One Characteristic Predicts Who Will Complete Navy SEAL Training
It’s been praised by ancient philosophers, pushed geniuses to see the world differently, and can help you today
It’s difficult to figure out what you should do and where you should be. Some never find that perfect fit. But we’re not alone. Organizations go through this difficult process as well.
In the National Football League, sixty-nine percent of number one draft picks either don’t play for their team or wash out right away. The military struggles with it too. Former Navy captain and author Mike Abrashoff says it’s an expensive problem.
During his interview on the Jordan Harbinger podcast, Abrashoff says the military spends about $100,000 per soldier in training and bonuses. But almost half don’t complete their enlistment. They’re not a good fit.
Although the Navy SEALS think they have it figured out.
This elite group funnels candidates through a training course before they invest money in them. They call it Hell Week or BUD/S’s, and most fail. Here’s Business Insider’s unpleasant description of it:
“Hell Week lasts almost six days …during which students run more than 200 miles, often with boats on their heads, swim, do hours of physical training with logs, and numerous other brutal evolutions. They are constantly wet, cold, and sandy and only get about four hours of sleep throughout the week…students are fed regularly and consume over 8,000 calories a day but still lose weight.”
In a recent interview former SEALS and trainers Mike Sarraile and Andy Stumpf say these candidates come very close to death. But both claim it’s necessary. The test is the only thing that can weed out those that don’t fit.
They claim there’s no way to judge a successful applicant by eyeball. Stature or background doesn’t matter. For instance, impressive athletes quit on the first day, while those much less physically gifted make it through.
The trainers also admit their premonitions on who will pass, and fail are often wrong. But there is one prime indicator. Sarraile says he learned about it firsthand during his own Hell Week trial.
The Pressure That Creates Strength
During his interview, Sarraile says he remembers surveying the line of applicants during his week of punishment. He saw a small passive kid. Instantly, Sarraile knew he’d wash out; he was too weak.
Well, the kid was Jonny Kim. Not only did Kim make it, but later became a doctor, and is currently an astronaut. Sarraile later found out Kim had an abusive father who he watched die in a standoff with police.
One could only imagine how psychologically devastating that was. But Sarraile has a different take.
He says the X-factor that usually predicts who makes it through SEAL training is if the candidate faced major adversity or trauma as a child. It’s like an early training course for struggle.
Dr. Craig Wright says this also holds true for great artists and scientists in his book The Hidden Habits of Genius. He notes the following figures lost a parent at an early age:
“Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Bach, Beethoven, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, William Wordsworth, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Shelley, Marie Curie, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Paul McCartney, and Oprah Winfrey”
Wright hints that “independence and resilience,” may be “forged in the crucible of an early life trauma.” It may also alter their vision. This could drive a genius to see the world differently enough to change it.
But this isn’t a modern-day revelation. Great philosophers thousands of years ago speculated about this idea. They also give a hint to harness it.
The Inner Fire
Many believe philosophy started with Socrates; however, it existed long before. And these “Pre-Socratic” philosophers thought differently. In particular, they often argued about “The First Cause” for the creation of the world.
Some thought it was water, others earth, and some air. Heraclitus thought it was fire. After all, it can create and destroy. Talk about power.
But Heraclitus saw fire as more than the flame you cook marshmallows over during campouts.
He made no separation between fire, soul, and God. In fact, he describes fire as a sort of energy behind all things. It’s the energy within us.
Heraclitus saw this soul or energy as immortal and, like fire, endlessly consuming. Although it’s not an out-of-control blaze, there’s order to it. So, this energy can be studied and harnessed.
According to historian Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization, the later Stoic philosophers developed this idea of fire further. This internal energy could be fed. Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations says:
“The blazing fire makes flames and brightness out of everything thrown into it.”
In particular, struggle makes excellent fuel for this internal blaze. So, like Jonny Kim, the SEAL candidates, and Wright’s geniuses, adversity creates an X-factor for achieving incredible goals and becoming stronger.
Well, that’s a bit of a silver lining for someone working through the shadow of early life trauma. But what does it mean for the rest of us?
Finding Our Own Fire
“When you struggle, that’s when your art gets great.”
For most of our lives we’re pretty comfortable compared to our ancestors. We get light at the flick of a switch. And the same goes for heat when the temperatures drop. Don’t even get me started on food.
But according to the most elite members of the military, famous artists and scientists, along with philosophers, there’s a growth and change that occurs through struggle.
Furthermore, you don’t have to experience a trauma or terrible adversity to feed that internal fire Marcus Aurelius and Heraclitus spoke of.
Just challenge yourself. We can seek out adversity on our own terms, not just wait for it to sneak up and touch us randomly.
It could be anything as simple as exercise. Alternatively, something a bit more complex, like an artistic endeavor or taxing hobby can do the same. Regardless of what it is, find that thing which truly pushes you.
In a way, it can be our own Hell Week, but on a much tamer level.
For instance, I started martial arts in my early twenties and had the interesting experience of truly sucking at something. In fact, embarrassment occurred regularly. Well, at least for a while.
The early discomfort was well worth the cost of feeding the fire.
In the end, it was a self-imposed adversity, and I got the benefit of everything that came with it. Moreover, it’s something we all can have.
Laying on a cold beach covered in mud isn’t necessary, just a challenge to push ourselves into building that internal fire.
We only need to seek out the kindling to start the blaze.
Originally posted on Medium 11/8/22.