Mindset II, Part Two

Here is my philosophy. It is simple. I believe sound, and can be utilized by anyone for anything. Understand that it was originally written for young Marines, warriors who may not fully understand their situation. It was written for combatants. For men who will kill men. It is applicable as is to these types of people.

Men ready to do savagery against others. Also for those who may not be completely sure of the responsibility they have “signed on” for. It dissolves ambiguity and galvanizes responsibility. It is prioritized in order and needs to be refreshed often;

1. Remember that you did this to yourself.

        This is applicable to everyone. In any instance. Everywhere. All the time. In our case WE signed the contract, WE decided to serve. There is no turning back. Sorry if you made the wrong choice. Sucks to be you. For everyone else it simply applies to EVERYTHING. The confrontation you get into, or walk away from. The parking spot you take. The speeding ticket. What ever. Simply put you made a decision, good or bad, now its time to work through it. No cop outs. Make it work!

2. Discipline leads to mastery.

     This was shown to me early by welders. Men that were hardened by the trade. Two specific types; ones makin’ 15 bucks an hour, and the ones makin’ 30 bucks an hour. The men making the big money worked hard, measured twice and cut once. For the war fighter it’s the little things, straps tight, weapon clean, awake on post, clean uniform, good shave, squared away wall lockers, stay fit. These turn into very important ideals that translate into the battle field and literally become life and death. This is TRADE or JOB specific.

3. In order to master your profession, you need to first master yourself (SELF DISCIPLINE).

     Those same great welders lived comfortably because of hard work. On the other hand they drank too much, did other questionable lifestyle actions, invested poorly with time and money away from work. They were not centered. They could not complete the package. For the Marines it relates to this stupid ass “Field Marine” concept. No such thing. If a Marine is a GREAT infantry man, but beats his wife, gets a DUI, and smokes dope, he’s just another punk getting paid by tax money.

     This principle is you. How far are you willing to go to work for improvement. MASTERY. Of self. Internal focus. Complete control and understanding of you. How you interact, react, and live with your family and community. For us it is directly related to the fire team (4 men), squad (12), and platoon (40-50). That’s our community. In the office or on the job site it needs to be applied, just like the battle field. Constantly challenge yourself.

4. Increase your lethality every chance you get. EVERY DAY.

     I wrote this specifically thinking of perishable skills, most notably CQB style shooting, and bayonet work. It can be translated to SURVIVABILITY. Work out to make your self stronger and harder. The sexy body is a side effect to being hard. If you have a job where you need to stay on the “edge” of something, than work to stay ahead of the curve! Put in the extra hours here and there to make sure you perform at the highest levels. No need to be a “workaholic”, or neglect other aspects of life just the extra mile to be stay ahead of the herd.

5. If you won’t work on lethality, at least work on some form of self development.

     I often thought of omitting this one, but chose to keep it in to reinforce the fact that there are many aspects to successful living, not just bayoneting bad guys (even though it’s not true!). For us it’s professional reading and taking care of education and preparing ourselves to be the best citizens we can when we leave the Corps.

I would translate it for a civilian as this; even though your not getting paid for what your doing, or may not immediately get some reward for your actions, put forth the effort as if you are.

6. Become proficient in the things you DO NOT enjoy.

     The military is full of wicked cool crap to do…  about 10% of the time. The other times it is full of rather menial work and laborious tasks or desperate boredom. The better we get at the crap that sucks the more time for the crap that rocks!! The big thing now is the attention Special Forces receive since OIF/OEF. Companies market gear, books, and clothing after these guys. But guess what…none of that makes them Special Forces. Not the beards, or the partially rolled sleeves, or the “high speed” crap they walk around with. This does; they pack gear smarter, they think about and fix logistical shortfalls, they are good at the small details. The boring un-fun crap that needs to be done. Every time.

This again equates to pulling ahead of the herd. If there is some horrible task/aspect of what you do just lie to yourself! Tell your self it’s the best thing you’ll do all day. I’ve done this with long heavy force marches for 10 damn years now. These suck. They make you feel like crap and plain hurt during and after! But I have lied to my self for sooo long about how much I LOVE them, that I do now. Sorta.

  

7. Accept that the basics ARE brilliant.

     This is a clique in the military now, but no truer words have been said. Hence why I attempted to insist on the acceptance of this idea. Remember the acronym K.I.S.S.

I use this when teaching or talking through complex events. Particularly in any urban training. Remember that it can be applied everywhere. And should. This will be a life saver. Save time, money, aggravation. Think hard about this one and all the possible applications. It’s just a simple fact.

Look at professional athletes, ESPN just shows the amazing crap they do, but they practice the crap you do in pee-wee and little leagues. They always return to fundamentals and basics. They have mastered the basics, which makes it seem like they are doing something more complex! That’s what makes them pro’s. Accept it! (2&3).

8. Remember that practice makes PERMANENT.

        How many times have you heard that practice makes perfect? Nope. It just makes the crap your doing wrong happen all the time. By slowing down, and applying 6 and 7, you will ensure you are getting PERFECT practice, which will make your practice perfect. Making habits of action.

   It’s important to note however that function beats form in most cases. If I get in a gun fight I just need to shoot better than the bad guys, NOT PERFECT! But if I practice to be perfect, I will shoot better than John Q Criminal. It’s same with any conflict. I just want to be stronger, faster and harder than the adversary. This will work for gun fighters, not heart surgeons!

9. Imagine that someone you respect is watching everything you do, ALL THE TIME.

        I’ve been doing this as long as I can remember. For what ever reason when I was young I ALWAYS thought an adult was secretly watching me. I know it’s weird but it has served me well. In fact when I have NOT applied it, it seems I always do something more stupid than normal. Pick anyone. I tell my Marines “that if I were with you watching your stupid ass would you still do what you’re about to do or currently doing? If the answers no, DON’T DO IT!”.

   I firmly believe that if you apply this all the time, and the person you are imagining is a good person, you will be fine. This is similar to the whole “God is watching you” crap. Instead of picking something that may or may not be there pick something real. Your dad, a teacher, or someone who you just believe to be a good, proficient, person or someone you strive to be like. A mentor or role model maybe. Someone something, doesn’t matter. Just do it. Of all of these, this and the first one get the most positive feed back. It works.

  

10. Know your limits.

     Don’t hurt yourself. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ve heard this before. Don’t swim beyond your means, don’t climb Everest first, don’t fist fight bears until you’ve had a few fights with people. Stuff like that.

The problem for us is actually doing it. We tend to have a bit of a wolf pack mentality and get upset if someone can’t perform. Just don’t go too far because someone else can. Know yourself. With anything. Just do your best.

11. Constantly work to exceed your limits, SAFELY.

        All the time. This brings the whole list above it together. This is the completion of the ideas. The next few build off of the concepts above. Never be satisfied with your performance, but realize that you WILL get hurt if you don’t improve in intervals. It’s fitness based. If running 6 miles is your limit, than work to get 6.5. Slowly.

12. Balance mental proficiency with physical proficiency.

Balance physical capacity with mental capacity.

     In the Marines they say “you can be dumb and strong, or weak and smart” (neither of which is true). The idea here is to read as much as you run. To study as much as you apply. And not forget that all your strength doesn’t matter if you cannot complete an idea, and convey it to others.

Be as good at the physical stuff as you are at the mental stuff. Id rather have a decent runner who can think through complex problems, than the worlds fastest idiot. Make this your mission.

13. Make time to rest.

            for some reason some Marines (like the idiot mentioned in part one) take pride in the fact that they don’t sleep, or more commonly, try to make it seem that they never sleep, cause they are soooo hard. This is stupid. Your mind and body repairs significantly faster when asleep. 4 hours minimum. As much as possible.

I’ve HAD to stay awake for days, and sometimes you just need to do it. That’s a discipline. Not a physical attribute. Try your best to get 6 or 7 hours sleep every night. Especially after taxing days.

So there it is. The reason for the order is necessity really. If you get 1 and 2 done all the time it helps with 3. 4,5,6,7 help with 8, and 8 helps with 4,5,6,7. 9 helps with all of them all of the time. 10 and 11 will help condition your body and mind while 12 will make sure you don’t get lopsided. And 13 will keep you sane!