Previous Newsletters
2025
- July 14 - Podcast: The Honor Foundation, why you should eat more fiber, self-compassion is accountability, gradual change is the path to success, training reductionism
- July 07 - Podcast: Tactical Combat Casualty Care in Ukraine, willpower is the result of a constellation of skills, the difficult you need is not the kind you like, don't be an expert in everything, "I can't" is a lie
- June 30 - Comfort is the graveyard of results, this isn't fun, building skills, you will get hit
- June 21 - Podcast: Leadership Lessons from the Australian SAS, everyone has a rat to feed, pay now or pay with failure later, choice is a privilege, metabolic flexibility
- June 16 - Today's quick fix is tomorrow's weakness, attention comes first, you have to feel it to heal it, your training should adapt
- June 09 - Replacing complaining, hormonal health in SOF, you aren't the main character, adversity is the test
- June 02 - Becoming the calm in the storm, the only shortcut, training when sick, recovery & burnout, & new podcast with a STS PJ
- May 26 - What would somebody say if they observed you for a day, why experience does not guarantee expertise, mood follows movement, & more
- May 19 - Why fitness doesn't fade slowly but falls off a cliff, why sleep is how you start your day, minimizing vs. compartmentalization, & more
- May 12 - Hard to kill and outthink, testing vs. training, why fatigue isn't the same thing as progress, and spending years developing aerobic fitness
- May 05 - Everyday heroism, why movement is medicine, making a decision once, the necessity of taking the test, and more
- April 28 - The power of focusing on the small things, why it's better to keep up than catch up, aging and maintenance, & the foremost mental skill
- April 21 - Why recovery is a skill, how power fades faster than strength, protecting your most important training sessions, & fatigue resistance
- April 14 - Why strength needs an engine, how feedback type and order impact learning, the downsides of relying on outcomes, & how fatigue reveals your defaults
- April 07 - Why advice is only good in context, pursuing values over outcomes, how limiting factors shift, why selection is a mirror, & more
- March 31 - Why excellence is boring, deciding how much training to do, sourcing information, & why mastery must proceed stress
- March 24 - The value of training alone, why objective goals should serve subjective outcomes, why more isn't always better, finding "balance," & more
- March 17 - Why cruelty isn't a strength & weakness isn't a virtue, developing willpower, nuances of catastrophizing, and how selection reveals your choices
- March 10 - The two components of SOF selection prep, how expectations change how we communicate, self-assessment and emotional intelligence, & more
- March 03 - Why positivity doesn't mean ignoring reality, muscle fiber types & effort, being your best without comparison, and creating your own luck
- February 24 - Interview with Josh Bridges, never letting your future hold you hostage, the importance of outside assessment, planning for all contingencies, & more
- February 17 - Why running requires technical skill & how to run faster, why testing is not training, and starting small
- February 10 - Why distractions can be disguised as progress, managing expectations, playing the long game, why compartmentalization does not mean ignoring, & more
- February 03 - Attention residue, creating systems instead of excuses, unlearning fear, & how breathing moves blood
- January 27 - Why rigid goals don't work in complex lives, making your own luck, managing imposter syndrome, planning vs. preparation, and more
- January 20 - How fitness enhances cognitive function, building cognitive empathy, enhancing attentional regulation, and testing how well you suffer
- January 13 - Training when sick, better complaining, where the grass is greener, why outlier stories don't make good plans, & balancing force and stability
- January 06 - Why everything has two prices, acting as though your ancestors are watching, why more complexity isn't the same as more progress, & more
2024
- December 30 - Why all wisdom is earned knowledge, why learning requires humility, developing conscientiousness, and how strength work impacts conditioning
- December 23 - Why normal isn't always a safe bet, differentiating between fatigue and getting sick, Australia's 2nd Commando Regiment, & more
- December 16 - Why all behavior serves a purpose, sprint & maintenance phases, balancing thinking/feeling/acting, operator syndrome, & more
- December 09 - Why you should be suspicious of comfort, managing different types of training sessions, why all facts are friendly, practicing adaptability, & more
- December 02 - Why you must suffer to learn, maintaining athleticism, the malleability of emotions, and why selection begins when fitness no longer matters
- November 25 - Overcoming fear, not letting your past hold your future hostage, forms of hypertrophy, local knowledge, & the value of gratitude
- November 18 - Force Recon leadership lessons, you have to know why, looking at the upside of any behavior, central vs. local loading, & more
- November 11 - Why the real work begins at the first setback, why you need more than barbells in your strength program, Froude numbers, & rucking guidelines
- November 04 - Why things aren't going to settle down next week, what happens when you get what you want, why fitness isn't everything, & more
- October 28 - Getting comfortable in our own heads, stressing the limiter instead of the compensator, the benefits of group training, training or reality, & more
- October 21 - How our minds shape our brains, the value of training solo, training around injuries, balancing power and capacity, & more
- October 14 - Why you need to limit your inputs, building better predictions, changing your sense of pain and fatigue, tweaking circuits, & more
- October 07 - How to eat well on the go, making better decisions, primary & secondary stability, stress mindset, dealing with sleep deprivation, & more
- September 30 - The end of history illusion, learning not to quit, why more is not always better, the relationship between intensity and complexity, & more
- September 23 - Helpful vs. harmful forms of humor, identifying the real problem, sleep and aging, not believing everything your mind tells you, & more
- September 16 - How stress affects decisions, emulating your heroes, relative vs. absolute max in training, new podcast, & more
- September 09 - Becoming clear on what matters, why common sense can't achieve greatness, changing our opinion of sensations, & more
- September 02 - New podcast on cognitive performance and CQB, collecting baggage, cross-adaptation, what "I can't" really means, and training trade-offs
- August 26 - New podcast on mindfulness, why Murphy's Law is misleading, being stoic and emotionally intelligent, better ways to hurt, & more
- August 19 - New podcast, dealing with the 'shoulds,' how metabolism changes (or doesn't) as we age, why the hardest moment has already passed, & more
- August 12 - Suffering in silence, why you should focus on what you can control, why all the pieces matter, adding breathing exercises to strength workouts, & more
- August 5 - Why average fails everyone, mindfulness via exercise, different types of difficult, why fatigue is complex, and paying now vs. later
- July 29 - Post-traumatic growth, why commitment requires risk, training to perform under realistic conditions, problems with delayed gratification, & more
- July 22 - New podcast on health and longevity, why accomplishments are like sandcastles, how to pack your ruck, why treating symptoms doesn't work, & more
- July 15 - The relationship between personal responsibility and emotional maturity, performing under pressure, the role of protein, & more
- July 8 - Technique, volume, intensity; how to get better at doing hard things, building new skills can make things temporarily harder, all knowledge is local knowledge
- July 1 - Attention as currency, proverbs come in paradoxes, make hard things easy, the map and the territory, being ok with the present moment
- June 24 - The regret of inaction, boredom is a choice, movement fidelity, what you fear losing controls you, get out of the crab bucket
- June 17 - "If we run more, I'll die," acceptance isn't passivity, how perspective changes performance, how action changes the brain, and there are no shortcuts
- June 10 - Your opinion is optional, how emotions affect performance, passive coping is a path to anxiety, balancing patience and urgency, it's easier to keep up than catch up
- June 3 - Overcoming second-guessing, there are no shortcuts, recategorizing emotional reactions, becoming a 'natural', and the importance of nuance and context, and a new podcast with Eric Ross and Ben Allen
- May 28 - Pluralistic ignorance, gradualness, how to prep for the SFET like a professional, reactive anger, being consistently less stupid
- May 20 - Modern temptations vs. ancient willpower, why empathy without action is rarely useful, values and blind spots, managing expectations, and earning training specificity
- May 13 - The backwards law, why we win or lose in the little moments, how biases amplify stress, earning your opinions, and how interoception affects stress
- May 6 - How emotions affect learning, delegating authority, the cost of distraction, feedback - the compass of progress, and interconnectedness
- April 29 - The only choices that matter, being honest with yourself, taking accountability, directives vs. excuses, and how to keep going
- April 22 - The most important question, flow vs. deliberate practice, building systems, the light at the end of the tunnel, and exercise vs your diet
- April 15 - The power of rules, why you need to find your people, how context drives application of mental skills, why quantity should only extend quality, & more
- April 8 - Price vs. worth, attention is a skill, duration vs. distance training, accepting the truth, and the pace of change
- April 1 - The second fear, aspects of attention, how progress changes as you do, why starting points don't matter, and why physical metrics are a starting point
- March 25 - Overcoming insecurities, the relationship between motivation and ambiguity, why tough needs smart & more.
- March 18 - Why progress is linear but awareness isn't, different types of worrying, the choice you make every day, the fights you'll face, & more
- March 11 - New podcast on how to run & ruck without getting injured, playing infinite games, learning & social pressure, why you can't believe your brain, & more
- March 4 - Why you shouldn't coach yourself, why worrying is a choice, ignoring your calling, why resilient people don't wait, and the count of Heraclitus
- February 26 - New podcast on regulating your nervous system, the levels of happiness, humility & openness, cultivating productive emotions, and more
- February 19 - Why less is more, the components of stress, principles > methods, impacts of processed food, new podcast with a former Marine Raider, & more
- February 12 - Maintaining quality, continuous thinking, how thoughts shape feelings, why you must consider all effects, and how we all pay for our food
- February 5 - What people regret, actions vs. outcomes, doing things the hard way, addressing the root of problems, and finding your limits
- January 29 - Podcast with Admiral Robert Harward, taking help, choosing mentors, why taking care of your needs isn't selfish, & more
- January 22 - When virtues hold weight, consistent commitment, why pain lights the path, how to develop instincts, and why knowing the words isn't enough
- January 15 - New podcast with former SARC and PJ, why actions speak louder than words, why you're never alone, how contrast drives meaning, & more
- January 8 - Maturity & happiness, creating space to process thoughts & emotions, how to be in pain without suffering, and more
- January 1 - Trust the blood, fostering commitment, cardiac output factors, confidence and expertise, maintaining motivation
2023
- DECEMBER 25 - Better not more, mapping your stress response, fight this fight, path to mediocrity, stressors build strength
- DECEMBER 18 - Personal projects, PT test strategy, humans vs. hardware, two types of adaptations, pain and emotions
- DECEMBER 11 - The difference between 'can't' and 'want,' effects of judgments, rucking progressions, training around injuries, & liking vs. doing
- DECEMBER 4 - New podcast on planning for failure, how we shape our minds, the relationship between self-compassion & accountability, and more
- NOVEMBER 27 - The relationship between emotions & equanimity, why you need to test yourself, how and why to alter your stress responses, improvement via focus & intention, and the most important physical capacities
- NOVEMBER 20 - New podcast on pain, effort, & the limits of human endurance, how to hold yourself accountable, why a need for validation holds us back, and more
- NOVEMBER 13 - How emotions impact attention, letting go, growth & relationships, overcoming the inner critic, and Tier 1 operator capabilities
- NOVEMBER 6 - New podcast on the curse of knowledge, priming for performance under stress, the safe-fail approach, the ingredients of intrinsic motivation, & more
- OCTOBER 29 - Why humor has an aftertaste, keeping up vs. catching up, investing in loss, training in adverse conditions, & why our relationships define us
- OCTOBER 23 - Why people quit selection, repetitive emotions, the power of contrasting, confidence vs. cockiness, and why quality sets the path of quantity