp on them. How many hours are required to shop, eat, and clean? How much sleep do you need? What’s your commute like? Can you make it there under your own power? Block everything into windows of time, and once your day is scheduled out, you’ll know how much flexibility you have to exercise on a given day and how to maximize it.” – David Goggins

25. “Remember that you also need rest, so schedule that in. Listen to your body, sneak in those ten- to twenty-minute power naps when necessary, and take one full rest day per week. If it’s a rest day, truly allow your mind and body to relax. Turn your phone off. Keep the computer shut down. A rest day means you should be relaxed, hanging with friends or family, and eating and drinking well, so you can recharge and get back at it. It’s not a day to lose yourself in technology or stay hunched at your desk in the form of a damn question mark.” – David Goggins

26. “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

27. “Most of the amazing things in this world come from people who know how to turn their failure into a success.” – David Goggins

28. “You may lose the battle of the morning but don’t lose the war of the day.” – David Goggins

David Goggins: Live Life On Your Own Terms

Want more David Goggins wisdom? Then watch this awesome interview by Tom Bilyeu of Impact Theory. Oh, and while you’re at it, check out these great Tom Bilyeu quotes.

David Goggins Quotes On Motivation

29. “Motivation is crap. It comes and goes. Find what you’re passionate about. Then you can be driven. When you’re driven you don’t give a damn.” – David Goggins

30. “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

31. “I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done.” – David Goggins

32. “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

33. “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

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

35. “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

36. “The other side of quitting is a lifetime of regret.” – David Goggins

37. “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

38. “The pain you are willing to endure is measured by how bad you want it.” – David Goggins

39. “Stop thinking and do something.” – David Goggins

40. “Starting at zero is a mindset that says my refrigerator is never full, and it never will be. We can always become stronger and more agile, mentally and physically. We can always become more capable and more reliable. Since that’s the case we should never feel that our work is done. There is always more to do.” – David Goggins

41. “Show people, don’t tell people!” – David Goggins

42. “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

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

44. “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

45. “You can will yourself to do almost anything you want.” – David Goggins

46. “Most of us are motivated as hell to do anything to pursue our dreams until those around us remind us of the danger, the downside, our own limitations, and all the people before us that didn’t make it. Sometimes the advice comes from a well-intentioned place. They really believe they are doing it for our own good but if you let them, these same people will talk you out of your dreams.” – David Goggins

40 Percent Rule Quotes

47. “When you think you’re done, you’re only at 40% of your body’s capability.” – David Goggins

48. “My work ethic is the single most important factor in all of my accomplishments. Everything else is secondary. To me, a forty-hour work week is a 40 percent effort. It may be satisfactory, but that’s another word for mediocrity. Don’t settle for a forty-hour work week. There are 168 hours in a week! That means you have the hours to put in that extra time at work without skimping on your exercise. It means streamlining your nutrition, spending quality time with your wife and kids. It means scheduling your life like you’re on a twenty-four-hour mission every single day.” – David Goggins

49. “When you believe that you have given it your all, that’s when it truly begins.” – David Goggins

David Goggins Quotes On Suffering

50. “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. “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.” – David Goggins

52. “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

53. “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

54. “Suffering is a test. That’s all it is. Suffering is the true test of life.” – David Goggins

55. “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

56. “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

57. “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

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

59. “Never let people who choose the path of least resistance steer you away from your chosen path of most resistance.” – David Goggins

60. “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

61. “Visualization will never compensate for work undone. You cannot visualize lies. All the strategies I employ to answer the simple questions and win the mind game are only effective because I put in work. It’s a lot more than mind over matter. It takes relentless self-discipline to schedule suffering into your day, every day, but if you do, you’ll find that at the other end of that suffering is a whole other life just waiting for you.” – David Goggins

62. “Let your suffering push you forward. Most people let their sufferings pull them back.” – David Goggins

63. “People consuming self-help information look for magic words to change them. There aren’t any magic words. There is only your tolerance to suffering.” – David Goggins

64. “You can’t read a book to get through hell. You have to face your hell and climb out.” – David Goggins

David Goggins Quotes On Being Uncommon

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

66. “Always look to be uncommon among uncommon people. Never look to just get the invitation and fit in.” – David Goggins

67. “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

68. “Even if you are hurting, never let your competition see the look of defeat or even vulnerability on your face.” – David Goggins

69. “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

Quotes On Mediocrity

70. “Life is one big tug of war between mediocrity and trying to find your best self.” – David Goggins

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

72. “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

73. “We habitually settle for less than our best; at work, in school, in our relationships, and on the playing field or race course. We settle as individuals, and we teach our children to settle for less than their best, and all of that ripples out, merges, and multiplies within our communities and society as a whole.” – David Goggins

74. “We all waste so much time doing meaningless bullsht. We burn hours on social media and watching television, which by the end of the year would add up to entire days and weeks if you tabulated time like you do your taxes. You should, because if you knew the truth you’d deactivate your Facebook account STAT, and cut your cable. When you find yourself having frivolous conversations or becoming ensnared in activities that don’t better you in any way, move the f*ck on!” – David Goggins

75. “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

76. “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.” – David Goggins

77. “Don’t limit expectations of yourself and settle for less than what you are truly capable of achieving.” – David Goggins

78. “Living a life avoiding failure does only one thing for you: it never gives you the opportunity to see what you are truly capable of!” – David Goggins

79. “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

80. “We’re either getting better or we’re getting worse.” – David Goggins

81. “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

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

David Goggins Quotes On Mental Strenght And Toughness

83. “Whoever says you can’t develop mental toughness or anything else doesn’t truly understand the human mind or the human spirit.” – David Goggins

84. “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

85. “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

86. “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 things like this. It’s not fun, but now my mind is used to it.” – David Goggins

87. “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

88. “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 to get better.” – David Goggins

89. “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

90. “The biggest thing is to stop thinking you deserve anything. You, me, or anyone else doesn’t deserve shit! So whenever you think you deserve a day off “just because”…rethink that shit! It’s that kind of attitude that makes you like most people.” – David Goggins

91. “Don’t let your body or mind do exactly what it wants to do! Take control!” – David Goggins

92. “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

93. “Don’t be the person that looks at the weather report the night before to decide what you are going to do the next day.” – David Goggins

94. “Life isn’t always about doing the things we like to do. It’s about doing things we have to do.” – David Goggins

95. “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

96. “Comfort zones: If you live in one too long…that becomes your norm. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” – David Goggins

97. “Stop making excuses. Stop being a victim. Take personal responsibility. Hold yourself accountable. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable. And finally, make your dreams come true.” – David Goggins

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

99. “Take time to take inventory of your life. Look in the mirror and hold yourself accountable.” – David Goggins

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

101. “Sometimes you must go to war with yourself to fix yourself.” – David Goggins

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

103. “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

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

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

106. “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.” – David Goggins

107. “Life is not going to pick us up when we fall. There will be forks in the road, knives in your fcking back, mountains to climb, and we are only capable of living up to the image we create for ourselves. Prepare yourself!” – David Goggins

108. “It doesn’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 deserve. Take aim on what you are willing to earn!” – David Goggins

109. “Stop trying to be a champion. Be the fighter who refuses to go down from any setback he faces.” – David Goggins

110. “Stop counting on other people to do it for you. Build yourself.” – David Goggins

111 . “The brain always quits before the body does. Once the mind knows you are not going to quit something, it’s going to try to find more, it’s going to try to give you more.” – David Goggins

112. “I’m a big believer in doing things that make you uncomfortable. So, we live in a world where we want to be as comfortable as we can. And we wonder why we have no growth. We wonder why – when the smallest thing in our life gets difficult – we wonder why we cower and we run away.” – David Goggins

113. “You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realising your true potential.” – David Goggins

114. “The only way you gain mental toughness is to do things you’re not happy doing. If you continue doing things that you’re satisfied and make you happy, you’re not getting stronger. You’re staying where you’re at. Either you’re getting better, or you’re getting worse. You’re not staying the same.” – David Goggins

115. “If you sit there and have that mentality of ‘triple down on what you’re good at,’ you’re never going to grow. You’re always going to stay the same.” – David Goggins

116. “We have the ability to make very easy things seem impossible. Stop losing the mind game against yourself.” – David Goggins

117. “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

118. “Don’t get mad at others because life is kicking your ass.” – David Goggins

119. “Put yourself in situations that suck. You’ll find yourself real quick.” – David Goggins

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

121. “Fear is my ultimate guide.” – David Goggins

122. “On bad days it’s important to get your nose out of the problem! What does that mean? It means you can’t get a clear view of the problem if you are living in it. Pull yourself away from the problem and you will see how different the problem looks.” – David Goggins

123. “A 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

124. “There is no better way to grow as a person than to do something you hate every day.” – David Goggins

125. “Get over whatever is stopping you from being your best self! Rather than use the obstacles and setbacks in your life as excuses, use them as the catalyst to get better and go further in life.” – David Goggins

126. “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

127. “No one is going to help you. It’s you against yourself forever.” – David Goggins

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