#1 Thing that I learned in the Army.

I don’t get this question very much, but recently I was asked what my biggest takeaway from my enlistment in the United States Army was, so I took a moment to pause and reflect.

You might think it was discipline because of all the hard work and early mornings.

You might think it was mental toughness born from the training and stressful mission set.

Confidence, physical fitness all rank on the list of things I took from my time in service, but that wasn’t the number one thing.

The thing that I learned that changed the way I showed up in this world was the big “F-Word”…Faith.

Faith in leadership’s intention and a greater vision that I was helping to create.

Faith that even if I was wrong about some things (which I have gotten used to over the past few decades), I know that I can still show up, adjust to the environment and accomplish the mission.

Faith that even when I make mistakes, people can see that I am striving forward and trying to make a difference.

This faith allows me die only one death in the arena, instead of 10,000 deaths avoiding conflict, mistakes and problems.

Because I had to constantly take action and be willing to get hurt, get in trouble and make mistakes, I learned that people will forgive the pure of heart as long as you just keep showing up.

This makes it easier to take the next steps, which speeds up the learning process which speeds up my personal growth.

Jocko Willing calls it default aggressive (taking action over sitting still).

Some people say ask for forgiveness not permission.

I say just keep showing up until you get it right.

That’s the number 1 takeaway from a time where I got 100’s of takeaways.

This mindset trumps the rest because because it unlocks learning and builds skills and resilience faster than any other thing you can do.

I hope you have faith and trust in yourself to take the next step!