7 Little Things that Can Change Your Life …And Maybe the World
Key ideas from Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven
1. Making your bed builds momentum. Every American military member learns this humbling lesson in their indoctrination. When I left graduate school to join the Navy, I was shocked by the emphasis on making your bed. Making a bed with perfect hospital corners takes time and focus. I didn’t have a minute to spare in the morning because we were required to muster outside at 4:45AM every day for physical training. So, I made my bed perfectly each night and then slept on top of it. Each morning, I took pride in the way my room looked as I closed the door behind me. Working out first thing in the morning had a similar momentum-building effect.
2. Never quit. Admiral McRaven suggests that this is the most important lesson of SEAL training. Read memoirs of Navy SEALs like Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell or Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins and “never quit” will stand out as a constant refrain. Even the SEALs Creed reads, “I am never out of the fight.”
3.”If one man could rise above the misery, then others could as well.” In my interview with Navy SEAL, Alden Mills he described an abnormally heavy log that he and his fellow candidates carried around during BUD/S (Navy Seal selection) called Old Misery. Misery loves company. However, the opposite is also true. In Admiral McRaven’s class the men were instructed to wade deep into ice cold mud. They would be allowed to exit the mud when five men quit. Misery. They shivered and tried to survive. Then, one man chose to rise above the misery. He started singing. Soon the whole crew was signing and the mud seemed a little warmer.
4. Life is not fair. Expecting fairness in life will leave you down and frustrated. Even admiral McRaven dealt with this in his painful recovery from a parachuting accident that left him bedridden with a titanium plate screwed into his pelvis. He said, “ All I felt was self-pity … My wife, GeorgeAnn … refused to let me feel sorry for myself. It was the kind of tough love that I needed, and as the days went by, I got better.”
5. Outwork, outhustle, and outperform everyone. This is the ethos of so many high achievers. It’s actually counter to what we’re taught in the earliest stages of military training. Events like Boot Camp and Officer Candidate School aim to drive a lot of square pegs into round wholes. Uniformity is everything. The smoothest path through indoctrination is the middle path. Don’t be first, don’t be last, don’t stand out, and you’ll do just fine. Eventually, we must outgrow this. As a young officer, William McRaven was fired from leading his squadron. This was the moment he chose to break out of the middle of the pack, instead of letting the frustration break him.
6. Your success depends on others. Talk to anyone who’s paddled a boat full of men and this becomes clear. I know #5 was about competing against those around you, but at the same time, you need those people. Every SEAL I’ve spoken with has a story of teamwork getting them through their hardest times. It’s no wonder that Navy SEAL Stew Smith says that BUD/S is more about toughness and heart than physical ability. And having heart is a social phenomenon, deeply affected by the attitude of those around you.
7. Change the world slowly. The beginning and end of Admiral McRaven’s viral graduation speech emphasized a missionary approach to changing the world. Many young people in the audience felt that ambition to make a dent in the universe. Many didn’t know how. Missionaries take it one bite at a time. They work slowly and build deep relationships, investing in people. Over time, those people invest in others and the missionary’s influence grows exponentially.
#1 New York Times Bestseller, Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven can be found here