unbeatable mind book mark divine v1

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UMA-BOOK-2012

Unbeatable Mind © Copyright Mark Divine 2011-2012

Mark D. Divine Unbeatable Mind

© 2011-1012 Mark D. Divine

[email protected]

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

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UNBEATABLE

By Mark Divine

My Body is my Home My Home is my Temple

My Loyalty is Power

My Power grows with Loyalty

My Training is Magic My Magic grows with Training

My Breath is Life and Death

Life and Death is each Breath

My Emotions are Control My Control is over Emotion

My Senses are Awareness

My Awareness is beyond Sense

My Adaptability is Strength My Strength is Adaptable

My Friend is my Mind

My Mind is not Me

My Enemy is Carelessness Carelessness is my Weakness

My Protection is Right Action Right Action is Right Thought

My Ambition is Honor

My Strategy is one Breath at a time

My Way is Unbeatable


Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1 - The First Premise of Unbeatable Mind Training Chapter 2 – The Two Primary Disciplines of the Unbeatable Mind Chapter 3 – The Three Stages of Mental Toughness Chapter 4 – The Four Levels of Awareness Chapter 5 –The Five Critical Skills for Developing an Unbeatable Mind Chapter 6 – The Six Core Values of the Unbeatable Mind Chapter 7 – The Seven Secrets to Training Mental Toughness Chapter 8 – The Eight Traits of the Unbeatable Warrior Chapter 9 – Summary & Navy SEAL Ethos Epilogue – Introduction to SEALFIT Warrior Yoga


The Body is the Feeler of Emotions and Sensations

The Mind is the Thinker of Thoughts

The Witness is the observer of all.

Prologue

Unbeatable Mind© Copyright Mark Divine 2011 – 2012

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Welcome to Unbeatable Mind!

What is it worth to you to live the life of an elite warrior, and to succeed

at the top 1% of society at whatever goal you choose to tackle?

This book is about becoming mentally tough. The concepts I present

may not be new – in fact some have been in use by elite warriors for

thousands of years. However, most are ignored in the fast-paced society

we live in. Only a few lucky martial artists, yoga practitioners and

spiritual seekers have found the secrets held in this book.

Welcome to the club! This information will change your life if you take

action; bold action, and begin a daily unbeatable mind practice.

This training is not for the drive-by reader looking for a secret tip that

will provide instant access to the world’s wisdom and turn you into

Bruce Lee. Forging mental toughness and a warrior’s unbeatable mind

spirit takes discipline, time and lots of hard work.

You don’t mind working hard?

Then read on.

This book will give you a sound overview of how to develop mental

toughness at the personal and team level, and a framework for

understanding how mental toughness and warrior spirit are developed

by warriors.

The Unbeatable Mind Workbook is a companion exercise book. Each

chapter is summarized and has an exercise to work on. If you work on


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the exercises, and implement the recommendations provided in the book

and supplemental workbook, you will develop an Unbeatable Mind.

I guarantee this result. If it doesn’t work, then send me the book back

and I will refund your money. But you need to send me your training

journal with it!

If you are looking to also start a workout program with SEALFIT, be sure

to look into my 8 Weeks to SEALFIT (Hard Copy or eBook), book and our 8

Weeks to SEALFIT Online Coaching program where you can get direct

support from a SEALFIT Certified Coach.

Now let’s begin the journey to building an unbeatable mind!

Hooyah!

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3

Chapter 1

The First Premise of Unbeatable Mind Training


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“When a man is beaten, tormented and defeated… he is ready to learn something” -- Emerson

It was pitch black and the sound of the rotor blades was deafening. The

Jumpmaster gave us the thumbs up and the light turned green, which

meant - go. I was second off the ramp. My SEAL Qualification Training

teammate Chris went first. I leapt into the dark. The static line did its job

and pulled my main chute from its rig. I counted one thousand one, one

thousand two; one thousand three then looked up to check my canopy.

A-ok. Phew looks like I’m gonna survive this jump.

Ahead in the darkness I could see the vague outline of Chris’ canopy. For

some reason he was turning. I took a closer look – yep he was turning

right toward me. The standard operating procedure for a potential mid-

air collision is for both jumpers to pull their right toggles, thereby

turning both jumpers right and away from each other. I turned right.

Chris turned left and collided with me.

Chris was slightly above me – which I still don’t know how that could

happen since he left the ramp before me. Didn’t matter now. My canopy

collapsed and turned into a wobbly sheet. I began plummeting to the

earth picking up speed. We left the Helo at 1100 feet. The collision

happened at around 800 feet. I had 8 seconds remaining in my 26 year

old life. Shit.

My mind slowed down. My breathing slowed down. Time slowed down.

Each second seemed like a minute. I went through my malfunction


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checklist. Pull on riser to try to re-inflate canopy. Nothing. I pulled my

reserve chute cord, punched the bag and ripped the reserve out and

threw it as hard as I could into the wind. The reserve shot up and

waffled a bit around the main. I was screwed. The ground was fast

approaching. I took another deep breath and shook the risers of the

main canopy again. I said my goodbyes, and prayed that I had lived a

good enough life that the next few moments would be filled with white

light instead of fire.

Suddenly the main chute caught some air, and in the very next instant I

hit the ground like a ton of bricks. The canopy had not fully inflated, but

it caught just enough air to slow me down for a survivable landing.

I waited a moment, took a deep breath to confirm I was still alive. I

scanned my body for broken bones. None. Amazingly I was unscathed.

I got up off the ground, dusted myself off, and then marched off to find

Chris so I could deck him. That was a close call. It was one of many

during my 20-year career as a SEAL. As my career unfolded, I found that

it was not an unusual circumstance for any special operator. Just

another day at the office!

What stuck with me though was how my training had kicked in and

allowed me to perform under this extremely stressful situation. My mind

took on an almost mystical feeling as it slowed down and allowed a larger


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intelligence and calmness to flow through it. Had I tried to think my way

out of the problem I would not have made it.

About 1 year earlier, I was on the training floor of my martial arts school,

Seido Karate in Manhattan. I was a CPA working on Wall Street. My

mentor, and perhaps savior, was Kaicho (Grandmaster) Tadashi

Nakamua, Seido’s founder and head teacher. I was half-way through my

first degree black belt test.

The test started out innocuously. Demonstrate all the katas and self-

defense moves from white belt through brown. No problem. Then came

the curve ball. I was asked to get my sparring gear on. I noticed a long

line of very scary looking senior black belts coming into the school. Uh

oh. This looks ominous, I thought.

An hour and a half later I was still fighting. Every black belt gets two

fights with me. It seems like the word had gone out across the city that

Mark Divine was getting his black belt, so come on in to teach him a

lesson. Everyone came to get a piece of me that day.

I recall very clearly when my mind shut off. It was when I was fighting

Sensei Leyton. Leyton was an incredible martial artist. One of many

inner city black youth who found liberation at Seido Karate, Leyton was

known as extremely competent, relentless and vicious. He immediately

exploited my weaknesses. He laid me flat on my back twice in succession


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so fast it was funny even for me. I had to get serious or I was not going

to survive.

I shouted to myself internally “NOW or NEVER” and took several deep

breaths to slow my breathing and mind down.

I opened my eyes wide and stop focusing on Leyton and instead tried to

take in the whole room. My mind went silent. I went somewhere else in

that moment. I was not sure where I went, but I started fighting with a

force and abandon that I had not shown until that moment.

Moves were flowing out of me with precision and power. Time slowed

and I was easily able to detect the kicks and blows coming at me with

enough room to counter the blow or get out of the way.

I got Leyton's attention, and the attention of Mr. Nakamura. He called a

stop to the test. It was over. That was the moment he was looking for.

That was the unbeatable mind in action. The only way he could bring it

out was to push me to the edge mentally and physically, then let me jump

over into the unknown. I had to let go of my limited, thinking mind, in

order to tap into the power of the unbeatable mind.

This experience and others like it would prove to be pivotal, allowing me

to sail through BUD/s and become honor man of my SEAL training class

170. It also saved my life several times – including when I nearly fell to

my death that dark night in SQT.


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What are the characteristics of an unbeatable mind? Can we train to

have an unbeatable mind? How can we tap into unbeatable power and

use it for good in society?

We will seek to answer these questions in this book. Open your mind,

relax your breathing, and let’s begin!

If you are reading these words, then I am assuming you are a warrior.

You have been drawn to this moment by your thoughts, which have

inspired your actions to develop your mental toughness and warrior

spirit.

You are a warrior regardless of your path in life. Some warriors are

Navy SEALs. They are the fit, aggressive and adventurous ones. Other

warriors are on a peace or education mission abroad. Others yet are

warriors in the commercial realm, upholding a code of honor severely

lacking in the business world – and are under attack daily.

Warriors differ in degree, not spirit. The battlegrounds are different, but

the motivation, values and warrior spirit are alike.

Sun Tzu said, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while

defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”.


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True warriors are unbeatable because they have conditioned their minds

to be unbeatable. They learn to control their minds and win internally

well before they enter the fight.

This is the first Premise of Unbeatable Mind training

This sounds simple but it is not easy. It takes knowledge, skills and

practice. The process looks like this:

Step 1 is to gain control of your mind, rather than allow your mind to run

amuck. The mind running amuck I call the “monkey mind.” This is the

term that Buddhists use to describe the untamed mind. Their goal, like

ours, is to train the mind to be unfettered, focused, concentrated and

pure. So you need to gain control of the monkey mind, before you can

begin to work with it. Similar to roping the horse before you train it!

Step 2 is to charge your mind with positive energy.

Step 3 is to build your unbeatable vision in the fertile soil of your

unfettered mind.

Step 4 is to nurture and strengthen your vision through repeated

internal visualization practice.

Step 5 is to take massive action.


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Of course there are many nuances and skills involved in the details of this

process. But that is essentially it.

Control the mind.

Build your vision.

Act on it.

Where do we start if our minds, like most people, are like run-away

freight trains?

Start by controlling your mind.

If you are like most folks, you have heard about the benefits of

meditation, but the one time you tried it was a disaster. You sat down in

a nice comfortable chair, and tried like hell to think about nothing. In 3

seconds you were thinking about work, your girlfriend, or balancing the

checkbook. Darn it! Back to thinking about nothing. What about

dinner? Should you do the WOD today or a yoga class? What the heck

are you doing here; you have too much work to do. Forget it, you are out

of there!

That about sums up everyone’s first few attempts at sitting alone and

trying to think of nothing. It is hard!


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Don’t fret, I am here to both sympathize with you and to help. I have

been down that road, and I can attest to the challenges and benefits of

sticking with it. It is worth it.

You must control your mind if you want to develop an unbeatable mind,

and an uncommon level of peace, happiness and success. That peace

and success is accessed through a deep internal wellspring of power and

wisdom available to us all.

There are four aspects to training the first premise of unbeatable mind.

Witness

Your witness is your “true self.” Have you ever found “yourself” in the

mental back seat “watching yourself” in a conversation or action? Your

mind is in action, but you are aware of your mind in action. Who is that

in the background? Well that is you obviously. It is your soul or super-

consciousness witnessing your mind in action – and often in disbelief at

the crazy or erratic behavior coming out of your conscious “monkey

mind.”

(Note - many different words are used to describe the soul / spirit /

witness. We will use soul or spirit inter-changeably in this book and

have no religious connotation at all with our use of the word).


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By sitting in silence and observing thoughts you will empower your

“witness” and distance yourself from your “monkey mind.” This is the

same technique used by meditation practices such as Zen or Vipassana

meditation. Witnessing is considered a first step on the road to

enlightenment.

Interdict

As awareness of witness grows stronger you will start to get back into

the driver’s seat when a negative thought pattern emerges in your

conscious mind and starts to grow like a weed. When this happens, a

strategy for interdicting these thought patterns is very helpful. With no

interdiction of the negative thought pattern it will gain power and speed

until it temporarily controls your entire mind and behavior.

Road rage is an extreme example of this negative “hostile takeover” of

your mind. The problem is that we are willing participants because

negative thinking can be quite addictive and easy to fall prey to. A

negative trigger (such “that idiot cut me off!” in the road rage example),

if left unchecked, can grow to turn you into a monster who goes on to

ruin your day, and everyone else you touch as well.

How do we interdict these negative thought patterns?


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A Power Statement such as “NO,” or “STOP,” is ok. However both of

these words are negative as well, so you are only strengthening the

underlying negative energy.

I recommend a positive statement such as “I GOT THIS!” or “Nothing to

it!” or “I’m in control!”

The point is to find a statement or two that are positive, powerful and

meaningful to you. Then practice them until they become second nature

to use when you notice a negative thought arise.

Practicing this will allow your witness to notice when your monkey mind

starts running away with a negative thought pattern sooner each time.

Use your Power Statement and your mind will immediately stop the

negative pattern and await further instructions.

Re-direct

The re-direct is the set of follow-on instructions you provide your

conscious mind after your interdiction. If you interdict a negative

thought pattern but do not have a strategy for “what’s next” then there is

a strong likelihood that your mind will slip back into the same negative

pattern again.

The strategy now must be to inject a new, substitute positive thought

pattern into your brain-housing group that best supports your goals and

gives you momentum.


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Your re-direct strategy should be appropriate for your setting. In a

workout you may shout out your power statement, and then start a new

self-talk dialogue out loud. However, during a business meeting this

would be a bit awkward wouldn’t it?

Imagine being in a meeting and suddenly shouting “I GOT THIS!” at the

top of your lungs, then pacing around doing deep breathing exercises.

Your business associates would probably lock you up. A quiet internal

dialogue is necessary in these settings, but one that is emotionally

charged and can do the job of shifting you out of your negative state.

Maintenance

Once you witness, interdict and implement your re-direct strategy, it is

important to maintain the new positive thought pattern with a

repeatable positive statement that has meaning to you.

This simple and repeatable statement is called a mantra. It is like

background music that crowds out any negative thought pattern trying

to wedge its way back into your conscious brain. The difference is that

the mantra is like a coded message – it has meaning beyond the simple

words.

A mantra like “every day, in every way, I am getting better and better” or

“feeling good, looking good, ought to be in Hollywood” can be run


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endlessly in your “background mind” without using up too much CPU

space. These mantras can be “charged with meaning” when you

create them, so that the words evoke a physiological response based on

the meaning you intend. You continue with what you were doing in

your foreground mind while the mantra runs in the background. Your

mind remains under control and avoids negative traps.

There are digital tools that can help. I have an MP3 audio file on my

iPhone that I often run in the background when I am working. It has

positive affirmations overlaid with relaxing music. It is akin to re-

programming my mind on the fly.

Our culture has many negative triggers and thought patterns flowing

through it. An hour of TV news can do a ton of damage to our fertile

minds. We must continuously prune the negative weeds out of our

mind-garden, plant new positive flowers and then nurture them with

fresh positive energy daily.


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Chapter 1 Key Insights

1. The only thing you can control in life are your thoughts and your

breath

2. A warrior’s first premise is to cultivate an unbeatable mind

BEFORE they set off for war, regardless of their battlefield.

3. Negative thought patterns are first witnessed, then interdicted,

then re-directed to positive patterns, then maintained with a

positive mantra.

--Please refer to the exercises for each chapter in the companion workbook--


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Chapter 2

The Two Primary Disciplines of the Unbeatable Mind


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I sometimes refer to acceptance of the first premise outlined in Chapter

1 as “the awakening.” This is the moment when you wake up to the fact

that you are in the driver’s seat of your life.

In our offensive mind lecture at SEALFIT Academy I start by reminding

trainees that they are the “subject” and not the “object” of their life story.

They / you must write the script as you move through your life’s play.

You determine the story and the outcomes. You do NOT let someone else

control your destiny.

I once heard a story about two brothers who were twins. Their father

was a heavy drinker and abused them both terribly. A sad, but not

uncommon, story.

What was interesting is that a reporter did a story on the huge success

of one of the brothers. He had clawed his way out of poverty and a life

that had dealt him a bad hand, to the top of the American dream. The

reporter asked him point blank, “what do you attribute your success to?”

The man said: “I had to find a way up and out. You see, my father was a

horrible alcoholic and abused my brother and me as kids. I knew that if

I did not work hard and seek a better life I would end up like him.”

Curious, the reporter tracked down his twin brother. It just so happened

that he was a bum, living on the streets. Bad luck. She asked him point

blank: “what do you attribute your bad situation to?” The brother said: “I


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had no choice. You see, my father was a horrible alcoholic and abused

my brother and me as kids. I didn’t stand a chance.”

You see it all comes down to believing you have a choice to be in control;

to be the subject and write the script, and not the object and be acted

upon by unseen forces.

You CAN and MUST take charge of your mental preparation and change

your circumstances to create the life you desire. It takes an

understanding that you have sole control over thought, and that thoughts

create reality.

Check. Got it. Now what?

What comes next is to develop two primary disciplines for cultivating

your unbeatable mind and warrior spirit. These disciplines are like

railroad tracks for your life. The tracks keep you moving in an

unwavering, purposeful direction with great forward momentum.

First let’s discuss that word “discipline.” Common definitions include:

1. Training to ensure proper behavior: the practice or methods of

teaching and learning patterns of behavior.

2. Order and control: a controlled orderly state as in a classroom or

military unit.


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3. Calm controlled behavior: the ability to behave in a controlled and

calm way even in a difficult or stressful situation.

4. Conscious control over lifestyle: mental self-control used in

directing or changing behavior, learning something, or training for

something.

Definition Number 1 is closest to what we mean in this Chapter. To be

disciplined is literally to be a “disciple” to something bigger than you.

In the case of developing an Unbeatable Mind and the warrior path, the

seeker becomes a disciple to the practices of warrior-ship. The

disciplines then become a “practice” which is part of the trainee’s daily

life. It is this which I speak of when I say there are two primary

disciplines.

First Discipline - Self-Mastery

Self-Mastery is the number one discipline of the warrior. The

Unbeatable Mind training is all about self-mastery. It goes without

saying that as we master control over and use of the mind; we must also

master other important parts of ourselves. We are inter-connected and

integral beings – you can’t train one part of you without training the

whole you.


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There are 5 primary domains, or intelligences, that we focus on in the

development of Self-Mastery, they are:

1. Physical Readiness includes development of athletic and

warrior physical skills such as strength, stamina, work capacity,

endurance and durability.

2. Mental Toughness and Clarity includes development of mental

control, access to your creative subconscious mind, and acquisition

of specific skills, knowledge and expertise valuable to your

profession and calling.

3. Emotional Depth and Control includes deepening emotional

control and sensitivity to others, developing authentic

communication and releasing negative stored energy.

4. Awareness and Intuition includes turning within and

deepening our “sixth sense” and learning to listen with our “belly”

and all our sensory organs. The higher levels of development may

include pre-cognition and other intuitive powers.

5. Kokoro – Kokoro is “heart.” This includes development of an

unbeatable, non-quitting, spirit and a heart-centered approach to

humanity.


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There are four “sub-disciplines” that are encapsulated in the primary

discipline of Self-Mastery.

Simplicity & Contentment

Develop contentment with your situation in life, while at the same time

diligently working toward a better future. This applies to your personal

development as well as your career, financial freedom and relationship.

It does not do you much good to obsess about what you don’t have, or

wish you did have. Nor does it help to beat yourself up for not being

where you want to be physically, financially or spiritually. Develop

contentment for what you do have, coupled with a plan for getting to

where you want to be.

The bottom line is that as you progress on your path of self-mastery you

will gain more of what you want, and less of what you don’t, in ALL areas

of your life.

Being content with a moderate amount of possessions is crucial to a

warrior. Travel light and leave no trace. Moderation in needs leads to

contentment with what you have and where you are. This moderation

extends to your purchases, speech and desires.

Any military man or woman who has lived with multiple deployments

will be smiling right now as they acknowledge the truth of this concept.

How little we really need to get by and be happy. Each successive


23

deployment I made in the Navy, I took less junk. A friend of mine recently

sold his million-dollar home with everything in it, and rented a small

apartment. He said he has never felt so “light” and free in his life.

I recommend a monthly de-cluttering of your closet and garage. Add to

this your office and vehicle trunks if those get cluttered like mine. This

practice will help you keep you from accumulating too many

unnecessary possessions.

What can you let go of now?

Practice non-attachment. Let go of your attachment to physical objects.

It is very liberating. After all you can’t take it with you when you

graduate to the big leagues and join the warrior clan in the sky. No

baggage is allowed on that journey.

Seriousness & Dedication to practice

You must get serious about your training and practice if you seek self-

mastery. As a martial artist, I learned this early on. Training for the

Shodan rank black belt was a BIG deal. I trained 5 days a week, for a

couple hours at a time.

On top of the karate training, I ran 4 times a week and went to the gym

another 4 or 5. I raced triathlons on the weekend. I did all this


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physical training while working full time for a big 8 consulting firm,

attending NYU Stern School of Business and working toward my CPA

certificate. I tell you this not to stoke my ego but to demonstrate what a

dedication to practice can look like.

I was in my early 20’s at the time, and still had a lot to learn about

balance!

You must balance your seriousness and rigid training and with an

attitude of lightness, humor and not taking yourself too seriously. This

is a challenge for many. It was for me as a young warrior-athlete. But

as I matured and realized that the journey is more important than the

destination, I loosened up a bit.

Have you ever been around someone who is so tightly wrapped in their

own “warrior-ness” that they are about to pop? Contrast that with

warriors who have achieved self-mastery and you note the complete

opposite – a relaxed lightness and self-deprecating manner. They find

humor in everything, and have time for everyone. They make the

difficult seem easy!

Two years ago I found myself in Manhattan with my family visiting some

friends. I decided to stop by the old dojo to check it out. As we stepped

onto the training hall on 23rd Street, a flood of memories came rushing

back to me. I looked around and saw a black belt class in progress and

recognized many of the senior students, some of who had been there to


25

marshal me through my shodan test 20 years before. Leading the class

was none other than Mr. Nakamura. He noticed me, and immediately

stopped the class and came to welcome his visitors. “Mark, so good to

see you!” he said to me while giving me a big hug. “Is this your beautiful

wife and handsome son?” He introduced himself to my family. Then he

turned to the class and said to them: “this is Mark Divine, number one

Navy SEAL and a very good karateka!” I practically melted. I was in the

presence of a master, and he was complimenting me! I believe this to be

an amazing display of the character that is developed by a seriousness

and dedication to a practice of self-mastery.

Introspection or Contemplation

You will learn to love silence on your path to self-mastery. Silence is

where we “go” to rejuvenate, quiet our minds and hearts. We go within

to learn about the deeper nature of things.

In contemplation you think deeply about your life, human nature and the

nature of things in general. It is here that you begin to discern truth

more clearly. Discernment of truth leads to wisdom over time. This is

the fruit of the path of self-mastery.

At SEALFIT Academy we spend an hour practicing silence each day.

We use several key skills in our silence practice – breath control,

visualization and meditation. Trainees, after 3 weeks of practice,

routinely confirm that these were the most valuable skills learned. The


26

silence skills, not the physical training, are what help them get through

Kokoro camp (our 50 hour non-stop crucible is the graduation exercise

for the 3 week Academy).

Authenticity

Authenticity is both a fruit of the practice of self-mastery as well as a

practice in and of itself. Practicing integrity – a core value of the

Unbeatable Mind (see Chapter 6) is an “active” practice of authenticity.

It begins with awareness of our thoughts, then the alignment of those

thoughts with our words. Finally, we align our words with our actions.

Only when all three – thoughts, words and deeds are aligned and pure,

can we be authentic as humans. Our relationships are largely defined by

this practice. If we lack authenticity, then it is reflected in our

relationships as diminished trust. I also believe that leadership is really

about authenticity, rather than a host of tactics to get the team motivated

and bought into your vision. If you are not authentic, no matter how

talented you are you will not gain the trust of your team.

In Kokoro camp 12, I observed authenticity in action. Greg Amundson, a

CrossFit affiliate owner and warrior who teaches leadership to the

National Guard OCS students, assumed the role as class leader. This role

was freely given to him by the class as a result of Greg’s utterly selfless

approach to leading. He was clearly there to serve his teammates and to

learn from them in the process. He had nothing else to prove. He knew

the camp would be hard, but that by focusing on the needs of the team,


27

and taking things one evolution, or one step even, at a time they would

prevail. Greg’s integrity was indisputable and he was an authentic leader.

The class kicked butt as a result of his presence.

In a completely different setting I observed the opposite. I was interim

CEO for a software company helping the founders try to build a business

around their remarkable software. I sought help from a professional

consultant who understood the venture capital game. We worked hard

at polishing up the business and pitch, and were successful in raising $4

million dollars. However, when the term sheet came in I quickly noted

that the consultant was to be the new CEO as a condition of accepting

the money. Interesting!

I was out of a job as the result of my success. The consultant quickly

assumed control, paid himself a very large salary and increased the burn

rate of the company from $30,000 a month to over $300,000. The

founders started calling me after a couple months worried about the

path the CEO was taking. They did not have a voice in their own

company any longer and felt that the CEO didn’t care about them. My

words fell on deaf ears as well. The software was not ready for prime

time, and within a year and a half they were out of money. The founders

lost everything. No authenticity, no leadership, no joy.

Second Discipline - Service


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The second discipline is service. This is second because if you seek to

serve without seeking self-mastery, then you are serving for selfish

reasons. Expecting a return on investment is a weak position to serve

from. Service as a discipline requires the cultivation of three primary

attitudes or beliefs. These are:

Abundance Mentality & Generosity

An abundance mentality fuels generosity. Generosity in this context is

generosity of your spirit. If you believe that there is “enough for

everyone” and that the world is not a zero sum game, then you can open

up to being generous with your time, support and love. You will allow

this abundance energy to flow out of you like a river that is constantly

replenished by the wellspring of universal energy.

This is demonstrated in the simple things – such as tipping 20%

regardless of the service level. Taking the extra time when you are late to

help someone cross the street. Not hoarding the last or biggest steak off

the BBQ! Once at a BBQ, I practically had a finger removed by a hungry

man who had his stomach set on the large juicy steak I was about to take

off the serving block. His knife landed between my middle and ring finger

and stuck into the table. “Mine,” was all he had to say. Whoa. Truly there

is enough to go around, and cultivating your abundance mentality and

abandoning any thoughts of scarcity enrich you.


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Golden rule – give to get

Certainly this belief is related to abundance. The rule is fast, and is a

hallmark of the teaching of most spiritual traditions. If you give in

selflessness, you can expect to receive at least 10 times what was given.

It may come back to you later, and from a different source, and in a

different manner, than that in which it was given. But it will come back

to you.

On the other hand, if you hoard, are stingy with your money and energy,

and don’t give, then you will wither as a dying vine over time. Your

energy will stagnate and you will become brittle and inflexible in thought

and deed. This rule goes well beyond “having money” to your health and

overall well-being.

Compassion

You can’t serve well without an authentic compassion for your fellow

man. Compassion requires respect and love of self as a starting point.

Service to others is impossible if you don’t love, respect and have

compassion for yourself first. Sounds touchy feely but it is true, and a

warrior should have no problem with this one.

Compassion extends beyond family and team. It includes strangers, and

even our enemies. It is important to remember that the warrior is last

to pick up the lance.


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No one demonstrated this better than the late Medal of Honor recipient

Navy SEAL Michael Murphy at Operation Redwing. On a recon mission

in the mountains of Afghanistan, shepherds compromised his 4-man

team. The operationally astute action would have been to capture or kill

the shepherds to avoid them relaying the information to the Taliban. Lt

Murphy was unable to capture, and unwilling to kill the men. Instead he

let them go. This act of love for his fellow man, even potential enemy, had

disastrous consequences. However it is an honorable action driven by

compassion.

The true warrior is the last to pick up the weapon and pull the trigger.

This prayer written by Shadow Walker, an Apache Scout, in 1807 says is

best -credit to Tom Brown, Tracker School:


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Forgiveness Prayer

Grandfather of all Scouts,

I am your servant.

I am your people’s servant.

I have always sought peace and laid down the lance,

But now there is no choice, for all else has failed.

Forgive me Grandfather,

For now I must pick up the lance.

Direct my mind, direct my heart

So that there is no hatred, rage or revenge.

I use the power given unto me

from the place of love for my enemies.

And if it is your will, I will lay down my life

for my enemy, my brother.

I now willingly shoulder the burden of the warrior.

Guide my hands, Guide my heart.


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The responsibility of the warrior is a lifetime of uncommon values and

discipline, holding the warrior to a higher standard than society at large.

There are two primary disciplines that must be developed as you embark

upon the path toward developing Unbeatable Mind.

The first is the discipline of Self-Mastery. Self-Mastery is a daily

practice and training of the key lines of development critical to living a

good life, and the life of a warrior. These include the 5 Mountains of

Physical readiness, mental toughness and subconscious development,

emotional depth and control, awareness and intuition and finally, your

heart or unbeatable spirit.

Self-Mastery cultivates the sub-disciplines of simplicity, contentment,

seriousness, dedication, introspection and authenticity.

The work on Self-Mastery is life-long and the joy is to be found in the

journey, not the destination.

The second discipline is the discipline of Service. Service must be

selfless, and cultivates abundance, generosity, belief in the golden rule,

and compassion.

These disciplines and the 5 Mountains of personal development must be

worked on in tandem to ensure a balanced growth of the “whole person.”


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Chapter 3

3 Stages of Mental Toughness


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When a student shows up at BUD/s or SAS selection, they either have “it”

or they don’t. These special ops training programs, contrary to popular

belief, don’t’ “teach” mental toughness. A candidate either has it upon

arrival, picked it up through keen observation, or they forge it in the

crucible of the training.

The Navy only recently began introducing concepts of mental toughness

which they teach in the classroom. The Navy refers to “the big 4” mental

toughness tactics, and their actual presentation is offered as a bonus in

the Unbeatable Mind training program at sealfit.com.

So what is the “it” that is the holy grail of grit, of mental toughness?

Why do some have “it” when they show up at the fight and others don’t?

As you begin to control your mind, your overall field of awareness will

begin to expand. This expanding field of awareness is the foundation to

mental toughness. The awareness of how external stimuli affect the

human body and knowing how to counter these stressors and turn them

to your advantage is a three stage process.


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3 Stages of Unbeatable Mental Toughness

Stage 1: Develop the ability to perceive the adverse stressor as it arises

and begins to affect your neuro-physiology. This is witnessing, the first

premise.

Stage 2: Transmute the natural response to the stress using breath

control and concentration.

Stage 3: Maintain positive performance while under extreme pressure,

demonstrating traits such as confidence, clarity, focus, resilience and

cogent decision-making.

Understanding the Stress Response

It was 49 hours and 45 minutes into Kokoro camp when the instructors

descended on “Bob” who had held something back all weekend. We were

not happy that he had skated through some of the training while

everyone else took dead seriously. He did not skate because he was

stronger or fitter than others. Quite the opposite. He was weaker, but

he hid behind his teammates. He didn’t quit, but neither did he try very

hard. Kokoro is a voluntary camp, so we don’t drop non-performers like

the SEALs do.


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We were on the verge of securing the class when some unspoken urge

struck us to press for a breakthrough. The chaos and stress level

ratcheted up to the highest level of the camp. The class was put under

extreme physical and mental stress.

Bob quit with 15 minutes remaining in the 50-hour camp. He could not

handle the stress and it froze him in his tracks. He couldn’t think. He just

stopped working and stepped aside, sat down and said he was done.

Stress is neither good nor bad. It just is. It gets a bad rap. Most folks

think that if they could just eliminate or avoid all stress in their lives

everything would be ok. This is impossible for all but the itinerant monk

– and even the monk will stress over a single errant thought!

Stress should simply be viewed as an external stimulus. How we deal

with that external stimulus internally is the key to the stages of mental

toughness. Stress that we do not process well internally – due to any

variety of factors such as fatigue, lack of preparation, etc., is considered

“dis-stress.”

When stress leads to distress, our bodies and minds are weakened.

Often this leads to poor performance, debilitation and long-term health

issues if left unchecked.


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Stress is processed through what is referred to as our “fight or flight”

faculty. The fight or flight faculty is our primitive hormonal auto-

response to perceived danger.

The hormonal response is driven by the hypothalamic, pituitary and

Adrenal glands. These glands churn out valuable hormones such as

adrenaline, which cause the heart to race, breathing rate to increase,

pupils to dilate, and blood vessels to constrict in parts of your body.

All these symptoms have a purpose – to focus your body and mind for

the inevitable action to come in response to the threat.

Research has found that there are some key factors that help with

awareness and control of the stress response.

Repetition through training, and familiarization with the stressors

expected in the line of duty (ie: realism in training) has a positive impact

on stress response.

There is a reason SEALs use the “crawl, walk, run” principle in training.

The intent is to layer the training so that the basics become an

“unconscious competence” of the trainee. Each time a training evolution

is repeated, the trainees start back at the basics, mastering them again

before moving on to more advanced tactics.


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This repetition layers the skills and knowledge so that the conscious

mind does not have to be involved in thinking about the solution to the

challenge. Combined with realistic training that closely mirrors the

expected actual event, this repetition leads to a strong familiarization of

the situation when it happens in real life. SEALs practice shooting as if

they were in a real firefight. You should train as if your life depended on

it – because it may.

Control of the breath and concentration are additional tools that can

allow one to process stress effectively and use it to enhance performance

rather than allow it to inhibit performance.

Breath control has been a practice of eastern warrior traditions since the

beginning of time. Zen meditation is a seated breathing practice. The

intent is to “practice” in a seated, silent manner so that the breath can be

controlled and the mind stilled. As this skill was developed in a seated,

quiet room, it was then transferred to the arena.

The goal is to maintain that quiet, still mind during a high-intensity

combat situation. It is one thing to be peaceful and focused when all is

quiet, but an altogether different challenge to remain calm, focused and

deliberate when the shit hits the fan.

The Apache Scout considered the latter to be the highest form of

meditation. They call it “sacred silence.” The sacred silence is

meditation in action. Being fully present and aware, acting from a place


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of complete stillness and connection with universal intelligence and

spirit. This is our objective with Unbeatable Mind as well. We want to

have this mind while we tackle a SEALFIT Operator WOD, perform in a

sporting event, or are in combat.

Breath control not only transmutes our arousal response to external

stress, it is also a concentration practice that has several benefits:

First, it calms the stress response by slowing the heart rate and relaxing

the nervous system, allowing you to get control of your stress response

and turn it to your advantage.

Next, it forces us to focus our mind on the breath, thereby closing out the

potential for the mind to focus on (and obsess about) the negative

energy around you – such as the chaos, danger, and the debilitating

language of fear.

Finally, it ensures that our body is receiving an ample supply of

oxygenated blood when it needs it the most – in a fight or flight situation.

Shallow, upper lung breathing, which is the norm for most people, leads

to sluggishness and toxic build-up, diminishing performance. Deep,

rhythmic controlled breathing ensures an ample supply of oxygen and

the detoxification of the stale, spent air with each breath.

As a former competitive swimmer, breath control came naturally to me.

I understand from our Academies that this is not the case with most


40

people, unless you were a swimmer or water polo player and had to learn

to deal with an interrupted air supply. During drown-proof training at

BUD/s, I noticed guys having such a difficult time controlling their

arousal response to the stress of the evolution. Their breathing was out

of control, and when they went in the water with hands and feet tied

together they totally lost control. I suppose I had an unfair advantage,

but I actually looked forward to this evolution and found it very

enjoyable. It is quite simple to relax into it and porpoise your way down

the pool.

Breath control is the center post of SEALFIT mental toughness and

awareness development. Just this ability of the breath to transmute the

stress response to a performance response means we should start

developing a deeper awareness of how the use the breath.


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Key Insights Chapter 3

Mental Toughness is defined by three primary underlying stages, which

determine our response to a stressful situation.

1. The skill to perceive the stressor, and activate your stress response

for performance using breath control and concentration.

2. The ability to transmute the stress response into performance

versus allow it to be a disability (eu-stress vs. distress).

3. The competence to implement strategies of good leadership and

decision-making once you learn to control and direct the stress

response toward performance.


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Chapter 4

The 4 Levels of Awareness


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Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs

Over the last two years I have noticed many more 30 – 60 year old

professionals seeking information and training about developing the

warrior mind-set. There is a sense that the world is dangerous and may

get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

My guess is that the world has always been like that – with periods of

calm interrupted by chaos, disorder and extreme challenges. In the

times of chaos and disorder, we need more “ordinary folks” to step up

and become what we, in the warrior profession, call “sheepdogs.”

Readers with a military background will have heard of Dr. Grossman’s

work On Killing. This book is required reading for military, but also a

must read for all warriors.

The Dr. describes a world largely populated with sheep (presumably

grazing on consumerism and a diet of junk food and junk information!)

Preying on these sheep is a small % of the population who are wolves,

drawn to violence without conscience. The wolves pick away at the

weakest sheep, and society pays scant attention.

When you are the sheep who enters into the cross-hairs of a wolf, your

world will change from ignorant bliss to terror in the time it takes you to

read these words. Should you survive, you will be changed forever.


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In those moments, the sheep scream out for help. Who hears them? It

is you, the sheepdog.

The sheepdog is typically the law enforcement officer, first responder or

soldier. These servants have taken a vow to protect the sheep.

Increasingly it is also the warrior – professionals who step up and take a

stand. You must be that person, the sheepdog, if you are living the

warrior’s path.

Interestingly, when all is quiet, the sheep want little to do with the

sheepdogs. Out of sight, out of mind. The sheepdog makes the sheep

nervous because they sense that the sheepdog is also prone to violence,

and has dangerous skills.

My neighbor Steve is convinced that I am off in foreign lands rolling up

the bad guys if he doesn’t see me for a couple days. He loves having me

as a neighbor, but doesn’t know how to have a normal conversation with

me. He is nervous I will decide I don’t like him in mid-conversation and

take his head off. Funny guy. Sheepdogs, though trained for violence,

are really nice people!

Anyhow, back to the story. The sheepdog’s violence is very different

than the wolf’s violence. The sheepdog is bound by an actual contract or

code of conduct to serve, balanced with a set of values that are life

supporting and socially acceptable. Further, he or she is trained to


45

control the application of violence like a faucet would meter water.

This takes many hours of training to hone and is essential to the

warrior’s honor.

How do you train to harness the power of violence in a controlled

manner? It comes back to mastery, in this case mastery of “offensive

mind.”

In our Academy we teach that the psyche has a “binary switch” of

violence which you can train to turn on and off at will. This is the

foundation to offensive mind development.

The “bamboo party” is an example from my martial arts training used to

train this binary switch. Four black belts would place large bamboo poles

over the ankles, hips, chest and finally throat of the brown belt.

Within seconds all lights are out, and about a nano-second later the

student has broken free, shattered the bamboo, sent the black belts

rolling and is standing on his feet. He has no idea whatsoever how he got

there. That is offensive mind training.

A professional “sheepdog” can also benefit greatly by developing this

offensive mind by mastering awareness skills. Awareness is 99% of the

battle when it comes to avoiding the wolves. The other 1% is violence of

action, bounded by a strong ethical foundation.


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The 4 levels of Awareness

Now that we have discussed the role of the sheepdog in protecting the

sheep, we can turn to the levels of awareness that will dictate your

response to a violent encounter.

I first learned the alert color system at SEAL Team THREE in 1991 and

have used it since to teach offensive mind set and awareness. The

colors relate to our mental readiness for a threat.

White is not-alert

Ignorance is bliss right? Wrong! Ignorance and non-alertness can get

you killed.

Most of our society, the sheep, operates from a threat level of white – eg:

no threat, everything is ok. It is easy to verify this at the local grocery

store. Stand in the middle of an aisle and see how many people run their

carts into you while focused on the food prices. White is a dangerous

place to be and you should endeavor to stay out of this territory.

Yellow is passive scanning

Yellow is the awareness state that we want to be in most of the time.

Consider your awareness mechanism (your senses and intuition) to be


47

like a radar beacon scanning the horizon. It is passively scanning when

it is “plugged in.” It scans the horizon for threats, but doesn’t signal a

threat unless one pops up on the radar screen. You go about your

business while your awareness radar passively scans the environment

for you.

Orange is active alert

When you receive an alert signal to your conscious or sub-conscious

mind from your scanning radar, then you move from yellow, passive

scanning, to orange, active alert. It is possible that the threat level of the

target is still unknown, but nonetheless it is a target and you must

prepare for action.

At this point your posture shifts from passive alert to active alert. You

sit up and pay attention, steady your mind, and establish an attack plan.

You narrow your focus (put your book, phone, iPad down and toggle

your offensive mind-set binary switch to “stand by” mode. If the threat

materializes such as to require a positive action, then you escalate to the

final stage.

Red is action

Red is the final threat awareness level. The threat has escalated to a

point requiring action, thus you strike first to maintain control over the

situation. As mentioned earlier, you must be the subject, not the object,


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of a violent encounter. This means that you write the script with

yourself as the victor, owning the situation. You must be in a red state,

and have the training to control your violence and meter it out for the

proper effect.

The consequences of not being able to control and meter your violent

response can be devastating in our society. Our Combat Defense

Certification course is geared toward teaching this offensive mind set

and controlled but explosive response.

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/combat-defense/�

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/combat-defense/�


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Key Insights of Chapter 4

Most in our society are sheep. The wolves prey on the sheep. It is up to

us, the sheepdog warriors, to serve the sheep and keep them safe.

Sheep operate in threat condition “white.” Sheepdogs operate in

“yellow” and are prepared at a moment’s notice to escalate to “orange”

or “red.”

Though the warrior trains for violence, and can withstand the

psychological impact of violence, he or she abhors violence.

The largest part of the unbeatable warrior’s training is in identifying

threats, and diffusing them. Only when all else fails, will the warrior

engage in a violent event to end the threat. When this happens, he or

she does so with an offensive mind that terrifies their opponent.


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Chapter 5 5 Skills of an Unbeatable Mind


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Over the years, I have found that there are five primary exercises for

forging an unbeatable mind that must be mastered. These are simple to

understand but not easy to implement. The key is to start by practicing

the skills daily. The daily practice is called a practice because we never

stop working on the skills – we are always practicing them.

UM skill # 1: Develop mental models

One sure way to develop this unbeatable mind trait is to force you to

make decisions under pressure and be willing to fail. Risk failure, and in

failing you will learn.

Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are just decisions;

some good and some not so good. The unbeatable mind trains to

discern truth more clearly, to use mental models to aid in decision

making, to shed light on a situation and make better decisions as a result.

Mental models support good decision-making by creating a mental

“Standard Operating Procedure,” or SOP, for that decision process. Let’s

look at two of these mental models.

The OODA loop was developed by Air Force LTCOL Boyd to simplify the

rapid-fire life and death decisions made during aerial combat. It is a

simple mental model that has us constantly evaluating our relationship to

the “enemy” (marketplace, competitor).


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First we Observe our situation closely. What is our relative position to

the enemy, and how is their behavior going to impact us?

Second we Orient ourselves to the reality of our observation. Do we

need to move left, right, up or down? Do we need to adjust our pricing,

or move into the marketplace faster?

Next we Decide on a course of action. Depending on the complexity and

stakes involved, this can be a simple choice or a complex decision after

analyzing multiple courses of action.

Finally we Act! Nothing happens in life until we ACT!

After our action, we immediately observe the impact of our action,

orient to it, and the cycle continues. Our goal is to decrease the time it

takes for us to perform this analytical loop, while increasing or

destroying our enemy’s cycle.


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LTCOL Boyd’s OODA Loop

Another mental model to master is the SMEAC mission planning process.

This is a simple rapid planning model that can be used for any initiative –

whether a special ops mission or a business joint venture.

Situation – the situation is a study of the background circumstances

leading to the current requirement to act. In the Teams we called it

“situational awareness” and it’s critical to get everyone on the same

page with regard to the why of the mission or project. This element can

be correlated with a “vision” for a project or business.


54

Mission – the mission is a specific statement of what you intend to

accomplish. Just as a goal must be written in “SMART” language, so

must a mission statement. It must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable,

Realistic and Time-bound to be an effective mission statement.

Execution – how do you intend to accomplish the mission or project?

Who is involved, how are you going to act, what resources do you intend

to use, and what is the plan when the original plan falls flat on its face.

Administration – the administrative and logistical details that must be

coordinated prior to and during execution of the mission or project.

Command and control – who is in charge? Who do you report to?

When do you report and in what format? So many missions and projects

have failed due to poor communication and accountability.

The SMEAC and OODA loop are simple and effective at providing you a

SOP to quickly analyze large volumes of information and make wise

decisions.

Other mental models I recommend you investigate include Ken Wilber’s

Integral AQAL model, Game Theory, especially prisoner’s dilemma, and

Charlie Munger’s writings.


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UM skill # 2: Become a good goal setter

Goal setting, when done well, helps propel us with momentum in the

direction and toward the vision that we have for the actualization of our

purpose.

Goals not grounded in a vision (direction) are fantasies.

A vision with no goals gets us no-where.

Goals can be achievement goals, or process goals. Said another way,

goals help us “do” things, or “be” someone. Both are important.

Generally “being goals” are long-term goals. Often many “doing goals”

are embedded in a “being goal.” For instance, if I have a goal of being a

warrior, then embedded in that goal are physical training goals, mental

toughness development goals, and warrior spirit development goals.

Perhaps attending a SEALFIT Academy is part of your goal set, and you

have shorter goals in preparing yourself for the academy. You get the

picture…they build on each other, all grounded in your vision for your

future.

Similar to the mission statement in “SMEAC,” well-stated goals are

precise and positively written down. They are measurable and have a

time frame associated with them. Too short and either they are not

meaty enough, or you are setting yourself up for failure. Too long and

you lose the urgency and they fall off the radar.


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Your goals must also be achievable, in that you have the latent potential

to accomplish them with the skills and resources available, or attainable.

Your goals must also be realistic. Even if achievable, are they realistic for

you and your life situation? An amputee may have the goal to climb

Mount Everest, and though achievable they must seriously look at the

realism involved. These attributes – Specific, Measurable, Achievable,

Realistic and Time-bound form the acronym SMART.

After listening to my friend Greg Amundson in a goal-setting talk, I

realized that I had a fantasy and not a goal to do 20 perfect double-

unders (a jump rope exercise where you pass the rope under your feet

twice each jump. It is pretty challenging and an excellent a metabolic

conditioning exercise). I had tricked myself to think it was a goal, but I

had not written it down! A goal not written is a fantasy. I returned home

and wrote the goal down using the tools I outline here. I achieved it 3

months later, no problem. Had I not written it down and taken action I

would still be wishing!

Another key point is to develop a strategy for following through and

revising your goals as you drive forward to accomplishing them. A goal

without a strategy is like a destination without a plan on how to get

there. Do you walk, drive or take the bus? How do you navigate and fuel

your journey?


57

So many details go into the simplest of plans for lofty goals. Just start by

writing them down in a simple list format, then set dates and sub-tasks

that need to be accomplished on the journey.

When things get really hard, then goals need to get shorter and more

focused on achievement versus process. In Hell Week, we were not

setting our sights on “being a Navy SEAL” or even “getting that trident.”

You will require a different set of goals to make it through the most

arduous part of that training program or any extreme challenge.

Collapsing your goal horizon to the very near term is a great way to keep

your mind focused on the immediate task, and not letting the long-term

goal erode your enthusiasm.

I call these “micro-goals.” The great thing about micro-goals is that they

lead to “micro-victories.” You stack up enough micro-victories and soon

you have achieved success.

The hidden secret with micro-goal setting is that it forces our mind to

focus on what is happening right now, rather than what may happen in

the future where it wishes to be. Focus on the next meal, the next event,

or even the next footstep. These short and achievable goals help to

enlist our mind to be an ally versus enemy in our fight.

In Hell Week my goal was to see the sun rise each morning. The nights

were long, cold and demoralizing. Most guys quit a couple hours before


58

sunset on the first through third evenings. But an amazing thing

happened at sunrise. The sun was an inspiration to see rising in the

East. It started to warm our bodies and spirits. And guess what? The

night shift ended and we got to go have breakfast! Amazing how all

these simple, mundane things, made the difference between success and

failure.

Why does Goal Setting work?

First, a properly set goal directs our attention to important elements of a

skill or process. We may have a strong desire to achieve a skill or

advance our knowledge, but there are many forces vying for our

precious time and attention. Without a SMART goal to keep us focused,

we are easily distracted and our energy easily diffused. Properly crafted,

written down and with a strong strategy for implementation, a goal can

remove fantasy and replace it with reality.

Next, a proper goal mobilizes our efforts forward in a positive direction.

We gain a direction, sense of purpose, and momentum. If you ever feel

like you are wandering or stumbling along, then re-focus and re-commit

to some SMART goals and note new purpose, energy and direction in

life.

A proper goal enhances and prolongs our persistent effort toward

achievement. We don’t lose our focus or intent. Often we have a


59

SMART goal, but our strategy is weak or we forget to revisit it daily.

Eventually you lose sight of it, or lose interest.

Finally, a proper goal fosters development of new strategies for learning

and developing yourself. If your strategy states that you will review and

check in with your goals daily before you go to sleep, there is a much

higher likelihood that you will keep at it until you achieve victory.

Keeping at it will likely require modifications to the original plan and

new strategies.

Pitfalls to Goal Setting:

If a goal is “fuzzy” and not specific enough, then it will go unmet. You

will not have the focus to pull it off.

If you create too many goals at one time, then your focus will be diffused,

you will lose your willpower, and the goals will go unmet.

If your goals are tied to an unrealistic time frame, then you will fail. A

daily review of your goals will help keep them realistic.

If your goals are inflexible – meaning you are not willing to mold them to

new realities as they arise, then they will not be met. “Semper Gumby”

is the term we used in the SEALs – it means “always flexible.”


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If you don’t have a daily check-in plan, with no follow-up or evaluation of

your progress on your goals, then they will not be met. Goals require a

constant “check up from the neck up” and measurement of progress to

keep the momentum going, and in the right direction. Hold yourself

accountable!

If your goals are all achievement goals (doing goals) and you lack process

(becoming) goals you will become absorbed in achievement versus

improvement. It is best to have a balance between doing and becoming

– through becoming a better person, many of your doing goals may

change.

A good example of that in my life was an achievement goal. I had to get a

PhD in Leadership. I made it through most of the coursework before

being mobilized to active duty in Iraq in 2004. While there I had a lot of

time to work on my becoming goal – daily yoga practice in a combat

zone is a very interesting personal development program.

What evolved was that my PhD goal (which would have qualified me to

teach leadership in a sterile campus setting) became less important to me

than actually teaching leadership to warriors who risk everything.

When I returned from Iraq, I left USD and planted the seeds for SEALFIT.

UM skills #3: Master control of the breath


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We touched on this topic in Chapter 3 in the discussion about arousal

control and transmuting the stress response to performance. However,

the concept of breath control goes much deeper than that. Breath

Control is placing conscious thought on the duration and quality of our

breathing. Through this awareness of our breath we “re-learn” how to

breathe again.

Proper breathing using a full diaphragmatic and cyclical breathing

pattern promotes optimal health in 4 primary ways.

First, it detoxifies the lungs through the proper exhalation of all stale,

spent air on each breath cycle.

Next, it fully oxygenizes the blood on each breath, ensuring that you

have the fuel to work at optimal levels. For most activities that are

somewhat strenuous, but not of high-intensity, your body will utilize

oxygen as the primary fuel source. As a result, the energy pathway used

by the body for endurance work is called the oxidative pathway.

Estimates are that most people use only a small % of total lung capacity.

Thus they are leaving a lot of energy on the table that would be helpful

for performance and overall health and well-being.

Third, it strengthens the abdominal region. Having a strong core and

“belly awareness” are important martial arts principles. The belly is a

source of energy as well as our intuition. The Japanese have an art they


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call the “belly art” or Haragai. This is the strengthening and ‘tuning in”

to the belly so that it can be utilized fully as the intuition’s method of

communicating with the conscious mind. The saying “listen to your

gut” or “what does your gut say” comes from this practice, though most

westerners are unaware of the practice or its immense value.

Finally, breath control calms and centers the mind. By focusing on our

breath, we are collapsing our attention to a powerful and positive body

function. This helps us keep our minds from wandering and getting

attracted to or attached to some negative thought pattern or external

influence.

Beyond calming and centering the body and concentrating the mind,

breath control practices can also be used in a few other non-traditional

and powerful ways.

Breath can be used to develop intense physical and psychic energy.

One method we use in our own Warrior Yoga practice is the “Archer

Pose” coupled with the “ubuke” breath. The ubuke breath is done by

forcing a full exhale through a very small opening caused by the

constriction of your tongue against your upper palette. The sound is a

high-pitched hiss.

Another way to do it is to constrict your upper throat tightly and only

allow a small amount of air through. Either is effective. The result,

when done properly, is an intense heat and mental energy build-up.


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Over time, this develops your powers of concentration and the ability to

quickly harness and project internal energy.

Breath can also be used to project power. Power lifters and Olympic

lifters know that a properly executed breath can add 30% more power

to the lift. Same with a martial arts strike. The “Kia” noise that attends

a strike in karate is a forceful exhale coupled with a powerful sound that

adds a punch to the punch. The Navy SEAL “Hooyah” is used in the same

manner to generate more power. I used to enjoy practicing a hooyah

and ring a bell with the sound. Obviously I am easy to amuse!

Breath can also be used to heat and cool the body. This is especially

effective when coupled with visualization. If you happen to be sitting in

the surf zone for an unusually long time (not sure why that would

happen…unless…) deep, forceful breathing while you visualize yourself

sweating in a sauna will warm you up and ward off hypothermia for a

long time.

Tom Brown’s (Trackerschool.com) mentor, the Apache Scout Stalking

Wolf, would routinely trek through Canada into the Arctic region and

back. He did this wearing simple clothes and described to Tom how he

would visualize heat and breathe heat into his body by concentrating

deeply. He would routinely be sweating in the middle of zero degree

weather. This man had amazing control over his mind and body.


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The technique to use to calm and center your mind and body when

working I call the “Relaxation Breath.”

The Relaxation Breath is a simple practice. It involves a deep, slow and

controlled breath in to a count of four (minimum), and a controlled

exhale to a count of four.

This breath leads to a tremendous stress release and is used in a situation

where your breath is “out of control.” If our breath is out of control, then

our minds are out of control.

Clearly our objective is to get back into control, so we can think clearly

and make good decisions.

# 4 – Learn to visualize powerfully

Visualization is a very powerful technique that enhances our mental

acuity and ability to accomplish challenging tasks. All great creators and

athletes use visualization, to create the outcomes they seek in their mind

first, before acting on the creation.

Visualization is the creation or re-creation of an external experience in

the “mind’s eye.” Sports psychologists and top coaches began using

visualization to enhance performance in the 90’s, some pioneers were

earlier. There are two major forms of visualization practice.


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The first form of visualization is the Mental Projection. This is where

you will concentrate on and visualize a personal victory. With the

visualized image you create a desired future experience in your mind

before you experience it “for real.”

I call this a “Future me” visualization.

An example of a “future me” visualization is earning the SEAL trident.

Another would be achieving a major milestone with a new business

venture.

In either case you would create the event in your mind well before it

happens. The visualized event is charged with emotions, color, sounds,

smell and tastes as vividly as possible. We reinforce this visual image

through repeated internal visits. This practice plants a powerful seed in

our subconscious mind. The subconscious mind then goes to work to

recruit the resources necessary to nurture the event to fruition through

proper thought and action.

The second form of visualization is the Mental Rehearsal. This is

practicing an event, such as a skill or sport event, in your mind’s eye.

An example of this is the SEAL “dirt dive” whereby the SEAL operator

will walk through a dive profile on dry land while visualizing all the

details. In this manner, he does the dive before ever hitting the water.

At SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE this was an important part of the


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mission. The dive profiles of a typical SDV mini-sub are 6 to 10 hours

long. The dive must be implanted in the mind of the pilot and navigator

on land, or the fatigue of the mission could trip them up.

The rehearsal would implant in our conscious and subconscious, the

route, provide a muscle memory aide and identify any potential

challenges before hitting the reality of the deep.

The practice or projection visualization can be an internal image - from

our own vantage point, or an external image - a view of you from the

perspective of another. Either method is effective but we typically start

out with the external visualization then move to the internal as our skill

improves.

The benefits for visualization practice are many.

Improved Concentration. The act of visualization is a concentration

practice in itself. It takes much effort to construct and maintain a

powerful visualization. When you first start this practice it can be

frustrating if you cannot hold the image for long. Many people are

kinesthetic in nature, and don’t see with their mind’s eye at all. If you are

like this, I encourage you to stick with it and the mind will slowly develop

the skills. It will be like a puzzle coming together until eventually you

will be able to see with the same vividness as a visual person.


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Enhanced Confidence is another benefit. When you visualize an event

or process in your mind, then you are practicing it to some degree.

The experience is not as visceral as a physical practice – throwing the

ball will always be more powerful than visualizing throwing the ball –

however each visualization stimulates your nervous and muscular

systems such that they “count” that as a practice.

Emotional Control is another powerful benefit. By visualizing

something that you fear, you are neutralizing that fear response when

you perform the event “live.” Thus visualizing yourself giving the speech

over and over to an adoring audience can alter the experience to where

you may, possibly, enjoy giving that speech.

Working on a highly technical skill? Start visualizing yourself extremely

competent in that skill. You will enhance your competence. One of the

ways this works is to stimulate your subconscious mind to support your

efforts. Albert Einstein did most of his mental work at the subconscious

level. He was so adept at visualizing and contemplating the large

problems he was trying to solve, that the answers would come to him

when he wasn’t actually trying to think about them at all. How nice!

This works also if you are seeking to develop or hone a new strategy, as

well as coping with pain, injury or cold. Why does visualization work?

Visualized events mentally rehearsed, if vivid and empowered with

emotion, will stimulate and program your nervous and muscular


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systems as if you were actually practicing the event physically. If

visualization is done persistently and with intensity, when you perform

the event in “real time” it is felt as not the first time, but one of many

times that your mind has performed the event (perfectly I might add) in

the past.

Visualization also improves your ability to concentrate, which helps with

confidence and stress management.

A properly visualized event brings all of your senses into the mix. You

see yourself performing, you sense your movement, you feel your

emotions, you hear the sounds of success, feel the actual air, water,

handshake, etc. and you smell your environment.

The goal is to create the internal experience as close to the actual

experience as possible but manipulating the images for perfect results.

You will want to inject positive thoughts and emotions and “burn” the

image into your subconscious.

Tom Brown tells us that the envisioned image must be so intense, it is as

if you are sitting here reading these words, but in reality you are

somewhere else visualizing yourself sitting here reading these words. It

is intensely real when done right!

Estimates are that up to 90% of Olympic Athletes use visualization and

97% of them claim it helped their performance. 94% of Olympic


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Coaches use visualization for training, and 100% claim is enhances

performance. Many warriors visualize victory when jocking up for

combat.

UM skill #5: the art of Positivity

The wandering mind is the devil’s playground. The nature of the outer,

conscious mind is to dwell on the negative and obsess about it. Often

that which is the obsession becomes the reality. Once you begin to focus

on the present, the requirement is to keep your mind in a Positive State.

Your internal dialogue and beliefs (such as family history, biases,

prejudices, stereotypes, etc.) affect your thought patterns, which impact

your performance.

Our minds are energized with either courage and its positive derivatives

or fear and its negative derivatives. Both energies manifest their

influence in our lives in different ways. Our basic emotional “feeling”

states can be generalized into these two broad categories.

Positive attitudes and states strengthen our bodies and minds and are

essential for development of higher states of consciousness – essentially

what spiritual growth is all about.

Clearly this is where we want our energy to be centered. Often a person

is “stuck” at a level or stage of consciousness or energy state through life


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circumstances. However, through disciplined awareness practices using

the principles outlined in this book, it is quite possible to leap several

stages. The stages of positivity are as follows (shown in progression

from lower energy to higher energy bottom to top):

Peace - Bliss

Serenity - Joy

Reverence - Love

Understanding

Forgiveness - Acceptance

Optimism

Trust

Courage

Negative attitudes, on the other hand, weaken our minds and bodies and

lead to performance degradation. Fear is the dominant energy in most

because the outer mind is generally negative in nature. The outer mind

is constantly filled with negative programming from numerous sources –

friends, family, news, TV, and our own self-talk.


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The stages of negativity are as follows:

Pride – Scorn

Anger – Hate

Desire – Craving

Anxiety

Grief – Regret

Apathy – Despair

Guilt – Blame

Shame - Humiliation

Copyright Dr. Hawkins, Power vs. Force.

By paying attention to the energy of your thoughts you will start to notice the patterns. Our goal is to learn to notice, then maintain a positive attitude and self-talk.

As discussed in Chapter 1 – you can learn to witness the rising of your

thoughts and thus analyze the quality of the thought – is it positive? Is it

negative?

Finding space between the arising of the thought (or emotion, which is a

thought stored as energy in the body) and when it runs away with your

brain, is the benefit of the concentration practices outlined in this book.

We want to notice, interdict, cancel out negative thought patterns, and

direct the mind to positive patterns.

Events trigger our beliefs, which trigger our unconscious dialogue, which

trigger an emotional or physiological response, which then hampers


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performance toward our goals. Change the belief and the dialogue to

change the performance!

We discussed power-statements as pattern interrupts in Chapter 1.

These are used for the purpose of interdicting negative thoughts.

Power statements I use include “Hooyah,” “I got this,” and Easy Day!”

Once the negative thought pattern has successfully been interdicted, I

believe that a simple recurring statement (a mantra is the term used by

Eastern traditions) is the best tool to help you stay positively focused.

A mantra is simply a short statement that has positive meaning to you.

When I was in BUD/s, on long runs I would recite over and over “feeling

good, looking good, ought to be in Hollywood.” This statement had the

effect of keeping me feeling positive and motivated. I have since learned

to use other mantras to help me grow in areas beyond physical

performance. On long runs, I still revert to this old fallback and it works

like a charm to keep me positive and clear headed.

When using a power statement our bodies must also get in the game.

A power posture reinforces the power statement. Saying “I got this”

while slouched in a defeated position is self-defeating. Your

subconscious mind will feel the weak position and over-ride the

powerful statement. You need to stack the deck in your favor by

combining a power statement and mantra with a powerful body

position.


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Often in the middle of a grueling workout I, or one of my coaches, will

shout power statement, coupled with powerful gestures, when we notice

the fear dog nipping at the trainees. Everyone’s mental attitude and

bodies respond immediately as if jolted by a bolt of positively charged

electricity. It is great to watch and be part of. Soon we are all laughing

and cranking away at the workout, having left the worst behind us. We

have learned to allow positive self-talk, powerful body postures and

humor, to condition our minds for positive outcomes.

Implementation

You may wonder when to utilize these 5 mental toughness practices?

If we are approaching an event, such as a sporting event or an important

presentation, then we will use Positivity, Goal Setting and Visualization

to propel us to the event with the right mindset.

We will use Breath Control to control our arousal response during

training and to assist with pre-event stomach jitters.

During an event we will certainly rely on Positive Self-talk and Breath

Control to keep us centered and powerful. Short term Goal setting will

also come in handy.


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After the event, then self-talk in the form of re-framing the experience,

as well as revising your goals and establishing new goals will be

important.

Mental models are important to provide a framework for good decision

making while on your journey.


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There are 5 primary skills that you must master to develop Unbeatable

Mind mental toughness. These are:

Mental models can be very effective to streamline and for power

decision-making. Models such as Boyd’s OODA loop, the SMEAC mission

planning process and the Integral AQAL model are all part of the

Unbeatable training at SEALFIT Academy.

Goal setting has many nuances and is essential for developing

momentum and direction toward personal and professional objectives.

Proper goal setting is an important skill to nurture.

Breath control is a practice that has powerful benefits in many areas.

Practicing box breathing in a quiet setting is a concentration practice

that will spill over to more naturally use the relaxation controlled

breathing during strenuous exercise or any event that is stressful.

Visualization and positivity are important compliments to the first three

skills. Combined as a “suite of mental toughness skills” the 5 skills are

comprehensive and complete.

Positive self-talk, and eradicating negative feedback loops, is essential for

charging your mind and energy with power and to attract the right

people and circumstances into your life.


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Chapter 6

The 6 Core Values of the Unbeatable Mind


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When I was at SEAL Team Three, we had a smart guy in my platoon that

had been in the Teams for about 6 years. He was well respected and had

a lot of talent.

One day we had a ship-boarding training mission. “Q” was in a key

position, and this was a high-risk mission - even for a training op. At the

critical juncture Q lost his “bubble.” What I mean by that is he lost his

presence of mind. The outcome of his lack of awareness and mental

control led to the Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO) getting stuck in

about 50 feet of water, pinned down by a heavy load, with no air supply.

I was just surfacing and getting a head count when I noted the missing

man. Something had gone terribly wrong.

Four minutes and many frantic but hopeless dives to the bottom later,

Rob, the LCPO, casually came to the surface. He had used his skills and

presence of mind in a near-death crisis to calmly assess his situation

methodically work a solution.

In that moment, I witnessed an amazing display of mental toughness,

while simultaneously observing a massive personal failure. I learned

that values are a perishable skill. They must be honed daily or they will

wither on the vine of good intentions.

Later after debriefing the mission, we ascertained that Q had fallen off

the warrior path, was drinking heavily and taking some other substances

to alter his reality. He allowed a deteriorating situation on the home


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front to adversely affect his work. Q had lost his moral bearings, so to

speak. His values were compromised.

What values did he actually compromise, and what values could a

warrior and Unbeatable Mind trainee look to for guidance?

Before I dig into the actual values let me discuss values in general. Like

much of the English language the word has multiple meanings, and the

way we use the word may convey a unique meaning.

The term value is used to depict a quality or trait of something we hold

valuable. We are not thinking about monetary value, or something

having more value relative to some other valuable thing.

The term, as we define it, means a deeply held belief that a specific

behavior is worthy. A value is both a noun and a verb. We value a

behavior and demonstrate that value through our actions. We seek to be

more valuable to society and our families by practicing a powerful set of

values.

Values that are not practiced daily, and eventually turned into habits, are

just words on a piece of paper. A habituated value becomes a virtue.

We define virtuous behavior as behavior that flows from a set of higher

order values without wavering, day in and day out.


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Let’s get back to the specific values that could be powerful to adopt for

the Unbeatable Mind program. These are the values of SEALFIT,

influenced by the powerful Navy SEAL Ethos (the real SEAL Ethos is

included at the end of this book for reference).

Loyalty

Loyalty is to our family and our team. Loyalty is the glue that holds a

team together. It is built upon trust, accountability and love of your

teammates and family. Loyalty is displayed through our supportive

natures, always being ready to put the team’s interests in front of yours.

We don’t expect anything in return. The relationship is transformational

not transactional.

Loyalty is a two way street – it is both earned and entrusted. Loyal

teammates don’t stand for negative back-stabbing talk about any other

teammates and don’t engage in it themselves. You are there for your

team, 100%. This value includes tough love, such as what was metered

out to Q after his fall from grace. We were loyal to him, and ensured that

he got the help he needed. However, he lost the privilege to be on our

team as a result of his breach of trust.

Honor and integrity

There is a lot of talk about integrity in the world but not much action.

One common definition of integrity is doing the right thing in public as


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well as in private. Do the right thing when no one is looking! I enjoyed a

conversation with Joe S. after he completed the 3 week Academy and

Kokoro Camp. Joe is 54 years old and had trained for the experience for

over a year. He observed that during a particularly long and arduous

evolution in Kokoro camp he found himself running alone, approaching

the turn-around point. He thought to himself “who would know if I

turned around early?”

Joe quickly stuffed that negative thought, and said internally “I would

know!” Joe displayed honor and integrity in that moment. Of course, he

would know. No one else would know. But he is the most important

person in his world, so why would he cheat that most important person?

There is a valuable lesson here. When your thoughts, words and actions

are all in alignment, then you are “in integrity.” If Joe had taken that

shortcut, but presented to me that he completed the evolution as

prescribed, he would have known, in his heart, that he lacked integrity.

Lack of integrity, even in the minor things, is a terrible burden to carry

and a dagger through the heart of the warrior.

Leadership and follower-ship

During Kokoro camp we assign a class leader. He or she may not be the

strongest in the class. They may not even be good leaders. It doesn’t

matter. We simply want to challenge them to step up.


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There is another reason we don’t often choose “the best” leader for this

role. It is because we know that in a good team, everyone is a leader,

regardless of who is filling the “top job.” Positional stature is different

than authentic leadership. These two can overlap and often do, but we

must be aware that leadership and follower-ship (being a good team

player) are two sides to the same coin.

We must be good at both and you must be ready and willing to step up

at the snap of a finger if the situation calls for your expertise, your

strength or your presence of mind.

Responsibility

Responsibility is the willingness to lean into handling important tasks

and duties, and the willingness to be held Accountable for the outcome.

Often we need to take responsibility for not just our own actions, but

those of our teammates as well.

The mission is your responsibility, thus the team and tasks related to the

mission are also your responsibility. This does not mean that you have

to do all the work. Rather it means that you are on top, as are your

teammates, for ensuring everyone stays focused, on track and working

toward mission accomplishment.

Discipline


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Discipline is a “practice” as discussed in Chapter 2 (recall that the two

essential disciplines are Self-Mastery and Service). Discipline is also a

value. Good definitions include:

Calm controlled behavior: the ability to behave in a controlled and

calm way even in a difficult or stressful situation.

Conscious control over lifestyle: mental self-control used in

directing or changing behavior, learning something, or training for

something.

These two definitions are apt for describing the value of discipline. We

seek a disciplined mind in a tough situation, and we seek a disciplined

approach to gaining new skills, knowledge and experience. This value is

one of the more important values – as hard work and strong discipline

can overcome many other weaknesses along your journey.

The only easy day was yesterday

When you enter the Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training

compound on Coronado Island, there is a large sign above the instructor

podium in the grinder that states this value. It is both a motivational

saying and a value. Another common Navy SEAL value stated in a

familiar saying is “failure is not an option.” This motivates us to keep

going and states the value of not-quitting.


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The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday means to stay present, hit it hard

again right now, and don’t rest on yesterday’s accomplishments.

Yesterday is over. Tomorrow hasn’t happened. All you have is today,

right now! So get busy and give it your all.

Innovation

One of the hallmarks of SEAL operations is the flexibility, adaptability and

downright creative approaches that SEALs use to solve complex special

operations problems.

During the first gulf war – Desert Storm, there was a diversion mission

the SEALs ran that was hugely successful in tricking Saddam’s Army into

thinking the Marines were coming ashore. They weren’t – it was just a

platoon of SEALs up to their tricks.

When planning for the mission the SEALs struggled with how they could

get the huge amount of C-4 haversacks to shore on a swimming mission.

They didn’t want to risk bringing the demo in by boat because they

would be seen and the mission compromised. They couldn’t swim it all

in without taking many trips. The sharks and temperature of the water

made that a less-than-desirable option.

One young SEAL, from Southern California no doubt, suggested that they

get a bunch of boogie boards and float it in. The Officer in Charge

thought that was a pretty good idea. They sent the request back to


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Coronado for a bunch of blacked-out boogie boards to be sent to the gulf

ASAP.

You can only imagine the looks on the faces of the desk-bound former

combat vets who received the request. What the bleep, we thought we

were fighting a war and these guys want to boogie board!

Once the operational nature of the request was fully understood the

boards were sent, and the mission was a huge success. Innovation is

key. Never rest on your laurels, and never say something can’t be done.

It can be done. You just need to get creative and figure out how. Adapt,

improvise and overcome.


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Values must be powerful, meaningful to you, and they must be practiced

daily to become habit.

Values are displayed in action. The SEALFIT values are drawn from the

Navy SEAL ethos, and include:

Loyalty

Honor and Integrity

Responsibility and Accountability

Leadership and Teamwork (follower-ship)

Discipline

Hard work every day (the only easy day was yesterday)

Innovation

Values guide our actions and keep us from veering off track. They are a

perishable skill. If we lose sight of a value, or stop practicing it and it

wanes, then we can easily go off course and do some damage to our

reputations, or worse.


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Chapter 7

7 Secrets to Training Mental Toughness in Others


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At this point you are wondering how you, as a warrior and leader, can

train your team to be unbeatable. Let’s look at how we do it at SEALFIT.

Hard Physical Training

The easiest way to train for mental toughness is to do things that are

mentally tough. You don’t have to pay me for that juicy tidbit – you could

have probably figured it out by yourself. However, I have astutely

noticed that hard work for one individual or team is different than the

hard work of another. If you grow up pitching bales of hay for 8 hours a

day on a farm, then surviving the rigors of Special Forces training come

naturally to you.

If you grow up playing video games, and decide you want to be a SEAL

after rising to the top of your league in the SOCOM Navy SEALs online

multi-player game, then you are likely in for a reality check.

For us at SEALFIT, hard work is defined as long, intense, gut-wrenching

work. Work like 50 plus hours of non-stop physical and mental training

during our Kokoro Camp. Three weeks of non-stop dawn to dusk

training in the SEALFIT Academy will also do it. This is the type of hard

work that forges mental toughness and a warrior mindset. This training

allows our SEAL candidate trainees to tell us that Hell Week was “easy”

after doing Kokoro.


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We have an extremely high success rate getting our Academy and local

trainees through their special ops selection programs. Why? Because

hard work works!

Bottom line – train harder if you want to get mentally tough. Let’s look at

our other tactics and you can decide if they work for you, or for your

team.

Mind Games

Now that I have told you that you must work harder, now I get to tell you

to work smarter. That’s right – you must structure your training to

challenge your mind, not just your body. I had a trainee tell me during a

work capacity training session recently “I forgot that these workouts

were about training mental toughness – holy cow that was a mind f#$k!”

Yep.

We play tricks on the mind to condition it for the tricks and games that

nature and the enemy, or instructor cadre will play on you. Here are

some examples of the mind games we like to play:

False summits – we are at the end of a grueling 6-mile run at a fast pace.

The finish line is just ahead. You can see the training center. You are

almost there, just a few more seconds. Uh oh…why aren’t they

stopping? You get the picture.


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Chaos – move faster! Drop down! Get up! Who’s in charge of this goat

rope anyhow? Chaos is very disorienting and to some the out-of-control

feeling is terrifying. We create chaos to induce fear and an out-of-

control feeling in the trainee. This helps them to learn to control the

emotions and mind in the midst of really crappy situations.

Tip – this tactic should only be used with the buy-in of the trainee or you

will likely get sued. Use at your own risk!

You want me to do what? Our monthly SEALFIT Challenge is a good

example of this type of exercise. The challenge is meant to be a mental

training exercise that requires serious physical output. You should

prepare for these and expect some down time afterwards to recover.

A note about injuries – listen to your body during a Challenge event – if

you feel like you are going to injure yourself at any time, then back off

and come at the challenge another day. There is no reason to put

yourself at risk of injury to prove something to yourself. Some example

challenges include:


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1,000 push-ups for time

1,000 sit-ups for time

1,000 pull-ups for time

100 rope ascents for time

1,000 8-count body builders for time

1,000 burpees for time

1 mile walking lunge wearing a 20# weight vest for time

These challenges may be unrealistic for many, but if you train hard you

build. When you are ready, try the first one and you will understand how

shattering that paradigm builds extreme confidence in your ability to

push through self-imposed limits and meet your 20x factor.

Safety note: the challenges listed here are for trained athletes only. Do

not attempt them if you have not trained your body well. You can use the

baseline test provided at SEALFIT.com to see if you are ready for the

challenge, or you can contact me directly. Train smart.


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Setting yourself up for Failure

Sometimes we actually set up the training so that the trainees will fail.

This is how we get the point across that there really is no such thing as

failure, rather a series of lessons on the way to mastering something.

The more painful the lesson, the more valuable the skill or personal

attribute you seek to master. We don’t want our trainees to be afraid of

failure, but to embrace it as a critical component of the trial and error

growth process.

Team Training

If you have been on a great team – such as a winning sports team, or an

elite special ops team, then you understand this implicitly. Team

training is fun, complex, chaotic and multi-dimensional.

A well-designed team workout has all the juice to teach teamwork,

leadership, and mental toughness. It will also be a better physical

training session due to the accountability and motivation that the

trainees have to hold themselves to a higher standard. It is easy to just

grind through a workout when you are alone. But with a team, with all

eyes on you, the tendency is to put out 100% effort every time.

Realism in Training


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The closer you can build your workouts to being like the real deal, the

more mentally prepared you will be. You will have the “been there, done

that” attitude because, well, you have been there and done that.

Training techniques must be functional in design (ie: SEALFIT and

CrossFit versus P90X), cover the core competencies required for your

priority of focus (such as Strength, Stamina, Work Capacity, Endurance,

Durability and Mental Toughness), and must prepare you for both the

known & unknown. Train like you fight!

KISS

In the teams we had a saying “Keep it simple, stupid.” Simple is not easy.

In fact, it is easier to write a 10-page paper than a 1-page paper that gets

the same point across. The same principle applies to a training session.

I recommend using training tools and methods that most of your team

has a decent level of competency with. Otherwise, you will spend a ton

of time teaching new skills and not working out. New skills should be

presented in a workshop setting, not the training session. Complicated

workouts with complicated exercises can injure trainees as well. Keep

it simple in terms of tools, workout protocol, instructions, organization

and measuring success.

This will build team confidence, and enhance the mental fortitude of the

trainees by keeping the clutter to a minimum.


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Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)

SOP’s are another great tool for developing mental toughness. The

checklist a fighter pilot uses as he enters aerial combat is a mental aid

that frees up her mind for “higher order” thinking. The cognitive mind

occupies roughly 12% of our brainpower. The other 88% is the iceberg

beneath the surface – the subconscious mind.

By using checklists and standardized procedures for a large percentage of

routine tasks, then we can free up our brainpower for the creative

problem solving that can make the difference between success and

failure. One of our SOP’s is to brief every workout prior to starting.

That ensures that all teammates understand the flow and movements.

Another SOP is to perform a “baseline” workout as our warm-up. This is

different than everyone stretching and preparing on their own getting

ready for the “start.” We start by doing the baseline workout to get

everyone on the same physical and mental playing field. It clears the

body and mind of the day or night prior to the workout. Everyone

performs better on the main training sections after these baseline

workouts.

As with all good teams, everyone is accountable for the teams gear first,

then their teammates gear, and lastly their personal gear. This assures

that there is no-one standing around waiting for the rest of the team to


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get ready for the WOD, or waiting for the team to clean and stow their

gear after the session.


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Mental Toughness can be developed through circumstances in life that

create the conditions of hardship and deep introspection.

Special Ops programs don’t teach mental toughness, but they create

trying experiences which are excellent crucibles for forging mental

toughness.

The good news is that mental toughness can be trained without having

to get cancer, grow up on a hard labor farm or by joining the SEALs.

Mental toughness training involves the simulation of hard experiences,

not unlike SOF training, using tools such as:

• Very hard physical training

• Mental games and challenges

• Realistic training that allows for failure

• Team training that teaches accountability, reliability and elevated

work levels

• Tactics that de-clutter the battlefield- SOP’s and proper planning


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Chapter 8

The 8 Traits of an Unbeatable Mind


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Once you begin to master the skills of the Unbeatable Mind, you will want

to model specific behavior to achieve the extraordinary results available

to you by operating at this level.

It is time to take a look at the specific thought patterns and behaviors

you need to develop on your path to building your own unbeatable mind.

You will recognize many of the traits of an unbeatable mind depicted in

classic hero movies figures:

It is the Duke in a gunfight in the old western.

It is William Wallace leading his clansmen in Braveheart.

It is King Leonidas leading his 300 Spartans at the battle of Thermopile.

These men are unflappable, unfazed and dead certain in the midst of the

most intense, chaotic and grim of circumstances. They are larger than

life. You may have a few real life examples of unbeatable warriors in

your life. We learn from and are motivated by their example.

Tadashi Nakamura, founder of Seido Karate, was one of mine. I continue

to be influenced by Mr. Nakamura’s example of stoic strength, beginner’s

mind, and disciplined approach to his personal life and business.


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There are many more unknown warriors who possess these same traits.

They are the quiet professionals who have stepped up to the plate to live

the warrior’s life and lead by example.

We aspire to understand and develop the traits these great men and

women possess in this program. Let’s take a look at these character

traits.

8 Traits of an Unbeatable Mind

Single Point Focus

Uncommon Resolve

Positive Attitude

Discernment

Unflappable

High Pain Tolerance

Other Focused

Humble Acceptance


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Single Point Focus

The “main thing” that King Leonidas focused on at Thermopile was a

victory of his country over the Persians. He was willing to fight to the

death alongside 300 of his most disciplined warriors not for the military

victory, but rather for the symbolic victory of the bravery, warrior ethos

and unity of all Greeks. Leonidas knew that the example of his 300

would inspire and unite all of Greece to rise up against the invaders.

Yes he must simultaneously focus on the battle at hand, and at leading his

men in the most challenging battle of their lives. He does not let the

tactical decisions distract him from communicating and telegraphing his

single point focus and definition of strategic victory.

Uncommon Resolve

Unbeatable warriors such as Leonidas are willing to fight to the death for

an important cause. This is a hallmark of a true warrior. Courage

comes not from bravado, or being the Rambo, rather a deep-seated

understanding of honor and its role in the warriors life…


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Honor is displayed in our every action.

A life without honor is a life without purpose.

A life without purpose is not worth living.

Any purpose worth living for is also worth dying for.

A warrior is spiritual aligned and willing to live and die for a

worthy cause.

Hiker Aaron Ralston chopped his arm off to escape from certain death

after being trapped by a rock for 5 days in the desert sun. He had

Uncommon Resolve as a result of a burning desire to live a life of

meaning, which he had as yet, begun to unfold. Uncommon Resolve

drives us forward relentlessly toward our goals. No setbacks or

challenges can take the resolute off task.

Navy SEAL Marcus Littrell fought off over100 Taliban after being

compromised in Afghanistan and watching his three teammates die in

the firefight. Marcus has uncommon resolve to live and tell the story of

his team, which he did in the best selling book Lone Survivor.


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Positive Attitude

The unbeatable warrior-mind is positive no matter how shitty things get.

He sees the silver lining in everything. The unbeatable mind finds

victory where it is at - right here and right now! No excuses or

negativity allowed.

Remember that things can only get worse with a bad attitude. A positive

attitude – one that seeks a positive solution to everything rather than

pointing the finger at the err-doer, is a hallmark of the unbeatable mind.

The re-direct and maintenance tools provided in Chapter 1 are essential

for developing this trait.

Discernment

The ability to discern truth from falsehood, good people from bad, the

right action from the wrong action is a trait that is cultivated over time.

It is developed through trial and error, and as the result of deepening

your awareness through the practice of the silent skills such as breath

control, contemplation and meditation.

One of the more unique traits of an unbeatable mind is an uncanny sense

of awareness. In the SEALs we call this “situational awareness” and it

extends to awareness of:


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One’s own thoughts and emotions

Your teammate’s thoughts and emotions

Your enemy’s thoughts and emotions

The environment around you

Natural laws and principles guiding human behavior

At SEAL Team THREE I was privileged to do three back-to-back platoons

in the same platoon. Some of the men I worked with for over 3 years.

This is more common with Special Forces A Teams than in the SEALs.

What happened was very enlightening. I developed an uncanny 6th sense

of what my key leaders were thinking during long missions.

These missions required long durations of silence, communicating with

hand signals, and the nod of a head or a certain look. Images would flash

in my head of a route or something that they were thinking. Or I would

just “know” what they were going to do. It was very cool. I also noticed

that this skill dissolved when I went back to an “office” environment. It

was a perishable skill. It must be practiced, and is an outcome of the

silence practices outlined in this book. In the field it develops naturally as

a human capacity that had lain dormant in modern warriors through lack

of use.


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My friend and SCARS hand-to-hand combat instructor was a guy named

Mike Jaco. Mike is 100% authentic warrior. After 23 years in the SEALs

he found himself as a contractor in Iraq during the most dangerous

period after the 2004 killing of the 4 American Blackwater employees in

Fallujah.

Mike was a dedicated meditation practitioner and had developed many of

the subtle intuition skills that are so valuable to a warrior. On multiple

occasions he received overpowering images and feelings of an

impending ambush or IED attack. He listened to these “pre-cognition”

signals and directed his team to take different routes on those occasions.

Later investigation proved that he was correct in almost every instance.

I highly recommend his excellent book “Intuitive Warrior” as additional

reading about Mike and his experiences.

Discernment, intuition and heightened awareness are cultivated through

many hours training and by studying human behavior. Some of you may

be skeptical of these skills, but this is only because you have not been

fortunate enough to be able to train to develop these skills. Laying the

foundation for cultivating these skills is one of our objectives during the

3 week SEALFIT academy.


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Unflappability

One of the more overt traits of the Unbeatable Mind is that it is calm and

unflappable while under extreme pressure. It is this quality that

observers will be drawn to when they seek leadership in a complex,

chaotic situation.

How does the warrior maintain an unflappable attitude and mind while

under stress? Perhaps the most valuable skill is breath control. Breath

control was discussed at length in Chapter 5. Through deep, controlled

and rhythmic breathing, one is able to slow the brain’s conscious activity

and regulate the heart rate and other body functions. The stress

response is brought under control as well, and the stress hormones

become a source of strength versus weakness. Remember – still water

runs deep!

High Pain Tolerance

The unbeatable mind suffers in silence and “embraces the suck.” This is

a trained quality that comes through a deliberate internalization of any

expression of pain and discomfort.

Nobody wants to participate in someone else’s pity party, especially if

that person is a leader. It undermines leadership and trust. It projects

weakness.


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Start by putting a smile on your face in the middle of challenging

workouts. You will find this difficult, but the action will give you

strength and train your pain tolerance. Say to yourself “pain is

weakness leaving the body!” and you will begin to grow tolerant of pain,

then even embrace it.

Other Focused

The unbeatable warrior focuses on the team and not himself. A key

insight, some would even say paradigm or consciousness shift, occurs

during trying circumstances, such as the SEALFIT Kokoro camp, when

the realization sets in that they cannot make it alone. This shift will not

happen until the moment of “physical rock bottom.”

Former NFL running back Derek Price had this experience during

Kokoro Camp 17. I will let his own words describe the paradigm shift

from “me” to “we” that he experienced during the camp:

“I just wanted to take a minute, now that I can think clearly and walk

almost normal, and say thank you for all the lessons you taught me over

the weekend. The program you guys put forth was above and beyond my

expectations. When I signed up for SEALFIT a year ago it was about

having a personal goal to see if "I" could complete the program, it was for

"me" to see where my limits were and to find out if "I" was mentally tough

enough to stick it out.


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Well, I walk away from last weekend with a totally different experience

than I had planned on. It wasn’t about me at all. There was no I, there

was no me and I loved that. To work with a group of like-minded guys

and overcome tough stuff together with encouragement along the way is

truly awesome.

I took so much more from this camp than I gave. I have been in some kind

of a search for the past 10 years after I left Football. I’ve been looking for

personal challenges and knocking them down. Even after my Iron man

races and Open Water distance races I would not feel satisfied. I couldn’t

put my finger on it. That all has changed since Kokoro. It’s not about

"me," it’s not about what can "I" do. It’s what can my Team do, how can I

help someone else get there. That’s what Kokoro did for me. It opened my

eyes, opened a new door in my life. It showed me the very piece I’ve been

looking for. It opened me to the bigger picture and that’s my new fuel. I

will take from Kokoro the joy in Teamwork, the power of one group

working together to accomplish hard things together.”

The body, left to the direction of the monkey mind control, simply cannot

handle extreme loads. By taking your eyes, and hence your minds, off of

yourself and placing them upon your teammates, you release the ego

driven mind and open up to the selfless, expansive mind.

The opening that this release creates allows an influx of energy to drive

you forward. Add to this the energy of your teammates as they focus on


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helping you out, and you see at least a 10x in energy return. This is

what Mr. Price experienced, and what all of you must strive for.

Humble Acceptance

The unbeatable mind operates with grace and humility even when the

situation seems out of control. The term “suffers in silence” is a trained

attitude that comes from letting go of control.

Accept that you cannot control the situation, or your teammates, or your

enemy. In fact you can’t control anything but your mind’s reaction to

external stimuli. Recall the first premise.

Humility starts with the humble acceptance that some things are out of

your control, and that pain is temporary, but regret is forever.

These are the traits of the Unbeatable Mind.

Effortless Perfection

The Japanese have a word for effortless perfection: shibumi. Though an

elusive goal, ultimate mastery of awareness and the unbeatable mind is

total presence, all the time. As mentioned earlier the Native Apache’s

called this “Sacred Silence.” Elkhart Tolle calls it the “Now,” as in “The

Power of Now.”


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I don’t believe we should focus on nor expect this state to arrive easily.

Rather, our mission is to discipline ourselves for a daily practice.

Practice and the results will come. Don’t sweat the details of when it will

come or why isn’t it coming faster. The results come when you are ready,

no sooner.

The goal of Unbeatable Mind training is to ground your practice in the

quiet moments; gain competence in the quiet moments. Then take it to

the “arena” and practice it there. When we can move with shibumi in

the arena – such as a SEALFIT WOD or a firefight, we have achieved

mastery.

The beauty and joy lies in the journey, not the destination.

Along the way, we will experience more and longer “peak experiences”

extended periods of Total Presence. These are your mile-markers on the

road to mastery.

Effortless Perfection is a concept that most spiritual traditions reference

in some form or another:

• Enlightenment (Buddhism)

• Satori (Zen)

• Atman (Hindu)

• Union / Bliss (Yoga)

• Christ Consciousness (Christianity)


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In closing…

Developing an Unbeatable Mind is a lifetime process. Mental toughness

is a perishable skill. If you don’t constantly challenge yourself, push

yourself to new limits, and test your “grit” then you will backslide and

get mushy. It is important for you to stay in the arena of hard work and

adventure. By setting challenging goals for yourself every year, and

working to knock them down, you will continue to grow your unbeatable

mind and warrior spirit.

Don’t let your guard down.

Don’t be common. Common is boring.

Be special. Be Unbeatable!


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Warriors display a common set of 8 character traits of an unbeatable

mind. These 8 traits are trained to be habits in the warrior.

Single Point Focus

Uncommon Resolve

Positive Attitude

Discernment

Unflappable

High Pain Tolerance

Other Focused

Humble Acceptance


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Epilogue

Introduction to Warrior Yoga


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Warrior Yoga Introduction There are too many benefits to Warrior Yoga to list and describe in this chapter. The benefits to the warrior athlete include: Body Awareness & Control – bringing deep awareness to how your body moves and works. Senses are turned inward in an effort to “listen and feel” with refined skills. This practice deepens our intuition. The awareness spills over to our SEALFIT fitness training as we move with more purpose, sensitivity to the quality of movement, and virtuosity.

Core Development – the core in yoga is built at a very deep “root” level. This strength is what leads to the seemingly magical powers to do arm balances and poses whereby you see a trainee hovering a foot off the floor balancing on their palms. This core strength supplements the core development that occurs through functional strength training. Concentration Development – a primary benefit and focus of the practice is to deepen your concentration. Warrior Yoga is a “moving concentration practice” and also includes seated concentration linked with breath control and visualization. Balance – balance starts with a calm mind, and then extends to our core grounding itself with the earth. Balance in yoga is much subtler than typical athletic balance, and can lead us to be much more graceful in our physical endeavors. Flow - The movements flow from one to another such that the practice has qualities like a dance, or martial arts kata. This flow cultivates internal energy and concentration. Energy Movement – moving your internal energy (prana, ki, force) intentionally is the focus of the breathing practices, and occurs as part of the flow of the yoga practice. This has many health benefits as well as allowing us to muster this internal energy and project it forcefully.


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Cleansing & Detoxifying – the heat, twisting and bending all serve to mash our internal organs like a washing machine leading to a great detoxification and cleansing. Moving Meditation – as we move in concentration we will also find moments of total release. This release is similar to the flow state where there is “no mind” present, rather you are moving from the witness. Finding this state while moving helps us to transfer it to the arena and find this state in the chaos of a workout, or life in general.

Integrative “whole person” practice – SEALFIT warrior yoga encompasses all 5 mountains of SEALFIT training. It is truly an integrative practice. In fact, one definition of “yoga” is integration. Clearly there is a lot going on here! Due to the comprehensive nature of warrior yoga I recommend this practice as a core component to your training plan. This introduction is merely a glimpse of the training. The companion video that comes with the Unbeatable Mind product will take you through one version of the practice. Note: see sealfit.com for details of the Unbeatable Mind product if you purchased the book as a stand-alone item. The product has 5 powerful bonus training tools that you will need to utilize on your journey. There are many different pose types utilized in warrior yoga. These poses are sequenced based upon the objectives of the training session. The session may be a recovery or a hard session. The primary pose types include: Balancing poses are predominantly standing poses and develop balance in our minds and bodies.


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Strengthening poses are mostly core focuses or rely on arm balances. These poses are typically the most challenging. Lengthening and Extending poses are most commonly associated with yoga, and have been used in athletic training as stretching exercises for years. Restoring and Contracting poses help to lengthen our spinal columns and are closely related to lengthening poses. For every lengthening pose there is a contracting pose. Cleansing poses typically show up as twists. The twists compress and “wring out” the internal organs. Inversion poses include plow, headstand, handstand, shoulder stand, and variations on all these. Getting the blood to flow in the opposite direction and to allow the organs to “hang” upside down are both very healthy. Resting poses are used as finishing poses. The most obvious example of this is the “shavasana” or dead man’s pose that ends every practice. I will be releasing a warrior yoga sequence in the unbeatable mind online academy. The following is an example sequence.


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Warrior Yoga Flow

Preparation stage:

Prepare space for your practice (mat, water, timer, quiet)

Sit in Zen posture, and set intentions for session

Visualization exercise 3 – 5 minutes Childs Pose – Box Breathing – minimum 10 cycles

Press to Down Dog, then come to Mountain Pose

Standing Sequence (Centering breath, 5 count hold):

3 x Sun Salutation 1 (Mountain to forward bend, vinyasa up/down dog, to forward bend, to mountain. Hold down dog 5 breaths)

3 x Sun Salutation 2 (same as 1, but add warrior 1 each side w/vinyasa between. Hold last down dog 5 breaths)

Warrior Sequence – done on each side w/ vinyasa between: Warrior 1, 2, 3 Humble Warrior Reverse Warrior 1 Forward Bend (toes, hands) Archer (Spirit Breath)


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Side Angle Balancing Side Angle Triangle & Reverse Triangle Head to Knee Twisting Triangle Sampson to side twist to pigeon Wide Leg Forward bends (arms back, hands at feet) Standing Bow Eagle Standing head to knee series Crane – vinyasa to mountain pose

Transition Breathing Exercises:

Windmill Squat Breath Scooping water from the stream Kria Vinyasa to seated position


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Add Optional workout module here (see next section on Optional modules)

Seated Postures (Vinyasa between postures. Centering Breath – 5 count hold)

Forward Bend Upside down plank One – legged bend (hurdler) Knee to shoulder Thread the needle Happy Baby Lizard – hand release Bow Side Bow Camel Rabbit Butterfly Wide angle forward bend & touch behind head Boat to Handstand


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Supine head to knee – side Seated hands to toes and head to knees Table Top back bend Wheel Back Bend (3 – 6x) Forward bend head to knees Shoulder stand Toes over head Head Stand Knee hug twist Matsi twist Forward bend head to knees Vinyasa to knees Cleansing Breath Balancing Breath Dead Man’s pose w/ Resting breath


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Optional Modules

If you intend to use the Warrior Yoga session as your WOD and need additional work, then consider adding either of these three modules between the standing and seated poses:

Body Weight Intensity:

o 10 rounds of 20 push-ups, 20 air-squats (or equivalent) o “Grinder” PT with various body weight exercises o Any bodyweight intervals that work for you. Keep this to

between 10 and 20 minutes maximum

KB or DB Intensity: Using a single KB or DB, do a WOD such as:

o 10 rounds of 5 Swings, 10 Thrusters o 5 rounds of 10 1-arm snatch (ea side), 20 Swings o Any variation that works for you. Keep to 10-20 minutes

Combat Conditioning: If you have experience with martial arts, kickboxing, or the like, then a martial movement module also works very well here:

o Any sequence of punches, kicks, squats (ducks) and burpees

growing in complexity as you move through WOD. Again keep to between 10 and 20 minutes.

Hybrid: combine any or all of the above


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Navy SEAL ETHOS

In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready

to answer our Nation’s call. A common man with an uncommon desire

to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest

special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and

protect their way of life.

I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the

heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn

to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my

chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every

day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a

guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are

unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work,

nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent

hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others

before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my

emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from

other men. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and

honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.


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We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge,

lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all

situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects

me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If

knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every

remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish

our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates

and the success of our mission depend on me - my technical skill, tactical

proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum

of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals

established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and

violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to

defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared

reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the

legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every

deed.

I will not fail.


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About the Author

Mark Divine is Founder and CEO of US Tactical, which operates SEALFIT,

NavySEALs.com and USCrossFit. He started his athletic career as a

swimmer and rower in college then became a competitive triathlete and

martial artist before joining the Navy in 1990 as a SEAL officer.

He graduated as honor-man of his SEAL training class 170 and served on

active duty for nine years. Mark retired as a Commander from the Navy

Reserve in 2011.

At SEALFIT, CDR Divine has trained and mentored thousands of Navy

SEAL and other special-ops candidates to succeed in the most

demanding military training programs in the world. His success rate

with SEALFIT in preparing candidates is unrivaled.


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About SEALFIT

SEALFIT has grown out of my own 20-year career as a Navy SEAL

officer, 25 as a martial artist in various traditions and over 15 practicing

Yoga. Additionally, my passion for leadership and teambuilding has

spanned another 20 years. I have been a student of physical training,

mental toughness, leadership and teambuilding since I was 21. Added to

this is a vast experience in training and mentoring SEAL and SOF

candidates through NavySEALs.com and on contract with the U.S. Navy.

SEALFIT has trained many hundreds of candidates for the most

demanding Special Operations schools in the world – most have

succeeded.

SEALFIT is not Navy SEAL training, nor does the Navy endorse it.

However, we have an excellent reputation amongst BUD/s instructors

and our program is used at the Naval Academy to prepare for the Marine

and SEAL challenge.

We teach things the Navy does not teach due to their risk aversion.

Many SEALs and SOCOM Special Operators, as well as military warriors

from all the services and service academies, routinely use SEALFIT as

their primary training regimen, or to supplement their regimens. We

also have many SWAT teams and Federal agency teams who use SEALFIT

as their training regimen.

SEALFIT is designed for anyone willing to work hard for the important

things in life. It is for warriors of all walks of life. SEALFIT is about

training you in advanced, but time-tested, methods to develop you as a


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whole person along a warrior-athlete path. So, if you are just looking to

get ripped abs, or a cool experience, then this is not for you. You will

not last. SEALFIT takes a level of discipline and commitment that is

uncommon in our society today.

SEALFIT is a way of life for us who train daily. We are a dojo of sorts for

developing elite functional fitness, mental toughness and a warrior spirit.

As a member of our growing team we encourage you to set SMART goals

for your training. One long-term goal could be to attend the Kokoro

Camp, or the weeklong Warrior Athlete Certification, or the three-

week Warrior Leader Academy. You will never look at life the same

way again!

Check our web site www.sealfit.com for details. Support is only a phone

call or email away.

Contact us at (760) 634-1833 or [email protected] if you have a serious

question about this program or your next steps with SEALFIT.

Train hard, stay safe and have fun!

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/kokoro-camp/�

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/kokoro-camp/�

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/1-week-academy/�

http://www.sealfit.com/camps-academies/3-week-academy/�

http://www.sealfit.com/�

mailto:[email protected]�


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8 Weeks to SEALFIT Online Coaching

The 8 Weeks to SEALFIT Online Coaching program is a scalable,

functional online training program that meets the needs of beginner to

intermediate trainees. This program is designed for those who do not

have access to a functional training gym or coach and plan to go it alone.

Online Coaching:

• Dramatically increase your overall athletic performance

• Build lean muscle mass and an athletic body

• Enhance endurance, strength, stamina, work capacity, durability

and mental toughness

• Provide you exclusive training methods used by elite military

athletes and top CrossFit, SEALFIT and adventure athletes

• Introduce you to a foundation of strength and high intensity,

functional interval training regimen not found in traditional gyms

or with personal trainers

• Prepare you for the known and the unknown, making you fit

across a broad spectrum of skills

• Reduce injuries

Included in the coaching:

• A structured and progressive workout training plan

• Weekly email access with your SEALFIT coach


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• Access to our Online Training Platform and Journal

• 8 week Body-weight only Pre-Training program daily workouts

• 12 week Basic Training program daily workouts

• Ongoing WODs once you complete the Basic Training

• Warm up and Recovery sessions

• Videos describing techniques and proper form for all lifts and

movements

• Specific information on equipment for each workout

• Access to a members-only SEALFIT forum to communicate with

coaching staff and other SEALFIT trainees


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Testimonials for SEALFIT

Mark,

As you probably know, you’re running a world-class program – and by

far the Best in Brand! I’ve seen what else is out there – there is nothing

comparable or close to what you have. Every time I stop by there it gets

better. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with your class last week –

and looking forward to getting out there again. Most of the guys you’re

mentoring there are doing well here in training”.

–Paul Tharp, Command Master Chief, SEAL Basic Underwater

Demolition/ SEAL training

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Mark,

I am sitting at my desk working on some reports, but all I can think

about is the amazing weekend that just took place. WOW! That was

truly (in your words) EPIC. You and your team of instructors pulled off

an incredible task. The amount of logistical work and preparation that

goes into Kokoro must be immense. I really appreciate all of your

support and encouragement leading up to the event and during the

final stages when I was definitely starting to physically hurt.

I knew you were heavily involved in the martial arts, but I never

realized the extent of the depth of your study and knowledge until this

weekend. My training in the martial arts and CrossFit, up to this point

in my life, has been mainly physical. I am now starting to become much

more interested in the spiritual path that all warriors must eventually

walk. I thought your lectures on Yoga, the Warrior Spirit and


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Leadership were outstanding. I would really like to learn more on those

topics from you when I am in a slightly more “alert” state of mind!

Greg Amundson, CrossFit HQ and Amundson CrossFit

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At first I thought that SEALFIT was all about getting into great shape.

As we got into your specific training methods it became clear that the

mental toughness skills you teach are the crown jewels in your system.

That was critical for me because as one of the older warriors (54) you

showed me that with specific breathing techniques, thought control

process and emotional awareness age is a state of mind. Of course the

result of the ongoing training is I'm in my best condition physically but

more importantly my mental toughness is at it's peak and dare I say my

spiritual awareness is expanding through the mediation practices you

teach.

Mark, SEALFIT is the complete warrior way to full wellbeing. Thank

you for your mentoring.

- Joe Stumpf

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Mark,

Thank you for the amazing experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire

weekend. The sleep deprivation completely wrecked me, but it was

worth the insight and awareness I gained about myself and my

abilities. I’ve been involved in team sports my entire life and nothing

comes close to what was achieved over that weekend. I’ve never seen a

group come together so quickly and never seen so many people step up

to a challenge in order to help their teammates. I hope the others


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gained as much from it as I have. I am a better person, father, husband,

athlete and businessman because of it. Thank you,

Tommy Hackenbruck, Rogue Fitness Athlete / UTE CrossFit

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We are in a transitional time in our country where many of the

institutions, ideas and ideals no longer provide us the security they once

promised. It's during these challenging times that developing mental

toughness is most necessary. We need to learn to find our center,

expand our minds, open our hearts and once again create the

conditions for our own flourishing. Commander Mark Divine (U.S. Navy

SEAL)'s new book "Unbeatable Mind" shows us the way. Do you have

to be a Navy SEAL or want to be in the Special Operations community

to benefit from his warrior training program? No. All you have to be is

a human being who wants to develop the capacity to thrive in the world.

Michael D. Ostrolenk

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Hi Mark,

I want to thank you for the experience of SEALFIT a few weeks ago. I

learned a lot about myself, my abilities, and my pre-conceived

limitations. As time is rolling by, I’m finding value and lessons in the

details. Thanks again for providing a testing ground for elite athletes.

Because of SEALFIT I am considering entering a half marathon

....Imagine that…a competitive strongman running 13 miles. Who would

have thought?

Rob Orlando, Hybrid Athletics, CrossFit Strongman Certification

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First off I’d like to thank Coach Mark and all other contributors to the

SEALFIT program for dedicating your time and energy to helping

people find, revive or create a part of them once never known, or lost.

Personally, I am finding a power inside of myself I had no idea was

there and had I not started this program, I still would not know I

possess. Before this program, I was a 19 year old high school graduate

completely lost in what he wanted to do with his life and going nowhere

fast. As the time came to make a decision on what I want to accomplish

in life, the idea of the military came up. My father spent 20 years in the

Navy, so I thought I would follow in his footsteps and do the same. Little

did I know that my heart would lead me in the direction of Special

Forces. Once I was in DEP and figured out that this was real, I looked

myself in the mirror and had a hard time telling myself that I had what

it takes. Then one day, one SEALfitter came into the gym I work at and

turned me onto the program, and from then on I have not looked back.

Thanks to SEALFIT, I have gone from having hardly any confidence in

myself, to knowing that there is not one challenge I can be faced with

that, pass or fail, I won’t give everything I have to complete. Everyday I

bring myself to higher levels of mental strength that I did not know I

had, doing things I thought only professionals were capable of. My mind

tells me to quit, and my mind tells me I’m not good enough, yet my

heart and soul persevere through and prove it wrong. Had I always

possessed this trait? Yes. However, I had no idea that I did and that I

was capable of retrieving it until I started this program.


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Now I am in the DEP for the Navy and have a ticket to BUD/s, and

thanks to Coach Mark and all other coaches and my “teammates” I

have it set in my mind that it will be a one-way ticket and for that I

cannot thank you enough! - Don Dirkin

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Dear Mark,

I wanted to drop you a line and tell you how glad I am to see you guys

at SEALFIT using that kind of exercise prescription for your clients. I’m

glad to see the military community is slowly but surely catching on to

the science of physical training. I’m one of the Strength & Conditioning

coaches at the Naval Special Warfare Prep Course in Great Lakes, as

well as a CrossFit Instructor, and a former U.S. Marine, so I’m always

glad to see programs like yours doing well! - Confidential Source

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I wanted to send a big thank you to all the trainers working on the

programming at SEALFIT. Last week I attended “Phase II,” an

assessment for officers, and future officers, interested in the Special

Tactics career field. This was a physically and mentally demanding

week, however, I felt as prepared as I could have been for it thanks to

SEALFIT. Your programming served as the base to my training (I

tapered ~2 weeks out and began focusing on more running, swimming,

and water confidence 3 months out). I was able to make it through each

evolution strong and put out when others were just getting by. I was

selected at the end of the week and will continue using SEALFIT as a

base for my physical training. –JA

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Mark,

My daughter is an Academy grad and currently stationed in Norfolk but

getting ready for a Germany tour. She has spoken with some of her

chiefs and they endorse your operation very highly and even mentioned

that some of your candidates fare better in their training after having

been to one of your camps. That is certainly an excellent

recommendation and thought that you would like to know that your

program and its reputation have spread all the way to the east coast.

— Linda, SEAL Candidate Mom

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Hello Coach,

I just wanted to drop line that is straight from the heart. Thanks to you

I’ve invented a whole new way to do my work. The work I do is very

physically demanding, so through your teaching on meditation,

breathing, and mental toughness - I'm working at an elite level.

My boss says, “I wish I had 5 more like you.” And I think to myself,

thanks coach, thanks for your emails, thanks for your truth, thanks for

your leadership, thanks for SEALFIT, and most of all thank you for the

sacrifice you made. Thank you straight from the heart! -Jerry Baird __________________________________________________________________________

Without getting into great detail I just wanted to say thank you. The

training was such an awesome experience. It has been a tremendous

catalyst for personal growth and change like no other in my life. What

I learned and practiced at the camp has engrained itself in my mind,


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body and spirit. Yet, it has enabled me to continue to grow and change

and it seems that I am growing on a very deep level at an exponential

rate. This does not mean there have not been difficulties, valleys and

summits or even false summits, but that I understand those and can

handle them with grace and understanding. You have given me the

fires in which forge my life and for that I thank you.

--Brian Rosol

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unbeatable mind book mark divine v1

Documents

unbeatable mind chapter

divine unbeatable mind

unbeatable warrior chapter

dont mind

daily unbeatable mind

levels of awareness

right action right action

warrior spirit