Navy SEAL Training Guide: Mental Toughness

by Lars Draeger

Original book, in good condition. Minor front cover wear.

Genres: Psychology, Leadership, Military Fiction, Self Help

138 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2012

Reviews

[Kenny]

*note* I've researched and read a lot into Navy SEAL BUDS training prior to reading this book.

To me it's a rehash of other self development ideas and techniques placed into a Navy SEAL story line. I'm aware of the majority of the techniques and stories already as well since I've read a lot of self improvement books.

To someone that doesn't know anything about Navy SEALS then they will get a completely different experience. I don't think they would appreciate and understand hell week as in depth because that's not the focus of the book. I read a book completely dedicated to a hell week and it created a greater appreciation and understanding behind what these warriors have to go through. I would recommend reading "The Warrior Elite" by Dick Couch to get a better effect from this book.

I gave this book 5 stars because I was able to pull one gold nugget from it and it's the idea of "micro focus" or "micro evolutions." If I'm able to pull a gold nugget from a book then I think it's worth 5 stars.

I've been able to apply "micro focus" to my everyday life with great success and super productivity because it breaks down my excuses for procrastination.

[Brandon]

Good lessons to be had in here, and glad to see the author took a point of view of making this content accessible for everyday folks looking to accomplish big goals, and not getting mired in military life or combat ops.

What took the star rating down are the unforgivable typos and grammar errors. Especially given the root of the SEAL ethos of excelling in all that they do, I find it inexcusable that this work comes off as a poorly produced self-published affair. That alone particularly hurts the credibility of the message and process delivered. In one of his own interviews the author is given the steps to take to accomplish a big goal. It does not feel like he followed that process or he would have sought the advice of someone who has been successful in this sort of project who would have insisted that the author have a professional edit and typeset done.

[Garik Avetisyan]

Brilliant

I have read the other book with more 5 ths than this book, but that was absolute crap ,i just do not want to mention the title.
But this one , is short , concise, simple and to the point .
Many valuable insights about simple life changing techniques.

[Francisco Javier]

Fantastic

[Kevinehrman]

Had trouble finishing it...

[Brian Knipp]

While there are many more erudite books on the shelf on this topic, I rate this book five stars because I stumbled across it at a point of maximal need. The story that has stayed with me the most was that of the low performing boat team in BUD/S being given extra training on tying knots. The moral of the story struck a deep chord that pulled me through the particular rough spot I was in and helped me get where I am today. The book is written by someone who has lived what he writes about and is truly authentic. He will be forgiven for the de rigeur explanation of SEAL training found in the first third of every book written by or about Navy special forces. The rest of the book is a very straightforward explanation of how some of the toughest men on the planet have learned to mentally handle extreme adversity. I really appreciate the explicitly stated intent to broadly apply these lessons. The intent was not a BUD/S candidate cheat sheet, but to provide those struggling with health problems, business challenges, personal difficulties, or any of a million other mental struggles with a framework to approach and conquer these problems.

[Larry]

You can break the book down into three different sections. The first is a little bit about the Navy Seals, their history and some of the things they go through. The second part of the book talks about how even the individuals who are the strongest physically may be weak mentally, and how you can improve your own mental strength. The third part of the book talks about some different stories ex-seals have gone through, which ranged from what felt like hazing to me to stories about their training.

It is a solid book for how short it is. I wouldn't use it as a guide for getting started. I would use it as a kick starter. I feel with these types of books you need to be reminded to keep going and this is a good one for just that. It does have a military feel of, "Stop Whining!" to it, which I can appreciate. I did find a few grammatical errors in it, but nothing that was show stopping.

[Michael]

This approaches mental toughness from it being a conscious decision, which is important, but one SEAL in the book stated he never got over the fear of jumping out of planes. If he had used a subconscious mediation or something similar, I think he would have been able to get rid of it.

A good general book that may help some people. The one thing that I took away from this that is not mentioned in other techniques, is to break down things into micro tasks. This helps eliminate the stress of the overwhelming huge tasks or situations that seem impossible. It helps you from being distracted, which also lowers the stress as you are hyper-focused on one task at a time in the overall big picture. The Four Pillars are a good basis to work off of and may be all some people need to get themselves going if they apply them.

[Asoka Selvarajah]

Although one might be familiar with some of the personal development concepts, the fact that these principles are derived from arguably the toughest physical and mental training in the world gives them greatly enhanced value.

There are many good things about this book. The stories and experiences from actual navy SEALS in their own words is definitely one of the most valuable and insightful.

Basically, mental toughness and confidence are the absolute keys to success. If you lack them, you won't succeed at much of anything. This book shows you what it really takes to excel and achieve seemingly impossible goals.

[Denise Murphy]

Enjoyed the quick read and had known some of these techniques from being an athlete. Glad to learn a couple more!

[James Sarlo]

Terrific!

[Max]

4 Pillars. 'Nuff said.