From what to eat or wear to what to tackle first at work, we make hundreds of decisions every day. Some are fairly insignificant, like choosing how many cups of coffee it will take to properly motivate you. But other decisions can have serious consequences for yourself or others. When making those choices, it can be easy to get caught…
After my former spouse Danielle passed away from stage four breast cancer back in 2008, I found myself visiting my command psychologist at SEAL Team 10. I went to him out of desperation because I felt like I was drowning in all my emotions. He began our first session by asking me what I thought most Navy SEALs had in…
Recently, I was flying in my friend’s private Cirrus SR-22 for a two hour jaunt between cities. We were at an altitude of 10,000 feet and encountered a significant head wind which caused our little plane to experience some significant turbulence. I had not prepared myself to encounter the dips, tosses and turns the plane would experience because of the…
Risk taking is an absolute necessity in our world today. For the risk adverse, it’s a necessary evil; while others welcome and embrace the process. As a United States Navy SEAL taking calculated risks was an essential part of our job. We are not thrill-seekers, throwing ourselves haphazardly in the line of fire for the sheer sake of taking risks,…
I was diagnosed with Operator Syndrome about 9 months ago. Apparently, Navy SEALs and other Operators start to experience several unique qualifying symptoms years after they leave the military. I need my close community of family and friends to help support me during my bad days. It is vital that we surround ourselves with people we can lean on and…
Some call it your max capacity, but however you term it, I can ensure peak performance without burnout once you find your ideal operating threshold. This is how Navy SEALs can operate at such a high capacity. A car engine is the perfect example: if a person only keeps their engine running between 0-3K RPMs the speed and performance of…
This time of the year always chokes me up. I write this with tears in my eyes because I am so grateful to have been born in this country. Did you know that you had a 4.7% chance of being born in the United States? That statistic is staggering for me. And yet here I am walking throughout my day…
As a former Navy SEAL I understand the necessity of working hard and pushing yourself to the limits so that you can professionally be the best. We put in countless training hours and perform hundreds of live fire evolutions in order to prepare us for ”real world” situations. But what about the battle of life that we face in our…
Now that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, people are starting to get out and resume their public lives. I don’t know about you but the pandemic was especially hard for me because it limited my in-person interactions with my friends and family. As humans, we are social creatures made to exist in community. I have heard countless stories…
When financial executive, John Goldman, had the opportunity to attend Financial Partners of Upstate NY’s annual kickoff meeting, he jumped at the opportunity to draw new inspiration and learn from the event’s speakers. He was particularly interested in hearing the stories of former Navy SEAL Phillip Koontz and how he uses his military experience to overcome adversity. “I have a…
