"Think offense, all the time, to eradicate fear and indecisiveness"

I am reading a new book by Mark Divine called The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed. Divine is a retired Navy SEAL who gives mental training tricks to help readers succeed in life. From the Amazon description:

In the Way of the SEAL, ex-Navy Commander Mark Divine reveals exercises, meditations and focusing techniques to train your mind for mental toughness, emotional resilience and uncanny intuition. Along the way you’ll reaffirm your ultimate purpose, define your most important goals, and take concrete steps to make them happen. A practical guide for businesspeople or anyone who wants to be an elite operator in life, this book will teach you how to:

· Lead from the front, so that others will want to work for you
· Practice front-sight focus, the radical ability to focus on one thing until victory is achieved
· Think offense, all the time, to eradicate fear and indecisiveness
· Smash the box and be an unconventional thinker so you’re never thrown off-guard by chaotic conditions
· Access your intuition so you can make “hard right” decisions
· Achieve twenty times more than you think you can

I liked the focus on thinking offense all the time. I tend to do that and thought it a negative since it puts one on guard all the time. Now I’ve learned from the book that this can be a virtue. The author describes a time that he was caught off guard in a bar. He flirted with a waitress, she called a bouncer who attempted to kill him. Unless there is more to the story here, it seems like attempted murder, but I digress.

The author’s point is that he had a black belt in karate but was caught off guard by a bar fight and it was only his brother who came out of the bathroom who saved him and they got out of the place. He realized at that point that awareness–not just being able to throw a punch–was key to survival. He likens this knowledge to business and says that one must be aware of the competition and ready to react rapidly and aggressively when you become aware of the threats facing you from the competition or the marketplace. “You must also take advantage of opportunities by innovating and adapting, doing the unexpected to keep your competition off balance.”

Good advice and a good book if you want to learn more about how to cope with life like a Navy SEAL.