The Ultimate Team Sport
Exploring the lessons learned and the lives changed on "The War Path."
Book of the Week: Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Taking leadership principles from the battlefield and applying them to the home front.
“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Mission Brief
In life, as in all things, there are levels. I quickly learned this upon entering college, as I adapted my small-town perceptions of what it means to be smart, athletic, or talented, recognizing that amidst 20,000 students some people are racing on higher gears. When it comes to the gears of pressure, fear, and struggle, it seems that there are not many levels higher than that of warfare. The concept of warfare alone is extreme, taking us to our limits and pushing us to the brink of danger with the ultimate price on the line: the lives of our comrades. In their book, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, retired Navy SEAL’s and co-founders of leadership training and consulting company Echelon Front, Jock Willink and Leif Babin unload the lessons they learned through the ugly, the beautiful, the unforgiving, and the demanding aspects of leading troops in such an environment. Centering on their service in Iraq, the two walk you through the complex challenges that they faced as naval officers, such as cooperating with Iraqi locals, making decisions under pressure and uncertainty, and managing emotions and egos amidst the chaos of war; additionally, they take you through some of the lessons they learned as both candidates and instructors in the infamous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDS) school. Willink and Babin break these intense combat experiences down to the leadership principles that drive success on the battlefield, and they explain how you can leverage these same principles in business and in life. With these many principles in the book, the pair communicate a common theme: if a leader is to be successful, they must take exceptional accountability for themselves, their subordinates, and their mission — they must take “Extreme Ownership.”
“Combat is reflective of life, only amplified and intensified.” - Babin
Comments, Questions, and Concerns
As an ROTC cadet, this book resonated directly with my training on campus, vastly improving the ways that I communicate, diversifying the ways I approach problems, and expanding my perspective on leadership; however, its lessons and incites proved equally valuable outside of my military life, where they helped me control my emotions, look at the big picture, take responsibility for my outcomes, prioritize my tasks, and execute my missions. In particular, I benefitted from Extreme Ownership’s emphasis on personal accountability, in that it encouraged me to ask more of myself and to own my fate. I found myself spending less time pointing fingers at others, feeling bad for myself, and making excuses, while spending more time owning my mistakes, focusing on controllables, and making progress. Whether you are a lieutenant leading a platoon, a CEO managing a company, or a parent raising a family, if you are looking to take your leadership abilities to the next level, then Extreme Ownership is the book for you.
“Discipline equals freedom.” - Willink
Podcast of the Week: David Goggins On The Joe Rogan Experience #1080 and #1212
Unraveling the years of pain, suffering, and honest reflection that built one of the hardest men on Earth.
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“There was a quote… ‘Out of the 100 men that go into war, 10 shouldn’t even fucking be there, 80 of them are just targets, 9 do most of the fighting, and 1 is a warrior.’... [In life] I wanted to be in that 9, and I’m working towards being that 1.” - David Goggins on his drive towards hard-work and adversity.
The Warrior
If you’ve ever run a race, you are familiar with the sticking point, the wall. In the marathon, it is the notorious 18th mile, where your adrenaline dwindles, your muscles seem unresponsive, and the voices of weakness and cowardice start creeping in. It is in these moments, that all the talk and the theory go out the window, and you decide who you are going to be. David Goggins, retired Navy Seal, ultra-marathon athlete, and motivational icon, knows these situations very well, as he continuously encountered them on his journey through 100-mile races, performing 4030 pull-ups in 24 hours, surviving 3 Hell Weeks, and overcoming the mental demons that haunted him in his life. After bringing his story to the public, Goggins has become a beacon of inspiration and hope for people of all races, socioeconomic statuses, and backgrounds, exemplifying that we are capable of achieving far more than we believe.
“You can’t dissect anything in 72-degree weather. You must put [your brain] in the freezer and freeze the f*** out of it, and then you dissect it. Dissect it when it’s miserable. Dissect the brain when all it’s thinking about is, ‘I need to get out of here man.’” - Goggins on finding himself through struggle.
The Battle
In both of his appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, Goggins’ spirit is palpable over the camera, as he adamantly tells stories from his career in the U.S. Special Forces, persevering through an abusive childhood, running with broken bones, and chasing unimaginable challenges to harden his body and mind. Outside of their discussions on fitness, Rogan and Goggins parse through the ladder’s career as a Navy SEAL, experience working as a wildland firefighter, and philosophies on relentlessly attacking life. Whether you find yourself chasing a goal, stuck in a rut at work, or doubting your ability to succeed, I think you will find all of the inspiration you need if you replace those negative and discouraging voices in your mind with the hardened and fierce words of David Goggins — “Stay Hard.”
“Those moments of inspiration, those are critical for people...They need to know that someone’s done something — that someone’s done something that’s greater than what they can imagine themselves doing.” - Joe Rogan on Goggins’ impact.
The Aftermath
For a deeper dive into Goggins’ voyage from sitting on the couch at 300 lbs to jumping out of planes and breaking world records, look into his book Can’t Hurt Me.