SEALFIT BLOG: DRIVE ON!

When you train in The Way of the SEAL you will amp your performance, lock onto the right targets and ensure you get to where you want to go in life. But on your journey, you will no doubt have moments where you lose focus and see your motivation wane. This blog post is about what to do when that happens. How do you maintain front-sight focus and embrace the suck on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis to see your highest aspirations achieved?

The answer is that you need to develop DRIVE! Drive will fire up your commitment to your personal mission, and allow you to stay the course through to completion. So how do you find that drive?

Drive is an emotional cocktail – comprised of burning desire, unshakable faith and the expectation to win. Drive creates that expectation that you can achieve the extraordinary through constant, daily efforts. Desire and faith support this expectation to win, building a personal discipline that powers your drive to keep on track.

But drive can also have a dark side, which must be avoided or it can ruin you. If your drive is staked only in the “me sphere” without a “we” or team aspect to it, you risk confusing determination with stubbornness, and could lose the support of family, friends, and co-workers. Abusing drive by trampling over others toward individual success—a success you will likely claim credit for—will destroy your reputation and any good will you have. So drive must also be accompanied with humility. Be driven to succeed for the overall mission and team, and in turn, that success can be enjoyed as a personal victory. You will grow stronger and learn in a way that benefits both you and your team, balanced with the needs of the organization.

With this idea of a drive balanced with a “me plus we” focus, consider what actions you can take today to develop the drive necessary to propel you to the next level.

Stuck? Here is some guidance…

First, connect with your purpose in life and establish your set point. You must know where you stand, or you will fall for anything that comes your way and keep chasing the next shiny things.

Next, define a major interest or passion that is connected directly to your life purpose, and make this your “one thing.” This is the must-do project, goal or target for the next one to three years…such as earning the SEAL trident, launching that new business, or finally getting that masters degree.

Finally, get a clear vision for what victory looks like for you for this one thing.

Now – the most important step is – to ignite the fire of your drive around this new mission by ritualistically visualizing yourself having already accomplished it. This is the “future me” visualization we do in the Unbeatable Mind Academy. I like to do this visualization during my morning ritual. As I finish the visualization, I check to ensure that every single action I have planned for the day is going to move me closer to mission success. Then, through the course of the day, I repeatedly evaluate possible choices with the following question:

Does this action move me closer to or farther from, mission success?

This daily front-sight focus, on a worthy target directly aligned with your life purpose, will ensure that you “drive-on” even in those dark night of the soul moments. It will also strengthen your discipline habits, placing you well on your way toward achieving excellence.

So with that, drive on and Hooyah!

Mark Divine