Life Changing Experiences Test Your Mettle

Life Changing Experiences Are Challenging

Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events—long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics—something designed to test your mettle.

These life changing experiences as a Navy SEAL are provided by Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Meeting Standards and Not Quitting

Every event had standards—times you had to meet.  If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to—a “circus.”

A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics—designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit. No one wanted a circus.

A circus meant that for that day you didn’t measure up.  A circus meant more fatigue—and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult—and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone—everyone—made the circus list.

Getting Stronger and Stronger and Building Resilence

But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list.  Overtime those students-—who did two hours of extra calisthenics—got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength-built physical resiliency.

Life is filled with circuses. You will fail.  You will likely fail often.  It will be painful.  It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core. But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses. One way to build resilience is to learn how to build power and influence.

Every part of life has standards, from taking tests at school, to having reviews at work. And at one time or another we all fail. But once we realize that EVERYONE suffers at some point in their life, and that every time we face our challenges it makes us stronger—than we can let go of our fear and work through our problems knowing we will come out the other end stronger and less afraid.