A few ideas for the new year!
(Editor's note: I've not served in our Armed Forces. If anything presented is misrepresented, please notify me and I'll update. To those that have served, you have my respect, admiration and gratitude).
Another year is coming to a close. This is the time of year people begin writing resolutions and goals. Let me suggest you also take time to think about new perspectives. Two shifts I'll be working on for 2017:
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Embracing the suck
There's a show on the History channel called "The Selection." Average people go through military training to see if they can make it; that's it. No money. No 'winning.' Just the knowledge that they succeeded or failed. During the show, several veterans serving as instructors drop knowledge and perspective on why the military employs the tactics they do in training.
Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
Some of the tactics employed look somewhat cruel at times. One of the veterans tells the viewing audience that the reason they are doing these things is to get people comfortable with being uncomfortable. They know recruits are going to be wet, cold, tired and hungry. It's going to happen at some point in deployment. You can't train yourself to be warm when you are wet and the wind is howling away; you can, however, train yourself to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. You can't train for every scenario possible, but you can train yourself to being comfortable in those unsure events.
It must become a mindset. And it's one that is extremely hard for me. I've been fortunate to work for great organization. The rules had already been written. Sure, we had to update and modify policies. Some rare scenarios saw us creating new rules from scratch, but even then we had so much history to draw upon.
Now that I'm in a startup? There are no rules except the ones we make. No pricing, except what we decide. It's extremely uncomfortable. And I've been hungry for guardrails, but what I really need to do...is get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
For 2017, I encourage you to do the same. Anything new is going to be uncomfortable. New job. New skills. New boss. Be OK with being uncomfortable.
Embrace The Suck
There's this pseudo-religion or philosophy that's been cycling around: 'being positive.' There's a universal law when it comes to humanity: shit happens. Burying a loved one? Sucks. Getting cancer? Sucks. Losing a job? Sucks. Trying to be 'positive' during events like this isn't helpful and, in fact, can be harmful. There's a natural progression that we go through to process life changing events. "Positive" is at the end of that progression and if we skip the steps in between? That's what we call 'denial.'
So much of the human experience revolves around avoiding pain. There are pills for pain, distractions from pain and ways to just put our heads in the sand and ignore the pain. This new emphasis on 'always positive' is just another way to avoid confrontation with pain. We're lying to ourselves when we don't face down the pain. The denial of this pain doesn't make it go away, it only extends its presence!
We have to embrace the suck. During training, recruits are subjected to rude awakenings at O'dark thirty, getting sprayed with freezing cold water during PT (physical training) and screaming instructors. These tactics are done to condition recruits to embrace the suck.
Those of us not in the military are also going to experience situations that are going to suck. No amount of staying 'positive' is going to help. We have to acknowledge it's bad, embrace it...and push forward. The 34th Infantry Regiment has a motto: Toujours en Avant or "Always Forward." And it's another great perspective for 2017. When you find yourself in a situation that sucks, acknowledge that it's going to suck, embrace it and push forward.
Again, to those that have served or are serving...thank you. To the rest of you, Happy New Year and best wishes for 2017!
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