brēT͟H/ verb To take air into the lungs and then expel it, especially as a regular physiological process. synonyms: inhale and exhale
Your breathing is one of the most important and integral parts to your survival. Yes, if you don’t or can’t continue to breathe you die, literally. But if you can’t regulate your air intake and control your breath then you will simply not perform at your best. It’s that simple.
Breathing can also regulate your stress levels, when it’s out of control you can literally panic or your stress and fear can put you in a downward spiral of failure BUT when you can control it you can do amazing things. Your mind can absolutely control your body and the breath is a pathway to that realization.
Warriors, like the Navy Seals, use a breathing technique called box-breathing to regulate their airflow and control their mind and body when they are called upon to perform.
This technique will help you cool down your body as well as find your mental-center.
Use the breath flow animation above from Quiet Kit when you need something to help you get going with Box Breathing.
Box Breathing How-to:
Inhale for 4 seconds (as the circle expands)
Hold your lungs full for 4 seconds (as the circle stays fully expanded)
Exhale for 4 seconds (as the circle shrinks)
Hold your lungs empty for 4 seconds (as the circle is contracted)
One of my mentors Mark Divine, creator of SealFit & former Navy Seal, teaches in-depth about the way we breathe and various breathing patterns you can use during a performance or generally to control your emotional state.
I can 100% attest to the validity of having “breath control.” I used it extensively before and during my Blackbelt test to calm myself down and find my mental-focus. Also during moments when I had to push through and get something done at a high level. It really does work and it has become an integral part of my personal arsenal as a martial artist.
When I hear the word “Attentiveness” I immediately think about my training. What it means to “train”, what it means to focus.
I think about the difference between training and working out. Working out is just going through the motions, training is working towards a goal.
I want so badly to get better and make improvements every time I train and sometimes I’ve found that you can try too hard. So what’s the key, what’s the secret to good training?
What iv’e found lately, that for me, the key to making progress and getting better is to just pay attention to what you’re doing. It sounds more simple than it really is in practice though. Sensei will constantly ask us to “listen” to what he says and do what he’s asking for. Nothing more, nothing less. You just have to listen, interpret and do. Sometimes you just get keyed up or want to move fast or whatever and that’s a recipe for mistakes. Especially if you aren’t really paying attention and just going through the motions.
Practice does not make perfect.
Perfect practice makes perfect.
Vince Lombardi Jr.
The author George Leonard wrote a great book called “Mastery”. He goes into a lot of detail about how important it is to be attentive and pay attention to the “now”; yes, keep your eyes on the prize, but don’t focus solely on it.
What if you’re practicing wrong? Then you get very good at doing something wrong. Slow down… pay attention… focus…
Practice thoughtfully in the now and you’ll reach your goals.
I have historically not been a strong advocate for Goal Setting. I mean I’ve set goals and worked towards them, but the official “setting of goals” thing… You know writing them down and all that. It always seemed like the goals I was hearing other people set were just pulled out of thin air. For example; Generate $100,000 of income this calendar year, or lose 30lbs by this time next year. They always just sounded hollow and not very thought out to me. My thinking was why not just live life better and do what you say you’re going to do… right?
I have learned to at least be humble enough to admit when I am wrong…
About three years ago I met Mark Divine a Navy SEAL and founder of SEALFIT, among his many other accolades. Knowing him and utilizing him as a mentor has changed my life in so many ways, but the one that has affected me the most is the way he sets goals.
In his book The Way of the Seal: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeedhe outlines a system called P.R.O.P. that helps you develop a clear course of action to work toward and accomplish your goal(s). P.R.O.P. stands for (Priorities, Realities, Options, and Path).
The details of P.R.O.P go like this:
Priorities: First of all a good goal is something that is of high-value to you personally. Make a list of a half dozen really important things in your life and then pick the top three.
Realities: Be honest and clear with yourself about your current situation in life and how much influence it will have on your goals. How does your current situation help or hamper your ability to achieve those goals.
Options: After you’ve reviewed your prioritized goals and thought through your personal situation as it relates to them. Write out three things you can do to achieve each of your goals. It’s okay to combine things from other goals as well here.
Path: Now that you have a few choices for a course of action, which one fits you the best right now? This becomes your path for developing a real plan to accomplish your chosen goal(s).
You need to literally write this stuff down. Make it public if you can, do whatever helps drive you to complete your tasks that push you to the finish line.
I’ve put together a worksheet, that you can download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gju5ni2vqsk47uu/focusplan.pdf?dl=0, based on an older model that Mark Divine sent me that I have tweaked over the years to suit how I work. I am sharing it with you now in hopes that it will help you focus in on your own set of personal goals and find lasting success.
Good luck!
Email me and let me know how it goes: gene.crawford@gmail.com
I was talking with a friend the other day, I haven’t heard from him in quite some time. Turns out he’s been doing some coaching, working with Division 1A college athletes and one of his students was just in a big championship game.
He told me about something they work on before the season starts called “Positive Self-Talk”. They develop one or two statements that the athlete can say before and during training or during their performance. We all kind of do this, kind of like the little engine that could thing; “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!”
It’s tricky though, you need to be careful what you say to yourself. Avoid things like bad talk or negative reinforcement. Like “don’t screw this up” or “don’t fall down.” Keep it forward focused and centered around your performance. For example a runner might say; “Head down, knees up, kick hard, move fast” or something of the sort. Special Forces Operators have a saying “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” when they need to move quickly but be very accurate.
10 Minute Toughness by Jason Selk
In the book 10-Minute Toughness, by Jason Selk, there is a chapter on “mental clutter” that is all about how to eliminate this type of thought. The author calls it “Don’t Thinking”. Which is a series of thoughts that you continue to cycle through that focus on what you do not want to do, instead of what you should do like in the runner example.
How to fix this: Instead of thinking of what you don’t want to do, reframe your thoughts on a “performance statement” that gives you a key to being positive and focuses on improvement. The example the author gives is an NHL Hockey Player. Instead of thinking; “Don’t miss this shot, don’t hit the ice before the puck”, they would think “I am relaxed and smooth; my shot is on target and powerful.”
How to get there: As an exercise, imagine that you are about to step into the biggest situation of your life. Be it a football game, winning golf swing or even a big sales call. Think sixty seconds before you start that the world’s greatest coach or mentor is standing beside you and gives you some advice. They tell you that if you remain focused on one or two things you will be successful. Write down those one or two things. **Be as specific as you can, be totally honest with yourself and avoid using the word “don’t”.
Design your determination and regularly practice being positive.
I had a quick conversation this morning after a 5:00am workout with a good friend of mine. We’re both training together and share a lot of the same unique year end goals, Blackbelt test. We talked about how other folks have seen our workouts and say that we push too hard, because what we show during training will only ratchet up the level of expectation during that test.
I’m not in the gym and the dojo day in and day out for the purpose of the test itself. Yes, it’s a goal, it’s a target that i’m reaching for, but that is only for motivation. There is plenty of work to be done to get to the point of being able to actually test in a year, but the work I put in during training is for me. That was my response; “I’m doing this for me, not for a test.” I mean this 100%.
If I’m only doing this to get ready for a test then I feel like i’ve already failed myself. By the time next January gets here, I don’t want to be in a position where I really care one way or the other that I pass. I want to KNOW that i’ve given everything I can in training for my own personal gain and growth and that the test is just that, a test, to see how I stack up. With the goal being to have already passed before I get to that point. To train just for the test itself feels conceited and beyond the point. Isn’t true humility the act of internalizing what you learn today and then using it to grow into a better version of yourself tomorrow?
So after meditating about this conversation and while writing out these ideas i’m having, I did what I always do and researched warriors who have gone before me. I found this Viking quote which I now love:
A warrior feeds his body well; he trains it; works on it. Where he lacks knowledge, he studies. But above all he must believe. He must believe in his strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul.
My single purpose in training is to be a better me. The test is just that, a test to see if I’m better than I am now. If I allow more than that into my mind, then I will fail because I will have lost the reason for doing it in the first place.
I was at my second Spartan Sprint at Ft. Bragg in 2016. Just as the year prior, and at most Spartan races, the teams from Operation Enduring Warrior were there. I always see them and they inspire me at every event. It amazes me to see them struggling and fighting through one of these tough races and all the people helping them along the way setting an example for everyone to see about sacrifice and honor. Truly inspiring. However there is a moment that happened to me today that will forever change how I see things and it’s really timely for me personally too.
There is a specific obstacle that has a fairly high wall and on top of it sits an even higher set of what ultimately forms a huge ladder, maybe going about 20 to 25 feet up high. It has two sides forming an “A” frame deal. As I approached this obstacle with my two race teammates we ran past a decent sized crew of the OEW folks. As I jogged by I saw that the person in the center had no legs, he was walking upright but had prosthetics and crutches. He was also dressed out in battle dress, just not a ruck or gas mask like the others. I thought to myself, man, that’s awesome, but continued on. This was roughly 2 miles into the race and I was starting to feel some fatigue and race pain, not good…
As each of my teammates jumped up and got to going over the obstacle and just before I went up on it myself, this crew of OEW people came up behind me. They started to attack it by hoisting up the guy with no legs, just on my heels. As I went over the top and was coming down the other side I was just about face to face with this gentleman and I noticed as I was looking into his eyes that he was completely blind and ALSO missing a hand. His team was communicating with him loudly and clearly while moving rather quickly over the obstacle together. I jumped off and just watched them work it together and my teammates came back to me and stood beside me and we just watched them together. We watched as one of his crew ran around the obstacle and jumped up to help him over from our side, then I noticed that this man climbing up was missing a leg and had a prosthetic as well.
This is when my chest tightened up and tears rolled down my face…
What moved me so much today was that in that instance when I saw this man was blind it changed my notion of LIMITS. This man’s idea of what his personal limits are go far, far, far beyond what my view of my own personal limits are. Here is this man that was likely blown up in a combat situation, a few thousand miles form his home and family, now missing both his legs, his eyesight and his hand (and god knows what else…) and is out here pushing and bravely going through this challenging and scary course. I simply could not contain my emotions as all this hit me.
As my own definition of what LIMITS are to me changed right before my eyes…
What gives you that sense of determination in your life?
I just saw that comedian and actor Eddie Izzard has run 27 marathons in 27 days, actually doubling up on the last day because of a rest day he was forced to take half way through his 27 days. Something that may go unnoticed to most people just seeing this headline/story today is that in 2009 he completed 43 marathons in just 51 days…
This gets me pretty excited to see him do this, maybe it’s because i’m 41 and trying to reach some pretty lofty goals myself over this coming year. It fuels me in a huge way and if I wasn’t really a fan of his before I am now.
Mr. Izzard says he chose 27 in 27 days to bring light to Nelson Mandela’s time in prison in South Africa. Speaking of Mandela, I’m reminded of this poem by William Henley that he has historically been cited as using to keep himself and other inmates sane during his 27 year incarceration. Which mind you, his “imprisonment” was what we would call “solitary confinement” here in the US. It has been said that he was allowed 1 day and 1 letter a year for communication with the outside world.
Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley
I think of the unbelievable mental aspect to what Eddie Izzard has just accomplished. The mental strength you have to have in order to get through one marathon, much less 27 and to end with 2 in one day…
Today is March 7th. John P. Phillips my friend (we all called him John Paul) was injured gravely in Iraq 8 years ago today. He later died from those wounds on August 16th, just 5 months later. He was an honorable man, a good friend and a US Marine.
John was an incredible guy but things didn’t always go well for him in High School; he was often in trouble and gained a reputation as a tough guy.
I was older and a couple of grades ahead of John but we were friends and since I was dating his cousin (now my wife,) we were tight. We bonded over playing the guitar and martial arts stuff, particularly boxing when we were teenagers. He always got the wrong end of whatever came his way back then. I suppose it was just the way things were, people are always pretty quick to judge someone in High School – especially a small town like where we come from. As such John never backed down from ANYONE and he was quick to get into with you if he thought you were doing someone wrong. Our shared talents for questioning authority was also something we enjoyed together.
John was a very mentally tough person, even back then. When he set his mind on something he usually saw it through to the end. Like with High School, he went back after a brief vacation from his educational career and finished it. He eventually walked with his classmates instead of just getting a GED like you’d expect someone would. I kind of lost touch with John when I went to college, just the way things go with people from “back home”. He eventually enlisted in the Marines in 1996. I remember talking to him beforehand and it was clear this was something he really wanted to do. I distinctly remember him talking about not having a clue about what to expect from a career like this except that he really wanted to belong to something bigger than himself. I imagine he achieved that goal, I don’t suspect the Marine Corps would have it any other way.
I was at his graduation march on Paris Island. The look on his face was immeasurable, he was a very proud man at that point in his life. We talked about boot camp and how incredibly difficult it was, he loved the martial arts component that was new to boot camp. His was one of the first classes to test it’s addition as part of basic training. We also specifically discussed the Crucible, which is a hellish training event that breaks you down physically and mentally.
It seemed to me that he took to being a Marine pretty well. He was an MVO, motor vehicle operator, and wasn’t too fond of that specific work. I think he was just unchallenged with it. At least the monthly emails we would exchange told me enough to think so. He was deployed to Okinawa, Japan – that he loved. He furthered his martial arts training and we talked a lot about guitars and new songs we were each learning.
It wasn’t too long before he signed up for security detail training to become an Embassy Guard. Later serving in Cairo, Egypt to guard the US Embassy there. I still have the papyrus paper he mailed me because he saw I was into woodblock printing and thought the paper was cool and maybe “I could do something neat with it.” I honestly can’t bring myself to use it for anything, but I still have it.
He came home after his enlistment ended and tried to make a life in the same small town where we grew up. I’m sure he was restless, that was his nature. John always longed to do something outside the scope of Berkeley county, even back in High School.
He eventually reenlisted in the Marine Corps, deployed to Iraq and also signed up for EOD training. To be an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist. In our emails I told him how crazy this sounded and I asked him how serious it was. He responded that it was deadly serious and what he loved most was; “the idea that he would be helping other soldiers who were being taken out by bullshit IEDs.” In short he loved it and I think it was the ultimate challenge he was searching for all his life.
He was deployed to Iraq in 2006 as an EOD specialist. The vehicle he was in was hit with an IED explosion and the blast burned 75% of his body. He was transported back to the US to San Antonio. To this day I regret not traveling to see him then. I don’t think I truly appreciated how bad it was for him, he emailed me once while in the hospital, god he was tough. But it was bad. He fought his injuries through multiple surgeries for 5 months until it was just too much.
At his funeral we met a couple of his fellow Marine brothers and EOD teammates. The EOD community is really close knit, there aren’t many in the field that do that job. The rigors and stress are too much for most people to handle. I can see how it suited John though.
Until those Marines and EOD Specialists lined up to put their USMC pins on the casket that day; I’d never seen such a display of honor and distinction. John was gone and while I felt very sad that I could no longer talk to my friend, I also felt envious of him, that he had experienced a level of brotherhood with being a Marine that i’d never find.
SGT John P. Phillips Marine Embassy Guard 9th Engineer Support Batallion, EOD Company
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge
In honor of SGT John Phillips a few buddies of mine and I are going to get together and perform a workout we’ve designed. We’re going to call it the “John Paul”. It is based on the idea of the Spartan 300 style workout and mixed with the spirt of the “Murph”. As such the workout will consist of the following, performed in whatever order you desire and without a set time, but time yourself so the next time you do it you can try to do it faster:
Start with a 1 Mile Run
100 Burpees
100 Push Ups
100 Squats
Finish with a 1 Mile Run
If you can not complete the workout, that’s okay, do as much as you can.
It may not seem like much, but trust me if you do this workout and think about those that have served you’ll feel it. Do it in honor of the man it’s named after and try to make the Marines proud of how hard you work.
