05/20/2026
The exercise I took from the Navy SEALs to control nerves and still use public speaking.
Every time you gear up for a job in the Special Forces, the tension builds in your body.
This is good.
Feeling nervous is a normal reaction to fear and uncertainty. It puts you in a heightened state, making you feel alert and aware.
This zones your focus to take decisive action.
But only if you can learn to control the nervous feeling.
This takes training.
When your nerves overwhelm you, it kills your performance.
When you step on a stage, you will be judged. How you speak sets the tone for your brand. A room full of strangers will form an opinion on you and your business.
You can be the best at what you do, but if you cannot put that into practice, you will fall short of your potential.
Feeling nervous activates your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This is why your heart races, your breath quickens, and you feel on edge. Itโs fight or flight.
To control this, I use something I picked up from the Navy SEALs.
Box Breathing
โณ Inhale for 4 seconds.
โณ Hold your breath for 4 seconds.
โณ Exhale for 4 seconds.
โณ Hold for another 4 seconds.
โณ Repeat the cycle x 4.
This activates your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) to:
Reduce stress hormones.
Enhance emotional control.
Improve focus and boost recall.
Allowing you to concentrate on doing your job rather than on anxious thoughts.
Itโs a way to hack your bodyโs biology to allow you the mental space to perform at your best.
Simple, effective, and used by elite performers the world over.
This is a skill.
Most entrepreneurs learn business skills and leave their performance to chance.
Train both and youโll have an unfair advantage.
Because the business will never outperform you.
Do the reps.
โโโ
If stress and overwhelm are costing your businessโฆ
The Chaos Drill is a 90 second reset from Special Forces to put you back in control.
Itโs freeโclick the link in my bio.
05/19/2026
I served with Nims Purja in Special Forces.
He was a real character even back then.
In 2019 Nims announced that he was going to climb all 14 mountains over 8,000 m.
The previous record was 7 years and 310 days.
His goal was to climb them in under seven months.
Experienced mountaineers called it delusional, dangerous, and flat-out impossible.
In the end, Nims did it in six months and six days.
This is how he did it and how you can back yourself to win.
1. SHRINK THE HORIZON
When Nims started, he only had funding for the first peak, so thatโs all he focused on.
Not the record. Just the next mountain. Then the next.
He said: โIf I thought about all fourteen mountains at once, it would have crushed me.โ
When you feel overwhelmedโshrink the horizon until action feels possible.
2. OBSESS OVER THE BASICS
Above 8,000 metres, youโre in the death zone.
Thereโs no margin for error.
Every summit push requires the same discipline.
Acclimatisation. Hydration. Caloric intake. Rope management. Weather reading.
These arenโt exciting, but they are essential for success.
Itโs the same in Special Forces.
Weapon handling. Navigation. Fitness.
The absolute basics of good soldiering.
3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT GOAL
The bigger the goal, the more it costs you.
Not just in time or effort.
But in doubt and discomfort.
The scale of a goal determines the scale of resistance youโll face.
And if the goal doesnโt mean enough to you, that resistance will win.
Without this the goal becomes a burden instead of a pull.
On Special Forces selection, candidates who looked strong would quit in the hills.
When it got bad enough, they couldnโt find a reason inside themselves that was bigger than the pain.
When you set a massive goal, the scale of it will try to stop you before you even start.
Overcoming this is the price of admission.
So shrink the horizon, obsess over the basics, and ask yourself one question:
Do I care enough about this to pay the required price?
Do the reps.
โโโ
If stress and overwhelm are costing your businessโฆ
The Chaos Drill is a 90 second reset from Special Forces to put you back in control.
Itโs freeโclick the link in my bio.
05/12/2026
In the Vietnam War, the US military had a simple rule:
No man left behind.
In April 1972, that rule was pushed to the absolute limit. This is the unbelievable story of Lt. Col. Iceal Hambleton.
Callsign BAT 21-BRAVO.
Hambleton was deep over enemy territory when a missile hit his plane.
He ejected moments before a second missile hit, but his real fight for survival had only just begun.
His knowledge of secret US military codes made him a massive prize.
Using his escape and evasion training, he stayed hidden despite soldiers walking feet away.
But 11 days later, he was still on the run.
Hambleton was running out of time, and the Air Force was running out of options.
They had one final play left.
US Navy SEAL Thomas Norris volunteered for an insanely dangerous plan.
Disguised as fishermen, he and a local Vietnamese partner took a canoe upriver.
They paddled past patrols and bunkers, all under the shadow of 30,000 enemy troops.
Against impossible odds, they found and rescued Hambleton.
BAT-21 Bravo was finally safe.
Neither Hambleton nor Norris relied on superhuman bravery.
They fell back on the operational system that military training instils in you.
The physical robustness to stay alive on the run. The mental resilience to control emotions under extreme pressure. And the calm ex*****on of rehearsed procedures.
In a situation he had never faced before, it allowed them to adapt, improvise, and win.
You donโt rise to the moment; you fall to your baseline.
Do the reps.
โโโ
If stress and overwhelm are costing your businessโฆ
The Chaos Drill is a 90 second reset from Special Forces to put you back in control.
Itโs freeโclick the link in my bio.
05/11/2026
2015, serving in Special Forces, waiting for an update on a target location...
So we found a street cart and sat back with a Cornetto.
Itโs surreal knowing that in the next moment you might be dodging bullets.
But thatโs the power of state agility.
The ability to shift up and down gears depending on the situation.
When itโs time to fight, the nervous system ramps up to maximise performance under pressure.
Itโs the same state athletes enter before a game.
But staying in that state before you get to the start line burns you out.
In business, tasks and situations change all the time.
You finish a frustrating call and walk straight into a one-to-one. You leave an intense meeting and try to start deep work. You go into a high-stakes pitch straight after receiving a bad email.
Most leaders carry the residue of one moment into the next and hope it works.
State agility is the ability to shift into the state required on demand.
Because you canโt negotiate, lead, analyse, and create all from one internal setting.
Before you step into the next task, pause long enough to notice your state. Then shift it using breath, self-talk, or movement to match the situation.
The best leaders train this because your business will never outperform you.
Do the reps.
โโโ
If stress and overwhelm are costing your businessโฆ
The Chaos Drill is a 90 second reset from Special Forces to put you back in control.
Itโs freeโclick the link in my bio.
05/12/2026
05/11/2026