“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” – Ray Goforth
Make Your Bed
There is an old saying… “The difference between people is the books they’ve read and the people they’ve met.
I just finished a great book called Make Your Bed. (No, this isn’t a book on parenting.) The rest of the title is “Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World”. It’s a wonderful read, written by Admiral William H. McRaven, the former commander of the US Special Operations Command. As always, I’m happy to send you a copy.
I grew up a competitive swimmer and trained at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California, which is where the Navy SEALs train. Twice a day I would see the SEAL candidates struggling through the grueling training regimen. My head coach, Mike Troy, was a decorated Navy SEAL and an Olympic gold medalist who shared many of the same lessons with me that Adm. McRaven shares in his book. As I read the book it was delightful to be reminded of my childhood and how fortunate I was to have met Mike.
He describes 10 life lessons he learned from Basic SEAL Training… I won’t go through all of them because I want you to read the book and don’t want to spoil it for you. But here are my three favorites:
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
The simple act of starting your day with a completed task is a powerful example of how habits can change your life, your attitude, and bring you comfort at the end of a hard day. What habit are you going to start tomorrow?
If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
If you work at Tahzoo it’s because you want to be part of a company that strives to change the world; there are no individual contributors at Tahzoo. “No one ever wins alone and no one should ever lose alone.”
If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
Ringing the bell for a Navy SEAL in training is quitting. SEAL training is the most demanding program in the US military – on average, 75% of a class quits. For myself, I’ll say Tahzoo is in every respect the most challenging thing I’ve ever tried to accomplish (We’re not done yet)… there have been many days when I’ve struggled and want to give up, but I never will, because I know in my heart it would become my biggest regret.
Let’s go be great,
Brad