You’re a retired SEALs commander who went on to start a number of companies. How did your SEALs training help you in business?
One thing that helped me was the idea of front-sight focus. As a SEAL, you learn to select the right targets to go after — and to go after them with a vengeance. You laser-focus all of your efforts and resources on it until you have mission completion. You don’t get distracted by all of the other low-hanging fruit, but you [also] don’t get tunnel vision. You’re very flexible and willing to shift fire to a new target if something pops up.
So in addition to physical toughness, it takes a special kind of intelligence to succeed as a SEAL.
Yes. Special Ops are super intelligent. We’re not just a bunch of hairy-chested knuckle-draggers. Most of my peers were Harvard grads and Olympians at the same time. You not only have the cognitive intelligence to be able to solve complex problems, but you have to be super intuitive, because you never know where that danger is going to be or where those opportunities are. You have to be able to learn quickly, so accelerated learning kind of becomes part of your development.
What’s one key way professionals can tap into their inner warrior?
The goals you go after should be [things] you’re really passionate about, and you should be able to answer the question “Why?” [You need] a much higher sense of purpose than [just] making money or just doing your job — those are really weak “whys.” In the SEALs, we knew exactly why we were there: to hunt the bad guys and to serve and protect our country. It was very motivating to be super clear about our overall mission and purpose. When the going gets tough, you need intrinsic motivation to keep going.
And when you’re overwhelmed by the enormity of the task?
You break your goals down into micro goals. When you start knocking down those micro goals, you develop confidence and momentum.
In the book, you suggest cultivating an awareness of one’s surroundings and internal cues. How do these skills help in the office?
If you’re in a boardroom in intense negotiations, you want to be keenly alert of everything that’s going on around you: all the different body signals, people coming in and out of the room. You can gain a tremendous amount of helpful information that way. You also want to listen to your intuition. A lot of times you’ll be motivated to close a deal because the money is good, but inside you’re saying, “This person lacks integrity.” If we can develop the ability to be more intuitive and aware, we can connect with our broader intelligence.
Is it really possible to cultivate SEAL-style acuity through the mental exercises you prescribe?
Absolutely. A lot of the training I put in the book [like meditation and yoga] is something done by similar warrior traditions throughout history. They require effort and patience. You have to cultivate it day in and day out. You can’t hack your way to intuition.