Background
William H. McRaven is a retired 4-star admiral in the United States Navy, a former commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the first director of the NATO Special Operations Forces Coordination Center, and most recently the Chancellor of the University of Texas school system. In other words – Admiral McRaven is an excellent leader, a highly intelligent, respected, and decorated Military officer, and a bad, bad man (In a good way). Somewhat recently, Admiral McRaven went viral for giving an incredible commencement speech at the UT graduation which I cited in a previous post and that can also be found here. In the speech, Admiral McRaven tells the graduate class about a few life lessons he learned throughout his time in the Military in hopes that they would put them to practice in their post-graduate lives. The speech was so well-liked and admired, that Admiral McRaven decided to further elaborate in the form of a book. This book is titled ‘Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… and Maybe the World’. This is my second time reading this book, and I personally think it was even better the second time. Below is a brief summary of the contents, but I believe everyone should have a copy of their own and give it a read.
Review
In the Spring of 2014, 37 years after he himself graduated from the University of Texas, Admiral William H. McRaven gave one of the most inspirational commencement speeches ever delivered. His speech, which was centered around the ten life lessons he learned throughout his time in the Military, was shared and listened to all around the world. This speech became known as the “Make Your Bed” speech, which is what led to the title of his book ‘Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… and Maybe the World”. This title, and the speech, combine both Admiral McRaven’s life lessons and the University of Texas Motto ‘What starts here, changes the world’. The ten life lessons mentioned throughout the book are briefly described below.
1. Start your day with a task completed. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If this sounds familiar, this is the main inspiration for one of my first-ever blog posts titled ‘Make Your Bed This Year’. In the military, every morning they are required to make their bed to the extent that it is often tested with a protractor to ensure the correct angles and a quarter is bounced off of it to a required height to ensure the covers are tight enough. It seems like overkill, but the purpose of this isn’t to be petty about how the soldier’s beds look – it’s about enforcing discipline and driving home the attention to detail. Although extremely simple, it is unbelievable the amount of control that making your bed in the morning has on your day, mainly because of the amount of control it shows that you have on your day. If you show yourself that you can make an unwanted decision first thing in the morning, then making a few more unwanted decisions throughout the day doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Start your day off with a win, start your day off with a task completed, and set the tone for your day.
2. You can’t go at it alone. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle. In SEAL training, everywhere the ‘tadpoles’ traveled, they had to carry a ten-foot rubber raft in groups of 7. Some days one or two guys were fighting injury, dealing with issues, or were just not having it that day. On those days, the rest of the group had to dig deeper and pick up the slack. On other days, the other guys would return the favor. Although often did they find that someone wasn’t feeling their best, never did they let that keep them from traveling with their raft. This taught me the importance of teamwork and a support system. This is a tried and tested truth in every aspect of life. Life is tough, times get hard, and the hills you are climbing get steep… in order to be able to push through the tough times, you have to find someone to help you paddle. Some days you just don’t have it, make sure you have someone there to help pick up the slack and be prepared to return the favor when they need it.
3. Only the size of your heart matters. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart. In the book, Admiral McRaven tells a story about when he first set foot in Coronado to discuss his future as a Navy SEAL. He saw an older, frail-looking gentleman wandering the halls and thought that it must have been some sort of joke that that guy thought he could survive being a SEAL with all of the behemoth men that were wandering around. Come to find out later in his meeting that that man was one of the most decorated and respected men in Navy SEAL history. From that day forward, he learned that you should only judge a man by his heart, not by the size of his flippers.
4. Life’s not fair – drive on! If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward. It is widely known in SEAL training that the instructors do whatever they can to convince you to quit and get under your skin. This is because they want not only the most physically tough humans on their side but also the most mentally tough. Oftentimes, the instructor would randomly enforce the soldiers to randomly drop down in the wet sand, roll around until they got sand in every nook and crevice of their body, and then pass an inspection to make sure they were covered to the instructor’s standards only to have to perform the rest of the day’s activities in that condition. There was no rhyme or reason when the instructor decided you were going to be a sugar cookie, but you had to do it. Instead of sulking and complaining that you were uncomfortable with sand everywhere for no reason, you just drop your head and push forward and make the best out of your situation. Life is not fair, sometimes you are going to be a sugar cookie. Learn to make the best out of it.
5. Failure can make you stronger. If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circus. In training, if a soldier ever performed below the instructor’s standards (Quite often, I’m sure), they were added to ‘the circus list’. This meant that after the day’s normal training, they had to stay after for hours for additional workouts and harassment. The worst part about going to the circus was that you were even more sore the next day from the extra workouts, then your performance would take a hit and you’d end up right back on the circus list. It was a never-ending spiral – or so it seems. Admiral McRaven pointed out that when that vicious cycle began, a lot of people quit, but those that pushed through the cycle long enough learned something interesting… At some point, the circus made them stronger. They went from underperforming the group to outperforming the group. At some point, all of the extra training paid off and reversed the cycle. If you can endure the pain long enough, at some point all of the extra hurt will be worth it. Don’t be afraid of the circus.
6. You must dare greatly. If you want to change the world, slide down the obstacle headfirst. One of the requirements for becoming a SEAL was to complete a certain obstacle course in the required time. This obstacle course ended with a zipline-type rope that went downward at an angle from one pole to another. For the longest time, one of the soldiers was close to breaking the course record, but his slow and technical route down the rope slowed him down too much. In order for him to break the record, he had to take a risk and slide down the rope head-first. Everyone has heard the saying “You can’t hit the ball if you don’t swing the bat”. At some point in life, if you want to achieve the extraordinary, you have to do the extraordinary. To achieve great things, you have to learn to take some risks. You have to learn to slide down the rope head-first.
7. Stand up to the bullies. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks. One of the requirements for SEAL training was to perform a four-mile night swim off of the coast of San Clemente Island. The swim occurred at night when it was pitch dark, and these waters were filled with all types of sharks. In order to pass the training, the soldiers had to bite the bullet and get in the water for the swim – they had to face the sharks. In life, there are going to be obstacles. There are going to be sharks in the water that keep you from attempting things that you want to accomplish. If you truly want to accomplish something, you can’t be afraid of the sharks.
8. Rise to the occasion. If you want to change the world, be your very best in the darkest moments. One of the toughest tasks that the soldiers had during SEAL training was the two-mile night swim in an attempt to place a mine on the lower center keel of a ship. At night, under the deepest point of the ship, with the sounds roaring, the soldiers had to learn to remain calm and focused. At this point in the water, it was easy to get turned around and confused. Oftentimes, your best performances come at the times when they are needed the most. No one gives their best performance in an easy walk-through situation. Learn how to give your best in your worst scenarios.
9. Give people hope. If you want to change the world, start singing when you are up to your neck in the mud. In the Tijuana flats during hell week, the soldiers were forced to get into the cold mud up to their necks and embrace the freezing & harsh conditions. The instructors told them that when only 5 people quit, the rest of the group was free. Instead of encouraging others to quit so that they could all get out, they began to sing. One by one, infuriating the officer, the soldiers began to sing and they said the night seemed much warmer and the task less daunting. One of the most underrated powers in life is the power of hope. The power of belief. If you want to make yourself and those around you better, learn how to sing when you are up to your neck in mud. Learn to radiate hope.
10. Never, ever quit. If you want to change the world, don’t ever, ever ring the bell. On the first day of SEAL training, the instructor lined up all of the soldiers and tells them that if things get too tough, all they have to do is ring the bell three times and they get to stop the suffering. He also warns them that they will regret ringing that bell for the rest of their lives. Life will get tough. If you can learn how to push through the tough times without ringing the bell, your life will be what you make of it. You are a lot stronger than you think. When times get tough, find a way through. Don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
Although the merit in these life lessons can obviously be seen, this summary doesn’t do their power justice. I think everyone, no matter what walk of life you are in, could benefit by taking the time to read Admiral McRaven’s book and watch the video linked in the background introduction. As mentioned before, I have read this book several times and I am sure I will read it several more – as should you. Go ahead and give this book a read – after you make your bed.
