Navy SEALs: How to build a warrior mindset | Big Think

Navy SEALs: How to build a warrior mindset | Big Think
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fact that U.S. Navy SEALs endure very rigorous training before entering the field is common knowledge, but just what happens at those facilities is less often discussed. In this video, former SEALs Brent Gleeson, David Goggins, and Eric Greitens (as well as authors Jesse Itzler and Jamie Wheal) talk about how the 18-month program is designed to build elite, disciplined operatives with immense mental toughness and resilience.

Wheal dives into the cutting-edge technology and science that the navy uses to prepare these individuals. Itzler shares his experience meeting and briefly living with Goggins (who was also an Army Ranger) and the things he learned about pushing past perceived limits.

Goggins dives into why you should leave your comfort zone, introduces the 40 percent rule, and explains why the biggest battle we all face is the one in our own minds. "Usually whatever's in front of you isn't as big as you make it out to be," says the SEAL turned motivational speaker. "We start to make these very small things enormous because we allow our minds to take control and go away from us. We have to regain control of our mind."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIPT:

BRENT GLEESON: SEAL training is 18 months long. We talk about discipline, we talk about trust, accountability, mental fortitude. Very, very high attrition rate. For my class only about 10 percent ultimately graduated of the original class. But the first six months of that 18 month training pipeline is called BUDS, which stands for Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL. And the first three weeks of BUDS are leading up the Hell Week. And those three weeks are no joke either. They're just as bad as Hell Week, but you get to sleep a couple of hours a night. But then Hell Week is where you're going to weed out the rest of your class. By the end of Hell Week 80 percent of your class is gone. Hell Week starts on a Sunday, ends on a Friday afternoon, and the great thing about that Sunday is the class will report to one of the main classrooms with only a couple required items in their possession and we don't allow them to know when Hell Week will commence, when breakout starts. And it's pure chaos. Guys will quit minutes into breakout. And so the anguish, the anxiety is just killing you. It's a fascinating thing to watch. Not a fascinating thing to be a part of. So that afternoon our class leader, who's the highest ranking officer in the class, he read us – one of the things he did to motivate us was to read us the speech, the St. Crispin's Day speech from William Shakespeare's Henry V. And a great excerpt that many people know from that speech is, ""We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.""

ERIC GREITENS: If there was a single question that you can ask someone to measure how resilient they're going to be, you ask them what are you responsible for. And what you find is that even in the most difficult situations when you look at stories of people who have been prisoners of war, for example. People who survive said I'm going to take control of my thoughts, or I'm going to take control of the way that I breathe. There are certain things even though my freedom has been taken away from me that my ability to eat where I live. All of these things have been taken away from me. I'm still going to control something. And when you focus on actually taking control of something and what happens is your circle of control begins to widen and people begin to see that even in the face of hardship and difficulty, there's a way for them to build power and live a purposeful life.

DAVID GOGGINS: People always ask me how do you build mental toughness. Mental toughness also has these classes out here. A class on mental toughness. Positive thinking, visualization, all these different techniques—mental toughness is a lifestyle. It's something that you live every single day of your life. When I was growing up I was a lazy kid. I was a lazy kid and everyone goes how did you get to where you're at today? How did you get to where you're running 200 miles at one time in 39 hours being so disciplined. It started off honestly with recognizing that my bedroom was dirty. My bed wasn't made. I lived a sloppy life. So I took very small increments in my life. I started making my bed. I started cleaning my room. I started doing things, coming outside of my lazy ways to become better. And through a period of time your brain doesn't like it, but it starts to realize this is a new way of thinking...

[kato_dsrdr]

I remember on military training, my mate can only do 10 push ups.. The instructor said that he can't leave until he do 200, he can take rest as long as he want.. He said it's impossible but the instructor encouraged him.. He ended up doing it in one hour..

[TanyerLamb]

A sign of David's mental fortitude, is his ability to have gone nearly 16 min without swearing in this video

[PracticalInspiration]

David Goggins has a mindset I've rarely seen. His ability to look past pain to achieve his goals is just incredible

[EkundayoOnifade]

When Goggins said we are all going through a war in our heads. I felt that. Our subconscious mind really wants the best for us but consciously we choose not to do anything about it.

[Dean-zibj]

Thanks everyone for putting this together.

"If you can discipline yourself to do the things you need to do whether you feel like it or not, your success is virtually guaranteed."

[tristinandrews]

I love David's perspective. When the pain shows up, that's when the growth can happen. He mentioned once that when you really start to feel uncomfortable, that's when you find out who you really are. It's akin to the old Rocky scene, right? "It's not about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."

[AuthenticSelfGrowth]

Not everyone can go to navy seal training but everyone can consciously create challenges in their own life to help them grow. The resistance of challenge is needed for you to develop inner strength and essentially conquer yourself.

[singularity-]

On one hand, I appreciate many of the things said here. Having such a mindset is a thing that can get you past goals you didn't think you'd ever pass. A certain amount of this is very helpful.

With that said, there are times and places to switch on that mindset, to use it effectively. Running until you damage your kidneys and break small bones in your feet is harmful in more ways than physical. It sounds like a problem.

Mental toughness is a poweful thing, and a great thing to cultivate, but there is also something to be said for rationality, for not self-destructing for no good reason, so you can "live to fight another day" as they say.

While I think we could use more mental toughness, more discomfort in our daily lives to keep us growing, there is a point past which there are fast diminishing returns.

For example, I could probably technically push through more pushups than I think I can on an average day, until I can't lift my arms. I could run a marathon until I damage my kidneys, for no real reason; not for survival, just to prove to someone else how tough I am to push through the pain.

Or, I could train in a way that pushes my limits and builds that same mental toughness, and not damage what I came to build up, slowing my progress toward the goal. It won't be as flashy as breaking myself to prove it to everyone else, so I won't end up bragging about it anywhere, but I'll have the same fortitude.

[nthegreat]

A really good book is “The mans Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl. Its a memoir of a psychologist that endures the Nazi camps. He talks about how men would cope and find meaning in their horrible existence. Just like the man in the vid said, the people who live/succeed seem to take control of the only thing they can, themselves.

[pertywerty]

What drives me to keep running when I start feeling sore is that I know eventually I will hit a sweetspot where I am so tierd that I no longer will feel my legs, I just know Im moving forward. It is a very wierd out of body expirience, and you probably need some cardio training so you can achieve that without being unproductive, but its like finding ultimate peace. Everything just goes by and you feel not a thing, in a good way.

[frederickryeland]

This video made me feel very grateful to my father, deceased since 11 years ago. This is the mindset he has been teaching me since childhood but I only realized it somewhere in my twenties.

[jcam]

This was right on time for me ! Discipline, Consistency, And Focus was written on the front of my locker at work . Now retired, it’s even more important than ever .

[paulruiz]

Sensory Deprivation chamber. Learning a language in six weeks cut from six months. Fascinating!

[FernandoVazquez-ronw]

Combine this mindset with self-compassion for tought moments and you will be invincible

[bobate]

I appreciate David Goggins explaining how he broke his laziness. And I like the other guy intake on marriage just like a business needing 100% from both parties not 50/50....then he goes on further...

[djtrakakadrunkpoet]

These military videos are helping me put in perspective my half a mile walk and my job at Kroger. The discipline is there, but as I meet challenges I complain . These videos help me just get to it

[c.galindo]

Wow. I am aware of all of this from personal past experience but to convey it in such a way I fully understand that capability even further than I have going through it. It all makes sense and is so simple yet the simplest things are often overlooked. I love this video and it’s all so very true. This is absolutely fantastic

[claresmithy]

Train your mind to see the good in every investment.

[Talkinglife]

The first question I would ask is why you want to develop a warrior mindset. What does that mean to you? What is a warrior? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “warrior” comes from Middle English: “from Old Northern French werreior, variant of Old French guerreior, from guerreier ‘make war’, from guerre ‘war’.” A warrior was one engaged in a war. In more modern times, a warrior is seen as someone who fights, but usually for a non-physical cause such as an ideology or philosophy. For example, I am a warrior for the Second Amendment but that doesn’t mean I’m engaged in physical combat. It’s more of a mental state.

[teddymills]

Man does about 16 pullups. He is toast. Can barely lift his arms. That's all David, I cannot do even one more pullup. David then says "Ok we're not leaving here until you do 100 more." I felt that.