Three Powerful Enablers from Navy SEALs

The Navy SEALs have always fascinated me. They are full of discipline and seem to achieve a lot. We can take a leaf out of their playbook. I recently read a book called Reinvention by Shane Cragun and Kate Sweetman. It is a wonderful book and they talk about three powerful enablers that are reinforced to every Navy SEAL. Here they are with my interpretation of its application to our lives.

Mind-set – Obviously if you have a strong mindset and you are mentally tough you can handle any change that comes your way. They mention four mental factors which can be applied to our lives as well.

1.   Goal Setting: You should set short-term goals in increment of 90 days, mid-term goals which should be 1-3 years and finally have long-term goals which are 5-10 years. Goals give you complete direction to your life.

2.    Mental rehearsal: This has been known for ages. We know all athletes visualize before a major performance. For example if you have key meetings recall all your previous success experiences. Visualize the meeting going well and everything going according to your plan. You can use this before any important event.

3.    Self-talk: Champions direct their self-talk. I read somewhere that we have 60,000 thoughts per day. Considering that doesn’t it make sense to have positive self-talk. Some of the ones I like are “Today is going to be a great day”, “I feel terrific”, “I can handle anything that life throws at me.” The key is you should define ones that work for you.

4.    Arousal control: Here Navy SEALs are taught breathing techniques to control blood flow to the head. We can take a deep breath before any stressful event occurs. Mentally be prepared for the worst possible outcome.

Training and Conditioning – Here it is mentioned that recruits are required to go through eighteen months of full-time training before they can be recognized as Navy SEALs. This just goes to show the importance of practice. We should practice our craft on a daily basis. They best methods I recommend are identify experts in your field, read their books, listen to their podcasts, document what you have learned, share what you have learned and take certifications in your area of expertise. This will condition you to win in your market place.

Equipment and gear – Here it is mentioned that SEALs always have on them the required equipment and gear that will help them operate in any situation. We can apply this by getting all the resources we need to succeed in our craft. It might mean to get all the books needed, identify all the blogs to read and invest in any other resources which can help us better.

There you have it the 3 accelerators that can help us become the best we can be.

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.