When under massive stress or fear, I go back to my Seal Fit training. In March, I completed a Seal Fit training weekend. 43 degrees, 12mph breeze, in mtns of CA, 50+ ice baths, Endless miserable moments.
Mark Devine, ex-Navy Seal Commander, prepared us in advance to practice the Big 4 skills of Mental Toughness & Resilience

1. Breath Control

At the training they would create painful & chaotic scenerios to trigger us.
The natural state of all humans is to react.
When we react with fight or flight, we lose situational awareness & put ourselves and our teams at risk.
I remember one of the active duty Seals told me, “don’t run to your death.”
So, throughout the training… they kept triggering us and teaching us how to instantly think about our breathing as first response.
Only when your body is under control, you can lead the team successfully.
Breathing is something we can all control.
Google Box Breathing and start there.

2. Visualization

“The secret weapon of the warrior is not the M-4, but visualization.”
Literally visualize your mission/goals every day. Not kinda see it. Like… see every detail. From beginning, to detours, to end.
Literally make yourself feel the pain and pleasures. Take your mind and emotionally experience the up’s and downs in advance.
It’s like putting together something from IKEA. The second time is so much easier.
When you use visualization in leadership, you can see and feel it the first time in your mind.
Then, do it. Execute - but execute with absolute certainty because you have lived the success in detail in advance. If you are going to lead, you must lead with a vivid vision of the future.

Mark calls it, “feed the courage wolf.”
My positive mantra, “the harder it is, the better I get.”
I use this in tough workouts and tough seasons of life/leadership.
During the training, they would tell you why you would quit.
- Tempt you with warmth.
- Tempt you with water or food to stop.
- They would try to get your mind to shift to, “I’ve already done more than most people would.”
Tons of people dropped out pretty quickly. I would hear them say some excuse. The excuse started in their head & they believed it. Same happens in leadership when things get tough.
Force yourself back into positive self talk. Your team depends on it.

Nothing helped me more than this. The harder the situation, the more micro I make goals.
When under pressure or pain, if you start thinking, “it’s a long way till this is over..”
You must move to MICRO Goals. Like, “run to that stick that’s 10 feet away.”
Shorten the runway when under pressure. Help the team build momentum with micro goals.