10 Powerful Life Lessons from the World’s Toughest People
Mastering Mental Toughness from Those Who Refused to Break
The Art of Becoming is about turning struggle into strength and discomfort into growth. I share insights on resilience, wisdom, and fulfillment—to help you navigate adversity, find meaning in the hard things, and build a life of purpose, joy, and maybe even a bit of wealth.
I hope you’ll join me.
In Five Minutes or Less
Life is one part dog fight and one part reward.
To get to the reward, you have to fight. And the fight will be bloody, messy, and brutal.
But that’s okay. You and me, we’re fighters.
Fighting alone is hard, especially when the odds are against you.
But we don’t have to fight alone if we have mentors. You can find mentors anywhere.
Mike Tyson had legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato teach him how to box and what to do when life knocked him down.
Oprah Winfrey called Maya Angelou her mentor.
My mentors never shook my hand or spoke my name, but they taught me how to get up after being knocked down and stand tall when the world tried to break me.
My coaches came from books. They were men and women who struggled and suffered but somehow found a way to win. They were masters in life.
Being influenced by history and books is not unusual.
Nelson Mandela learned from Mahatma Gandhi even though they never met. Marcus Aurelius wrote about Epictetus’ teachings in Meditations.
Reading books taught me how the world’s greatest minds lost battles and returned stronger and better after each one.
These men and women—the ones who endured, conquered, and reshaped the world—didn’t win because they were the fastest, the strongest, or the smartest.
They became great because they refused to allow pain, struggle, or failure to define them.
They learned. They adapted. They grew.
Just like you and I will.
Let’s get to it.
David Goggins (Navy Seal and Ultra Endurance Runner)
“A warrior is not a person that carries a gun. The biggest war you ever go through is right between your own ears. It's in your mind. We're all going through a war in our mind, and we have to callus our mind to fight that war and to win that war.”
Everything starts in the mind. Either you’re a slave to your thoughts, or you’re the master of them.
Frederick Nietzsche (Philosopher)
“…the worst enemy you can meet will always be yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in caverns and forests.” —From Thus Spake Zarathustra.
You will always be your worst critic. Self-doubt isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It keeps you humble and can motivate you to learn and consider all the options. But don’t give it more attention than it deserves. Give yourself the freedom to make mistakes. That’s where growth comes from.
Maya Angelou (Poet, writer, child abuse survivor)
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.(From the poem, Still I Rise)
It does not matter what you do to me. Kick me, beat me, take everything away from me, and still I rise.
Jack Dempsey (Heavyweight Boxing Champion)
“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”
It’s easy to fight when the odds are in your favor. But what does it say about the person who falls broken, bloody, afraid and then stands to get back into the fight? You can’t break them. That’s the definition of a warrior.
Albert Camus (Philosopher and writer)
“Sometimes carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.”
I watched a little girl live through twenty operations, 52 rounds of chemo, enough radiation to light up a house for a year, and a bone marrow and stem transplant so she could beat cancer…TWICE. Compared to her, I’m a crybaby.
Nelson Mandela (First president of South Africa)
“Do judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
Life is easy when you win, but how do you judge yourself when you fail? Do you make excuses, or do you get back up?
Mizuta Masahide (17th-century poet and samurai)
“My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.”
Find the blessing in every tragedy.
Mary Oliver (Poet)
“Someone I once loved gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.”
Sometimes, the greatest gift you will ever receive is pain. Don’t run from pain. Jump into it.
Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor and philosopher)
“Not to assume it’s impossible because you find it hard. But to recognize that if it’s humanly possible, you can do it too.”
A friend told me he can’t dunk a basketball. I told him he could.
"Impossible," he said.
"Use a ladder," I replied.
If someone else can do it, so can you. Maybe not the same way—but that’s no excuse. Find a way.
Epictetus (Former slave and philosopher)
“Every event has two handles, one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.”
You can blame others for your pain. You can be angry and never forgive. Or you can see that your brother, neighbor, or the man who cut you off on the freeway is human and deserves forgiveness like you. Which handle will you grab?
Bonus Lesson from Eric Thomas (Author and pastor)
Life is a dog fight.
You will fall behind. Someone will try to take what’s yours. That’s just life. So fight like you’re fighting off a pack of wild dogs.
Thanks for reading. Remember these words when you fall or get knocked down:
And still I rise.
Love to you and yours,
Michael