Hey everybody! I just read this interesting journal entry from SealFit founder Mark Devine. I really thought it was worth sharing so here it is!
During this final segment to the Staying in the Fight SEALFIT Journal series, I want to emphasize the significance of what we’ve covered and how everyday decisions can ultimately impact whether you succeed or fail in your life’s endeavors.
A “staying in the fight” mentality is crucial for success in any endeavor. Whether you are an MMA fighter, business executive or CrossFit athlete, staying in the fight is about properly orienting your inner self at critical moments. Every race, fight, mission, business venture or crisis has critical “inflection points,” where the outcome can swing one way or the other based upon the actions (or lack thereof) of the key player.
You are that key player.
Someone wise once told me that our lives are defined by millions of tiny decisions, and only a few big ones. We tend to focus on the big ones, but it is the tiny decisions that stack up over time and define who we are. Consider the following:
Do you occasionally dilly-dally too long on an unimportant project so you have an excuse to miss that ugly looking workout? Or do you embrace the suck and lean into the tough ones, knowing that each decision to do so makes you stronger over the long haul?
If you value discipline but don’t practice discipline then it is not your value. It is just a trait you appreciate in others. Practicing a value re-enforces it until it becomes a virtue. Virtues are deeply ingrained value-based habits which require no conscious thought. When strong values are habituated into virtues, right action results in the form of good tiny decisions made throughout the day.
Bottom line: you should train daily to be mentally tough, physically prepared, emotionally deep and intuitive. Train your indomitable, never-quit spirit. Don’t wait for some miracle or distant future date to start. Make it part of every tiny decision you make here and now.
The world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Destiny favors the prepared. Living with your head buried in the sand of ignorance, denial, or non-presence is a recipe for disaster. We have all heard people complain about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This can’t happen. Wherever you are, there you are. You are either:
* at the right place at the right time (you are present)
* or at the right place at the wrong time (your head is in the past or future)
In either case, the decisions you make at that moment will determine whether you are a loser or a hero. It simply boils down to having the mental toughness and clarity for right thought, which will lead to right action.
Don’t wish for things that are critical to living a good life. Work on making them part of you. Starting now.
Moving on to our final tips for developing your mental toughness, so you can stay in the fight… and emerge victorious every time.
Be a Team Player
Take your eyes off yourself and put them on your teammates. Don’t spend too much time looking in the mirror. Put your teammate’s needs before yours. Imagine if everyone did this. Everyone on the team would be watching your back and supporting you, while you were focused on supporting them.
Do this and you will witness something magical. Why?
1. Shared risk. When you share risk equally with teammates, your credibility and trust among teammates goes through the roof. The accountability that comes with shared risk ensures that you act at your best, at all times. You don’t want to let your teammates down. You don’t want them to let you down. You support each other and grow together as peers.
2. Responsibility. The responsibility of having to take care of your team is enormous, but you are not alone. Because of this, you will step up your level of commitment and focus on the mission. The stakes are much higher now than just the potential for letting yourself down.
Finally, an esoteric concept called the Law of Attraction. We attract that which we focus on – subconsciously. We have discussed this at length in the section on positivity. If we take this to the team level, then we note that a positive focus on the welfare and success of our team has the energetic effect of transforming not just the team, but ourselves. What you give out, you will get back at least 10x. In turn, be an island, fly solo, and you will decrease your return by 10x. It is much easier to be mentally tough when you have a bunch of other tough people watching your back!
Embrace the Suck!
During a tough evolution, whether a workout, mission, project or crisis, everyone is experiencing the same pain. It doesn’t help you or the team to whine about it. Embrace the suck means to learn to handle abnormal levels of pain and discomfort. You don’t have to like it; you just need to learn to deal with it. Embrace it and find a way to create a positive emotional association with it. Refer to the discussion on the 3rd Mountain of Emotional Control, and also Positivity for ideas. Remember, the best things in life come with pain attached to them. The more pain, the more valuable it is.
“Fake it ’til you make it” will plant seeds of positive energy and, perhaps even humor. Finding humor and grace in painful situations is a powerful skill. Often there is much humor and beauty in sublime and challenging circumstances. Surrender to the reality of the situation – don’t fight it – flow with it.
* Find humor where others can’t
* Find beauty in misery
* Don’t fight, flow!
* Enjoy the journey despite the hardships
Thus concludes our final segment of the Staying in the Fight series. I hope you have enjoyed this new SEALFIT Journal format and can put the concepts to use immediately. I look forward to working with you all in in person. Train hard, stay focused, and be safe! Coach Divine, Founder, SEALFIT
I wanted to thank all of you for the support and congratulations you have extended to the Teams. SEALFIT is gaining exposure and popularity for our mind, body and spirit training- forging mental toughness. I hope to meet many of you over the next several months.
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