{"id":1555,"date":"2020-05-13T02:52:54","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T02:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sudlatnid.com\/wp\/?p=1555"},"modified":"2020-05-13T21:46:48","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T21:46:48","slug":"four-habits-of-discipline-my-seal-dad-taught-me-mind-cafe-medium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=1555","title":{"rendered":"Four Habits of Discipline My SEAL Dad Taught Me – Mind Cafe – Medium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apply these to help you in life<\/h2>\n
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\"Sean Sean Kernan<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Source: Wikipemedia commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I grew up with a SEAL dad. He graduated from Class 117 in 1983.<\/p>\n

From there he was an activity duty SEAL for 35 years. He was deployed for 50% of my life to war zones.<\/p>\n

Now, my dad can be cool and laid back. I don\u2019t want to convey the image that he\u2019s this hard stomping jerk that made me do pushups at the front door before school every day. Not the case. But he could certainly be tough.<\/p>\n

He commanded SEAL Team 6 and later rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral. He\u2019s the current Undersecretary of Intelligence.<\/a> He didn\u2019t get there by coasting. The dude oozes work ethic. I thought I\u2019d share a few things I\u2019ve learned from him over the years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Enduring Work Ethic Stems From The Moment<\/h1>\n

I had an interesting conversation with him about Hell Week a few years back.<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t know\u200a\u2014\u200aHell Week is ridiculous. You wake up on a Sunday to gunfire. You then work out until Friday with no sleep. Hell Week is the bottleneck that breaks a lot of talented people. It\u2019s where the top 20% are whittled down to the top 5%.<\/p>\n

I remember him saying, \u201cTuesday morning was the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a bizarre response. Tuesday? Wouldn\u2019t Thursday be the worst? Or Friday morning? Then he explained and it made total sense.<\/p>\n

You wake up on a Sunday morning at ~2 AM to gunfire. You run around getting yelled at. You are doing pushups, carrying logs, rolling in the sand. This continues all day, then into the night.<\/p>\n

As people are sleeping in their warm beds, you continue exercising, shivering, and getting shouted at.<\/p>\n

Monday morning comes. The drills repeat from sun up to sun down with non-stop exercise and physical torture. Then, all through the night, you do it again.<\/p>\n

Then, Tuesday morning rolls around. You\u2019ve gone more than two full nights without sleep. You\u2019ve endured intense stress, cold water, and difficult exertion the whole time. By Tuesday morning, you\u2019re more tired than you\u2019ve ever been in your entire life.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when you start to feel sorry for yourself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh man, it\u2019s only Tuesday. How am I going to get through all of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m this tired already\u2026and I\u2019m not even halfway through\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The people that start thinking like this are the ones that quit.<\/p>\n

The people who succeed \u2014 only look a few minutes in front of them. They don\u2019t worry about Thursday or Friday. They are only focused on each individual exercise. They get through it one thing at a time.<\/p>\n

You can apply this to many aspects of your life.<\/p>\n

If you are studying for a massive test, take it one page at a time. Working on a huge presentation, one slide at a time.<\/p>\n

For example, I swam in college. Our training was very<\/em> grueling, 5 to 6 miles of swimming a day. Sometimes the coach would put a set on the board that made me think, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be f#$king kidding me. I\u2019m going to die.\u201d I just took it one lap at a time and got through it.<\/p>\n

Lower your vision and piecemeal those big hurdles. It reduces the perceived mental weight of the tasks. Take it one thing at a time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Source: Flickr<\/a> (Royalty Free)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Importance of Detail<\/h1>\n

In SEAL training, there\u2019s a seemingly mundane test that trainees go through.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll stand outside of their room, at attention, and say, \u201cReady for inspection, sir!\u201d<\/p>\n

The supervisor will then go into the dual-inhabited bedroom and begin inspecting every corner. No sand. No dirt. No blemishes of any kind. The furniture needs to be positioned perfectly.<\/p>\n

The bed is where most trainees get dinged.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a very<\/em> specific and regimented way of making a bed. It has to be wrinkle-free and tucked at exact angles with the pillow and blanket positioned perfectly.<\/p>\n

If even the smallest detail is missed by either person in that room, they both have to go run into the waves (a few hundred meters away). Coronado has very cold water most of the year. If the supervisor is in a bad mood, he\u2019ll have the candidates roll in sand afterward, turning them into a \u201csugar cookies\u201d.<\/p>\n

This drill gets old \u2014 fast.<\/p>\n

It might seem stupid to torture candidates over how they make their bed but it serves an all-important task. They are instilling the trainees’ minds with an ultra-focus on detail.<\/p>\n

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The big idea is that, \u201cIf I can\u2019t trust you to make a bed right, why should I trust you to hold this rifle during a mission?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This mentality was passed along during my upbringing. Yes, with making beds, but also with homework and other tasks. His eloquent phrase was, \u201cDon\u2019t do a half-assed job on this.\u201d Which translates to \u2014 do it right, or don\u2019t do it at all. Be exacting.<\/p>\n

If you went to a job board right now, seemingly every job description includes, \u201cGreat attention to detail.\u201d It isn\u2019t a coincidence. You can\u2019t have high performance without it.<\/p>\n

If people know you care a lot about the little things, it can be assumed you care a lot about the big things.<\/p>\n

He typically showed me this in practice by saying, \u201cThis could always use one more look over.\u201d It\u2019s a good phrase to keep with you.<\/p>\n

Detail requires extra work. But the benefits far outweigh the cost of mediocrity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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A Sound Mind Starts With a Sound Body<\/h1>\n

My dad is 65 now. My parents live up in Leesburg, Virginia.<\/p>\n

When I visit, you\u2019ll see my dad and me just about every day at their Leesburg rec center. Staying in shape is definitely part of SEAL culture. A good majority of older SEALs stay fit well into old age.<\/p>\n

That aside \u2014 growing up around that mentality, always competing in sports, getting my chops busted about getting out of shape \u2014 did me a lot of good. I\u2019ve always found ways to exercise. It\u2019s been the anchor of my productivity.<\/p>\n

Most people in the military have tough inner voices that speak to them, \u201cStop being lazy.\u201d, \u201cStop getting fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve inherited a bit of that blunt, inner honesty. It\u2019s beneficial to be candid with yourself. Soft inner language can make it too easy to get yourself out of doing things.<\/p>\n

During my most busy professional times, the most stressful experiences I\u2019ve ever had, I\u2019ve always found a way to workout. The idea that \u201cyou don\u2019t have time\u201d is a hard sell to an honest mind. I\u2019ve always said, \u201cIf a president has time to work out, so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking care of your body ensures your mind stays optimized. It also signals to outsiders that you have a strong work ethic.<\/p>\n

Find time to workout. You have time. It makes everything better. You\u2019ll be more productive.<\/p>\n

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Source: Flickr Royalty-Free<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Start Early<\/h1>\n

I never caught more shit from my parents more than when I overslept at home (or when I didn\u2019t make my bed \u2014 surprise, surprise).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to be a productive human being if you are sleeping in until noon every day. Oversleeping psychologically buries you. It\u2019s hard to bounce back from it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a feeling of a preemptive strike when you get up before the rest of the world. It sets a great tone for the rest of your day. Getting a workout or project in before most people have woken up feels amazing. You feel like a god.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never had an unproductive day that started with me getting something done early. It always went well after that.<\/p>\n

This military approach mandates you to get into the habit of going to bed at a reasonable hour and, ideally, at the exact same time every night. Your body loves a regimen and repetition. It will reward you.<\/p>\n

Remember<\/strong><\/mark>: Each day is a battle in and of itself. Focus on staying in the moment. Don\u2019t let the burden of a huge task intimidate you. Break it up into smaller bits and take it down. Treat attention to detail like a religion. Hold yourself to a standard.<\/mark><\/p>\n

Discipline is the key to so many things in life. Master the art of doing things you don\u2019t feel like doing, and you\u2019ll go quite far.<\/p>\n

Lastly, take care of your body. You only get one. Best of luck!<\/p>\n

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Us at a fundraiser for The Navy SEAL Warrior Foundation. (Mom\/sis\/dad\/me)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Source: Four Habits of Discipline My SEAL Dad Taught Me – Mind Cafe – Medium<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apply these to help you in life Sean Kernan Source: Wikipemedia commons I grew up with a SEAL dad. He graduated from Class 117 in 1983. From there he was an activity duty SEAL for…<\/p>\n

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