Never Finished Review

Melchor Tatlonghari

Motivation/Biography distilled into a book. If this is something you enjoy and looking for the next hit of dopamine and/or motivational talk, then the book has it for you. It's a lot of David Goggins' mindset and you can almost hear it from his voice when you read it. Other than that there is not much outside the box that you learn from this. Aside from possibl that when you feel like you're at the end of what you're capable of, you're just at 40% of your limits. Unsure how much of that is scientific, but yeah, there's alot of just 'keep going'.

Favourite Qoutes

Many people write out their darkest moments in a journal or diary and hope to gain some leverage on whatever it is they survived or are struggling to overcome. I’ve kept a journal for years, but there are levels to this shit, and a written archive is the entry level. Audio recordings are more interactive and accessible and have a more profound effect on the mind.

Most people rise up eventually, but they remain in a daze for hours because they aren’t fully engaged with their lives. Their self-talk has made them numb to the moment, and they sleepwalk through half the day before they finally perk the fuck up.

While money doesn’t always make you happy, it damn sure can make you feel satisfied. And satisfaction is a hop-step from complacency.

I was a part-time savage at best, a glorified Weekend Warrior. Weekend Warriors do hard things when they fit into their busy schedules. They do them to check a box and only when they want to. Then, they dial it back after a couple of long, hard days. When you are a full-time savage, it’s a lifestyle. There is no “want to.” There is only “must do.”

I say it all the time: you are either getting better, or you’re getting worse. You’re not staying the same.

But praise—whether it comes from your supervisors, your family, or anyone else—has a downside. It can soothe the inner savage and keep you from feeling the need to grind.

What separates a true savage from everybody else is the ability to regain control of their mind in that split second, despite the fact that all is still fucked!

Life is not pass/fail. It’s about impact and effort. Carrots help me maximize both and almost always produce a better result.

We have to learn to stop looking for a sign that the hard time will end. When the distance is unknown, it is even more critical that you stay locked in so the unknown factor doesn’t steal your focus.

The end will come when it comes, and anticipation will only distract you from completing the task in front of you to the best of your ability.

When you complain and your mind starts groping for the eject button, you are not bringing your best self to the task, which means you are actually prolonging the pain.

The irony is you build those walls to protect yourself. You think they will make you hard and less vulnerable, but they isolate you in solitary confinement with your darkest thoughts and ugliest memories.

Every minute you spend feeling sorry for yourself is another minute not getting better, another morning you miss at the gym, another evening wasted without studying.

That’s why I never get emotional or over-excited at the beginning of something hard. The same is true when it comes to monitoring my progress. I never celebrate anything in the middle of a race.

Too many leaders deflect blame and point fingers instead of calling themselves out, but when they do that, nothing gets fixed in the short or long term.

I’d been dealing with my thyroid issue for years. A lot of people in the military, especially those of us in Special Operations, get diagnosed with hypothyroidism because our adrenals are constantly attacked during training and combat—there...

Once the adrenals shut down, the body attempts to get what it needs by tapping the thyroid. The thyroid is the master computer of the endocrine system, and when it is over-taxed, our metabolism—the process of converting what we drink and eat into energy—becomes impaired, which can cause a cascade of consequences.

When the pressure is high, you develop blinders that limit perspective. That’s great for certain situations that demand a hyper focus, but when you’re engaged in something that demands your maximum endurance, it’s better to broaden your perspective and your awareness to absorb more of the experience, which enables maximum growth both during the event and in the days and weeks to follow.

...if you allow that unrelenting pressure to build, you’re liable to snap and make a bad situation a whole lot worse.

Most people don’t have a selection process for their foxhole. They invite all the old cronies and close relatives in by default. As if growing up with someone is the top qualification for foxhole membership.

When your entire day is fucked up, make sure that you achieve something positive before lights out.

I’m afraid a lot, but I’ve learned to flip fear by facing whatever it is I’m scared of head-on.

When you deliberately and consistently confront your fear of heights or particular people, places, and situations that unsettle you, those seeds germinate, and your confidence grows exponentially.

Most people love standards. It gives the brain something to focus on, which helps us reach a place of achievement. Organizational structure and atta’ boys from our instructors or bosses keep us motivated to perform and to move up on that bell curve. Captain Connolly did not require external motivation.

He made me uncomfortable because he exposed my lack of dedication to giving my best effort each and every day. Being around people like that forces you to try harder and be better, and while that is a good thing, when you are inherently lazy, what you really want are some days off. The Captain Connollys of the world don’t give you that option. When they are in your foxhole, there are no days off.

...it takes so much more energy to stay mentally prepared enough to arrive every day...

A lot of people let a realization like that limit their future. They lose their edge and scale back their ambitions and expectations to protect themselves. They retire and quit pushing themselves into uncomfortable environments and challenging situations.

Often it isn’t Father Time that is fucking you up but his brother, Father Fatigue.

When I set an unreasonable goal and fall short, I don’t even look at it as failure anymore. It is simply my first, second, third, or tenth attempt.

But the only way to get there is to continually seek greatness and always be willing to try one more time.