When deciding about who or what should be an intellectual, we must look and analyze the impact that individuals have on those around them or society.
They do not have to be those who come from an academic or religious background. But the background of someone who can create discussions amongst individuals to change the way individuals and societies think about certain ideas or beliefs.
The public intellectual I chose to discuss is David Goggin’s. As someone who has personally benefited from his book and the words he has spoken, I thought it was a great idea to discuss how he contributes to society as a public intellectual. His beliefs on the human mind are unorthodox having some call him a psychopath or even someone that
is so driven that they are crazy. But David Goggins was your average male for most of his life. Now David Goggin’s is a bestselling author, a former Navy Seal, world record holder, ultra-marathon runner, and the list goes on. With all these incredible achievements he has done there has been one that has stood out the most to him. Goggin’s life goal has been to change the lives and attitudes of everyone. He uses the example of his early average life to show people
that they can achieve anything in life through intense work ethic and dedication to whatever they want to achieve. No matter the gender, race, or age of someone. Goggin’s purpose is to change the way we look at life and the obstacle that come with it through pure work ethic and simply how much you want it. People might argue that this does not make him your ideal public intellectual or one even at all. The way he approaches life and what everyone can achieve are what make him a public intellectual.
Before I jump into what David Goggin’s has accomplished and what his message is, I will give a simple background about the who and why about him. David Goggin’s was born on February 17, 1975, in Buffalo New York. Goggin’s never attended college and struggled throughout the school for the majority of his younger years. Was raised mainly by his mother, because after years of abuse his
mom and his siblings escaped from his father. He also suffered from racism and obesity. He believed for most of his life that he was capable of nothing and would amount to nothing. In his book Can’t Hurt Me, he discusses how he allowed all these factors in his life to hold him back and self-limit what he was truly capable of. It took him until the age of 24 while he was spraying cockroaches to finally realize that he was a loser. His response to this was to use every single experience in his life as motivation to want something so bad that he would become an unstoppable force that nothing on this planet could stop him except him. This would ultimately lead him to achieve his dream of becoming a Navy Seal, he was dropped two times from BUDS for injury before he passed.
This is what makes him special. He was a ma
n that weighed around 300 pounds and had no motivation in life to achieve anything, but in the end, became what was once deemed impossible.
David Goggin’s represents the idea that the average individual can accomplish any feat whether it's physical, mental, or academic if they truly have the desire and mental fortitude to achieve it. When he talks about motivation to this day, he discusses that he shares the same issues and self-doubt that he did before he became who he was.
He wants people to understand that every single person on this planet goes through the same daily battles throughout life. It’s how we approach these battles that will cause a difference in the outcome.
“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 to become our best self, all the damn time. We make those kinds of decisions a dozen or more times each day.”
Those who are skeptics and critics of him say that his attitude and work ethic to all aspects of life is not attainable to the average person.
When he says things like this, he doesn’t expect someone to do over 4,000 pull-ups in 24 hours for a world record. He means that he wants people to have the belief if they truly dedicate themselves to any sort of goal they can and will do it. Whether if that’s getting a grade in a class or landing the job you have always wanted. This perspective is different from anyone else. He doesn’t believe in a single motivation speech or a book because he believes those only cause temporary fixes to the problem. Having a purpose is what he believes to be the long-term solution.
Once we gain this purpose, we have to apply it. This is something that Goggins believes to be the hardest part.
This is what he calls the 40% rule. An example of this is when he trained NBA Hawks owner Jerry Itzler for a month.
On their first day together, he told Itzler to do as many pull-ups as he could which was eight. Goggins response to this was that he had to double what he had just done, in which Itzler only did six pull-ups. After several more set has of a couple of reps per set Goggin’s told Itzler that they will not leave the gym on day one until he had done another 100 pull-ups. Itzler deemed this to be impossible. Goggin’s told him his main belief, that when we tell ourselves we can’t do any more of anything, we have only actually achieved 40% of our capability. When we think we can’t keep pushing you haven’t even reached your hallway point. One pull-up at a time they would finish the 100. The point of this was to set the tone and forget Itzler to have a purpose and the self-belief that he can and will accomplish any obstacle because he is way more in his tank than he
could have imagined. This belief of the 40% rule isn’t some idea Goggin’s had, it's scientifically proven that we have much more physical capabilities than we can imagine.
For this untapped potential to be reached Goggins believes that you have to be pushed to your limits and beyond to be shown that if you want it you can achieve it.
The belief in himself is another factor that led to the mental juggernaut he is. Whenever he does anything in life Goggin’s believes that he will do it and he will be the best at it. When he was in Navy Seal training, he used the belief that he was going to become only the 36th Africa American to ever become a Navy Seal. This self-belief drove him through arguably the thought of military training in the world. Throughout his training, he wanted to show his instructors that no matter how hard or what they said to him that they couldn’t get to him.
His confidence allowed him to push through the suck and become the 36th African American Navy Seal. But this belief that he couldn’t be fucked with didn’t only apply when he was a Seal. This carries over to his everyday life. When he goes on his daily runs, he imagines himself constantly finishing the run no matter the pain
because he believes that no matter how much it hurts he can and will finish. That’s the only outcome that he can visualize in his mind. For you or me it's not BUDS or running ultra-marathons, it can be anything you do in your life. In my case, it can be simply getting an A in class. Just like Goggin’s, when the results show from this mental visualization of being the best it will cause you to become obsessed with the outcome and cause you to live your daily life like nothing can stop you except for your weaknesses.
For people like Goggin’s to stay so driven they need reminders.
In many podcasts and his book, this is what he calls the Cookie Jar. These, as well as any success of every obstacle you have overcome. He wants
to remember what kind of stuff we have done in the past and how if we did it once we can easily do it again. But he believes this is something that should be done in moderation. If you do this too often you become complacent and satisfied, something he believes should never happen. Goggin’s did this when he did over 17 ultra-marathons in a little over a year. He reached back into the bad and the good and used it to let him know that anything can be done because he had done it before. While his example is extreme, it can apply to anything that the average man or woman does. That’s his goal to show you that your past experiences are fuel for your future but only when needed.
A point that needs to be clarified is that David Goggin’s does not see himself as a motivational speaker or someone who has the answers to life problems.
What he does is that he gives a very honest approach to how to become a determined individual. His belief that self-accountability is a fresh voice in a world that believes that nothing is their fault. Whether it's physical mental, religious, or even academic pushing what you believed to be your limits will have a net positive result. Goggin’s main belief is that we should put ourselves under stress and uncomfortable situations so we can grow as people and not be comfortable, which leads to laziness in life. That’s how
he contributes to the public discourse on how to become successful. He has a unique identity with experiences and the ability to relate to the average person and that makes him a public intellectual.
His message is that of a lifestyle where you leave every excuse at the door in life and accomplish your goals through work ethic and your mindset.
Works Cited
“David Goggins: How to Become the Toughest Man Alive.” Constant Renewal, 2 Aug. 2020, https://constantrenewal.com/david-goggins/.
George, Jake. “David Goggins, the Toughest Man on the Planet!” Medium, Medium, 14 Jan. 2021, https://thejake100.medium.com/david-goggins-the-toughest-man-on-the-planet-885e35bdca6a#:~:text=David%20Goggins%20was%20mentally%20and,until%20he%20decided%20to%20change.
Comments