I received an email recently from a young Special Programs candidate about to enter selection training. He had sought advice on how to make it through the process from a number of others who had been there, but the advice he had gotten was frustratingly simple, “Just don’t quit.” That advice though, is really the …
Stephane Roberts interviewed me a while ago along with Mark Twight, Martin Rooney and Dan John to contribute for a TMuscle article called Pushing the Limits. He asked me for my thoughts on the “test” workouts to push mental and physical capacity to a breaking point. Here’s my portion of the interview: “I don’t like most …
“I get it.” One of the greatest barriers to learning and becoming a better version of oneself is the phrase “I get it.” Being aware of a piece of knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean that you truly understand and implement it in your life. We all have comfort zones, like thermostats, and the idea that we …
The Curse of Knowledge Everybody is stupid except me.” – Homer Simpson Next time you’re around a group of friends, try this experiment: Tap your finger on a table to the rhythm of a very simple, well known song like Happy Birthday. Before you do so, try to predict how long it will take for your friends …
Dangerism – Belief systems or ideologies in which some activities are considered dangerous based on cultural histories, taboos and traditions rather than science, statistics or concrete evidence. “Have you ever licked a 9-volt battery?” This is the question Gever Tulley uses to gauge the risk aversion of crowds. As it turns out, a good many …
A recent area of research of mine is in the psychological concept of “hardiness.” Hardiness, put simply, is the ability to withstand and perform well under stress. The concept was initially defined in the late seventies when a guy named Kobasa began studying the psychological profiles of men working as executives for AT&T during …
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” — Mike Tyson Picture a large plastic zip tie, about an inch wide. The smaller versions are sometimes used to tie garbage bags; soldiers and police officers use the large ones to restrain people. Anyone could figure out how to thread a zip tie: …
“But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident… of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in any …
What happens to your brain on stress? “Everywhere and at all times it is in your power to accept reverently your present condition, to behave justly to those about you, and to exert your skill to control your thoughts, that nothing shall steal into them without being well examined.” – Marcus Aurelius The idea behind …
Play – Do Something Novel Today One of the biggest things lacking in American culture is play; doing something unscripted, unregulated, solely because it’s entertaining. By this I don’t mean video games. I have no doubt that people spend plenty of time staring at repetitive flashing lights on a screen. I’m talking about the sort …