It’s not just about being in physical shape.
Being fit to be a Navy SEAL has far more to do with mental toughness than it does with being able to do a 500m run, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 push ups, and 10 pull-ups over and over and over and over and over again.
Pick up former Navy SEAL Mark Divine’s book 8 Weeks to SEALFIT and WODs like that will quickly kick you into shape, but that’s not what it’s about.
Mental toughness. Spiritual practices. Embracing the suck. The willingness to keep going knowing you can do 20X what you think you can.
That’s what his book is about. That’s what being a SEAL is about. It is the grit and mental discipline to stay in the fight and do whatever it takes to keep going.
In his world that’s the difference between you and your buddy being carried out in a body bag.
In my world it’s the difference between the many living lives of not-so-quiet desperation and those who get what they want.
Everyone wants more success. Everyone wants to do what they want, but few people are willing to do what it takes.
I have worked with a CEO for five years. Every week we meet I push and prod him the same ways.
What hard things have you done this week?
How are you charging forward towards your goals?
Where have you been wimping out and not following through?
Where are you losing the mental game?
What skills are you working on?
What more can you do to get what you want?
It’s not touchy-feely rah-rah therapy. I’m not a shoulder to cry on. I’m not here to compassionately listen to how hard life can be.
I’m about increasing his capacity to do the hard things and become the man he is destined to be. I’m about helping him HTFU, obliterating boundaries, and driving him further into new discomfort zones.
He doesn’t strive this way because it is necessary to building a thriving business. He does it because he loves becoming the best he can be.
He may not be able to kill a man with a tomahawk, but every day he kills it in business because he conditions himself the same way.