11 Navy SEAL Mental Toughness Tips | How to train the SEAL mentality | Warm welcome (2023)

Mental toughness is important to living a happier and more fulfilling life. It allows you to work a lot with great discipline and speed. Furthermore, most people in high positions, as well as business people, have developed a tough mindset when faced with many challenges.

But if there's one group we can all learn from when it comes to mental toughness, it's honorable Navy SEALs. After facing countless fears and obstacles, these elite commandos have developed unshakable physical and psychological toughness. Through trials and tribulations in literally every aspect of their careers, these superhumans have achieved a mentally strong state that we all aspire to.

How you do it? How do they develop that wild mentality they are so well known for? How do they risk their lives day in and day out and still be cool?

After digging through some inspiring and thought-provoking books, I came up with 13 concrete tips on how to train and develop mental toughness the way only Navy SEALs can. In this article, I'll introduce you to the methods these elite fighters use to build confidence and mental strength, and how you can incorporate them into your everyday life. Have fun exploring and I hope you get some good ideas. Particularly,Lesson No. 7It's possiblemy favorite– which I also use in the newspaper.

What makes Navy SEALs mentally strong?

As SEALs must constantly prove themselves to their team and superiors, they must continually improve their own skills. This environment works as a positive feedback loop and creates even more opportunities for personal growth. To develop Navy SEAL-like mental toughness, you must create an environment conducive to growth.

And here are 11 specific tips, lessons, and exercises you can incorporate to make that happen:

1. Have a clearly defined mission and personal values

Most people go through life on autopilot. They "let life happen to them". Not the SEALs. Similar to other highly motivated individuals, SEALs have a personal mission statement that is supported by specifically listed values. When in doubt, they can make the right decisions because their mission statement and personal code are there to guide them.

For Navy SEALs, this works like a torch in a dark hallway, guiding them on the right path through an obstacle course.

Now we've all seen the company's mission and vision statements. But let's be honest: most of them don't address us personally. They are vague, generic, and always use something like "customer-centric".

But mission statements don't have to be so boring. In fact, when they are perfectly designed to the point that they resonate with a person, they can be quite inspiring and motivating. Mission statements and the idea of ​​a higher purpose are what drive SEAL action. Please note that a mission is not an objective. A goal is a single, factual goal. When you get to it, you can put a tick on your list. Rather, a mission drives your higher purpose in life.

First, take a look at how corporate missions come about and try to write something that will apply to you for at least the next 20 years of your life.

2. SEALs spend the day with micro-targets

And now it's time for the goals. Many of us set goals - it's a well-known technique that has been proven to work. We keep them SMART: simple, with concrete results and we set a deadline.

But what we often forget is the word after the R in the acronym: Realistic. Well, in order to become mentally strong, you must master this very aspect, because, unfortunately, you will often be disappointed.

What SEALs do differently, however, is that on extreme timescales, they break down everything they do into micro-goals.

For example, a former Navy SEAL officer explained that during his intense training days, he would divide the entire day into microgoals: lunch, dinner, and so on.

Not only does this help you tackle complex scenarios step by step, but it also sets a good tone for future goals. This means you're forced to use the natural height you gain from completing each objective until the next objective.

And these little motivation boosters come in handy when you're feeling pressured by colleagues and deadlines.

Now SEALs are tough and fight for their lives literally every day. Fortunately for us, we are privileged to sacrifice far less than they do. So how does this goal setting technique mostly translate to work scenarios. And if you want to see how effective it is, try it the next time you're working on a bigger, more complex project.

3. Navy SEALs perform mental visualizations.

Humans are visual animals. While many of us have different preferences for learning and consuming information, one thing connects us. Everything becomes much easier when you see what you are learning ahead of us, be it through pictures, examples, etc.

What makes Navy SEALs so mentally strong is that they took it a step further and turned it into a skill. Navy SEALs excel at vividly visualizing the goal they set. This helps the brain to process information much more easily.

Also, they actually ingrain their goals directly into their mental system through repetition, simply because they are great at visualizing that outcome.

The best method I've found to work, and one that you can try for yourself, is to visualize your goals the moment you wake up in the morning and just before you go to sleep at night. The more you visualize, the easier it becomes for your subconscious to absorb and adjust your desires.

This will practically change the way you behave throughout the day and will somehow mysteriously influence your behavior to make better, more purposeful decisions.

One technique I found helpful was to print out a picture or bulleted list of my goals. Once that's done, I'll squish them everywhere so they're constantly on my mind. I mean, you can find one on my bathroom mirror, on my fridge, in my wallet, on my desk screen, etc.

In fact, I was once so obsessed with my goals that I literally taped a piece of paper to my laptop screen. You can imagine how weird my colleagues looked at me while I was presenting something. But hey, who achieved their goals by listening to what everyone else had to say? Try.

4. The SEALs' Secret Technique for Managing Your Stress Levels

Now, it would be unfair to say that Navy SEALs don't have a few tricks up their sleeves that are largely unknown to the general public when it comes to managing stress. One of the best ways to suppress and control the initial fear response is actually a breathing technique called "4×4 breathing" or "square breathing exercise" or "box breathing".

You can see how easy it is just by trying it. The idea behind this exercise is that you breathe like this:

• Inhale gently while counting from 1 to 4.
• Hold your breath with inflated lungs and count from 1 to 4 again
• Exhale slowly while counting from 1 to 4
• Now just rest with an empty breath while counting from 1 to 4.

Repeat the exercise until you "forget" what you are doing. Remember that this is a very valuable tool that will serve you in any situation you may find yourself in. It's so subtle I can guarantee no one will notice.

If you do this in a stressful situation with other people, you might even be perceived as more authoritative and in control, as there will be no audible change in your breathing pattern and body language.

Although I can't remember where, I remember reading about a police officer stating that they did this so often that they often did it subconsciously when stressed. In the special report, he explained how he "caught up" shopping. What a great tool that also works no matter what you're doing!

5. You are trained to deal with the initial, unconscious fear response.

Let's explain it like this. Humans lived in caves too recently for our psychological response to fear to have evolved. We used to be cavemen, surrounded by the forces of nature that scared us on a daily basis. We are past those times, but our consciousness has remained basically the same. Despite the changes in our lives, our body's psychological response to fear is very similar to that of our ancestors.

Well, SEALs are no different when it comes to fear. As with everyone, fear is a natural process for them. But where they differ from ordinary people is that they are conditioned to deal with fear. No one is immune, but anyone can learn to deal with it.

Fear is an automatic response controlled by the amygdala, a small part of the brain common to all mammals that triggers the fight-or-flight response. It is important to understand that fear is a factor that results from the amygdala's PERCEPTION that the situation is going to end, not what the current situation is.

Let me elaborate on that. In a split second, triggered by the amygdala, the brain can process the situation and come to a conclusion. This is how this process works:

• First, the brain assesses the situation and the possible consequences for us.
• Then judge how well prepared we are for the situation.
• Finally, assess the consequences if you don't handle the situation or if you don't handle it successfully.

When for some reason the brain realizes that you have less chances of dealing with the situation, that is, the negative outcome of the situation can cause more pain than the gains from a possible positive outcome, we fear an increase in anxiety.

But the reality of the matter is that this does not always represent the truth. Understanding that your fear is a reaction caused by your brain's inaccurate judgment means you are one step closer to overcoming your fears and ultimately becoming mentally stronger.

Well, one of the ways to develop a tough skin like Navy SEALs do is to face your fears. SEALs are trained to control their fear response by challenging them in deterministic and safe ways. They realize that hiding from their fears is not an option and will only do them a disservice later on. Hiding from your fears only allows them to grow and become more and more frightening. Instead, they face their fears head on and pursue them. To quote former Navy SEAL Officer Jocko Willink:

"The more you hide from it, the bigger it gets. It gets even scarier. Don't let that happen."

(Video) "USE THESE 4 SECRETS To Tackle Goals Like A NAVY SEAL!" | Goalcast

Finally, take the words of one of my favorite people, Jordan Peterson. In an interview, he said (similarly) what I personally use to guide me through difficult times:

"It's not about not being afraid. It's about being brave."

6. SEALs work in highly effective teams.

We all know that teamwork is essential to achieving something big. But when it comes to cooperation, no one is as smart as SEALs. Because when the fog of war lifts, things get messy at best. We're lucky we don't have to deal with this alone, but the SEALs do, so they need to be prepared.

If you are responsible for a team, if you are a leader yourself, the best lesson I can give you is taken directly from Jocko Willink's book, Extreme Ownership:

“In every team, in every organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader.The leader must own everything in his world.It's not anyone else's fault. The leader must recognize mistakes and admit mistakes, admit them and develop a plan to win.

What if you're part of a team whose leader isn't up to the task? The best thing you can do is take another piece of advice straight from Navy SEALs. Adopting the “extreme ownership” mindset means you need to “step up” and take responsibility even when your leaders don't.

7. The Navy SEAL's Secret Weapon: The Checklist

While Navy SEALs cannot control every possible variable, they can still ensure that one thing is working properly: processes. There are many unknowns when entering a battlefield, but there is one thing we can all control: human error. They do this by following a checklist, the same checklists on a piece of paper that reduce human error in many areas: doctors and nurses in hospitals, ground controls and pilots in airports, etc.

It's not just about creating a checklist every now and then. While this can certainly relieve stress in certain situations, the biggest idea behind the checklist is to create one for recurring tasks. This can improve all areas of life, from making sure the task is done successfully to simply knowing things are being done right. In SEAL terms, that means many different types of recurring checklists that they have memorized.

But if you think your job is tough, imagine the many UNKNOWN situations SEALs can find themselves in and still need to be prepared for. In these scenarios, there's something called "sensory overload," where people are given too much information through multiple senses to handle and process.

In these extreme cases, it is “very easy” for human error to occur. Therefore, when planning the early stages of a project, establishing an effective Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) can avoid many problems.

I personally love this tip and use it in all my work. And the place where I find it most useful is in actual writing and publishing work. This is because we often work with people whose attention is not fully focused on our project, and therefore this is an area where many problems can arise.

8. Rigorous Advance Planning

We all had to plan ahead. From simple tasks in our private life to big work projects involving many parts. But if you're in charge or have a team behind you, one thing you can learn from Navy SEAL planning is the "Decentralized Command" system.

In his book, Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink explains how Decentralized Command has facilitated many struggles for leaders and fighters in the field. The principle here is that each person can focus fully on their responsibilities, as young leaders can make critical decisions to lead their teams effectively.

This structure requires tremendous trust, and it goes both ways. Leadership must not only trust junior leaders, but junior leaders on the battlefield must also trust the strategic decisions their leaders are making and that their leaders trust them and support them in their decision making.

Essentially, then, splitting larger teams into smaller teams and assigning a team leader who understands the mission and broader vision and who follows standard operating procedures is what drives SEALs to successfully plan and execute missions.

9. Navy SEALs remain vigilant and present in the moment.

In situations where your life is constantly on the line, you need to be aware of your surroundings. One technique SEALs use is to always "return fire". That is, if they are struck with a sudden fear of a certain task, for example, they immediately rush into it.

By doing so, they literally change the way your brain works and reacts to anxiety and stressful situations. In everyday life, you may have heard this Navy SEAL mental toughness exercise called "The 3 Second Rule". The idea here is simple. If you're thinking about doing something and your brain responds with a wave of fear, don't give yourself more than 3 seconds to respond and commit to the task. Likewise, determined SEALs have no choice but to put themselves in harm's way, and this trains their minds over time to be tough by default.

10. You learn from your own mistakes and the mistakes of others

Now everyone knows how to analyze and correct their mistakes. But for Navy SEALs, it goes a step further, and the core concept is different. In fact, this is a great place to take a look at #6 on our list as it pertains to Jocko Willink's book Extreme Ownership. In it, he begins with a story of what the military calls "blue on blue." This is the situation where two parts of an allied force face each other, often without knowing who is on the other side. I won't spoil more, but the lesson is clear. As Navy SEALs face dire consequences when they make mistakes, they are forced to learn from their past mistakes.

There are two main elements on how you can implement this into your life:

First, responsibility. As leaders or aspiring leaders, many expect more recognition and less blame. However, this can be disadvantageous in almost all areas of life. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that, as leaders, we are forced to give our own more credit and still take full responsibility. That is, when a project is successful, the leaders are the ones who must nominate the main individual contributors. On the other hand, when a project fails, the leaders are the ones who must be held accountable because, ultimately, they made the decisions, and they made the wrong decisions. Yes, a single contributor might not have enough skill, but he was the one who ignored it and didn't act accordingly.

To put things in perspective, imagine this happened on the battlefield.

If a marine is not skilled enough, he will not be allowed to enter the battlefield in the first place. If a leader allows this to happen, it is absolutely his responsibility if that person fails.

Adopting this mindset will help you develop mental and character toughness, as well as earn the respect of your peers.

11. Adopt a "don't give up" mindset

Some people are born fighters. They find it easy to stand up for what they believe in. For others, not so much. But like everything else, this is a skill you can learn to become mentally stronger.

As SEALs operate in highly dangerous environments, it is believed from the beginning that they trust no one. To become a SEAL, you must earn the trust of others, and you do so with self-control and sacrifice. Having the mental capacity to see beyond the self prepares each individual to sacrifice for the greater good. Whether it's staying safe at home by sleeping or protecting the lives of their own brothers on the battlefield, SEALs know they have a

For you, that means creating an environment where you are encouraged to grow. Take me as an example: I made the conscious decision to create this blog because it is a great incentive for personal and professional growth. I have incentives to keep writing because it also teaches me new things, which makes me feel really good. In other words, "work" doesn't feel like work when the reward system I've developed for my brain through this exercise is positive.

Build discipline like Navy SEALs, one step at a time

In a way that many find somewhat masochistic, Navy SEALs face many dangers and overcome impossible challenges.

They are so hard they look easy, but many who have tried have only learned the lesson of not underestimating the mental toughness of SEALs. Given that the real challenge starts just a few weeks after training and lasts for 24 weeks (almost half a year!), SEALs must learn and adapt quickly.

With only about 25% of them going through the infamous Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, also known as BUD/S training, SEALs must continue to prove their mental, physical and emotional worth in the toughest conditions. This is a lesson we can all take to heart. Constantly exposing ourselves to new challenges and facing our fears helps us develop mental toughness similar to that of a Navy SEAL.

This is all for now. If you liked the article, consider checking out some of my other work that might help you improve.

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