"You Have To Do It Yourself,
But You Can’t Do It Alone"
- old African proverb 

from instagram @mcteams3842

This old saying has been stuck in my head since I read it recently as it is one of those idioms that makes you ponder a bit and reflect on your own journey. Have you really have done anything by yourself or was there help somewhere along the way? Even though you still had to endure the pain and sweat and long hours of work by yourself - or did you? Were you a good team player, mentor, or role model to those around you when they needed assistance?

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Here's how this applies to us and getting to and through training:

• Focus on being a good team player, but also have patience in your own preparation so you actually exceed the standards versus just barely meet the standards. Exceeding the Standard IS the Standard! 
• You will be a more useful team mate if you can offer assistance, tips, techniques, and advice to someone on your team that may have a weakness that is your strength. Not everyone is good at everything. Sometimes you will be helpful - sometimes you will need help.  

So, let's put this into action for a Spec Ops specific goal:

• Work hard to crush the PT Test to get TO the training.
• Start preparing to get THROUGH the training while maintaining PT scores. Set a performance starting line - not a timeline. 
• Talk to a recruiter and get the process started BUT know the process so you get the job and training pipeline you want. Know BS when you hear it. Know SEAL/SWCC Website by heart. 
• Keep doing your research and focus on the specific challenges in your future (longer runs, rucks, swims, pool skills, strength for logs, boats, load bearing).
• Be confident in your abilities but not over-confident
• Be humble to acknowledge you need help learning a skill - ask for help.
• Be helpful to your team mates when they need similar assistance.
• Remember - you will never think about quitting when you think about winning. Train to compete mindset - not just survive. 
• Go in focused on competing to win or be in the 10% of the class in as many events as possible.
• The fewer events you have to check into mental toughness the better - but know there will be some gut checks no matter who you are. Something will test your WHY you want to be there.

One more thing...

If you're one of those military spec ops candidates who is ready to take this to the next level, take a minute to Check out this Assessment Tool that has a list of exercises and events with scores that competitive spec ops candidates had before they crushed the training pipeline and became special operators. If you cannot come close to most of these scores, get harder. Because if you are going to be weak in something, you better be mentally hard to get through it - if you can still meet the standard. This makes it easy for you to graduate spec ops training on the first time without having to even thinking about quitting. 

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