A Cognitive Semantics analysis of David Goggins’ idea of “transforming” mindset

Anna Drogosz

Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie


Abstract

The objective of the paper is an analysis of how David Goggins describes his life in his book Can’t Hurt Me. The analysis was conducted within the methodological framework of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Blending Theory. It has been established that the metaphors life is a journey and aspects of the self are individuals at war provide coherence to the story of his life, while conceptual blends are a mental tool used to reframe a situation and himself. As a result of implementing those blends in his thinking, David Goggins has developed a mindset that allowed him to transform from a broken teenager to “the strongest man alive”. This case study reveals how specific conceptual blends may impact not only cognition and language in general, as is argued in Cognitive Semantics, but also one’s emotional state, and consequently one’s physical performance.


Keywords:

David Goggins, conceptual blending, mindset, conceptual metaphors


Fauconnier G. (1997): Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Fauconnier G., Turner M. (2002): The Way We Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Gibbs R.W. (2009): Why do some People Dislike Conceptual Metaphor Theory? “Cognitive Semiotics” 5(1–2), pp. 14–36.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Goggins D. (2018): Can’t Hurt Me. Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. Austin.   Google Scholar

Johnson M. (1987): The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Keysar B., Shen Y., Glucksberg S., et al. (2000): Conventional Language: How Metaphorical is it? “Journal of Memory and Language” 43, pp. 576–593.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Kövecses Z. (2002): Metaphor. A Practical Introduction. New York–Oxford.   Google Scholar

Kövecses Z. (2020): Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Cambridge.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Lakoff G., Johnson M. (1980): Metaphors We Live By. Chicago–London.   Google Scholar

Lakoff G., Johnson M. (1999): Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought. New York.   Google Scholar

Libura A. (2010): Teoria przestrzeni mentalnych i integracji pojęciowej. Struktura modelu i jego funkcjonalność. Wrocław.   Google Scholar

Ortony A. (1993): Metaphor, Language, and Thought. [In:] Metaphor and Thought. A. Ortony (ed.). Cambridge, pp. 1–16.
Crossref   Google Scholar

Rohrer T. (2007): Embodiment and Exprientialism. [In:] The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. D. Geeraetes, H. Cuyckens (eds). Oxford–New York, pp. 26–47.   Google Scholar

Turner M. (2007): Conceptual Integration. [In:] The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. D. Geeraerts, H. Cuyckens (eds). Oxford–New York, pp. 377–393.   Google Scholar

Wilson M. (2002): Six Views of Embodied Cognition. “Psychonomic Bulletin & Review” 9(4), pp. 625–636.
Crossref   Google Scholar


Published
2023-06-30

Cited by

Drogosz, A. (2023). A Cognitive Semantics analysis of David Goggins’ idea of “transforming” mindset . Prace Językoznawcze, 25(2), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.31648/pj.8914

Anna Drogosz 
Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie