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Unbreakable: A Navy SEAL’s Way of Life

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In Unbreakable, Thom Shea, a highly decorated Navy SEAL, shares his years of combat experiences in Afghanistan. His stories, while adventurous and entertaining, provide incredible insights, sure to shift your view of yourself and provoke life-altering change! Originally meant to be a memoir for his children in case he didn’t survive deployment and could not return home to them, Unbreakable has a powerful set of lessons for anyone striving to break through the barriers of human performance.

Unbreakable contains no hidden secrets; however, Shea’s painstaking study and experiences in striving for excellence offer traits and habits required for the effective and efficient pursuit of personal transformation. Do you want to perform above and beyond what humans think possible? Read this book!

Unbreakable is fresh, raw, engaging, and real. “All great accomplishments, all earned awards, start with our Internal Dialogue that needs to be fulfilled,” says Shea. “Don’t fear the need to achieve anything, and never give up . . . never.” Internal Dialogue controls everyone’s actions, and only a few people spend the time essential for mastery—maybe one in ten, or even fewer. For those who can master their Internal Dialogue, the possibilities are limitless.

Shea is our example, proving anyone can shift their chaos of battle into the calm of victory. He leads the way and shows us all how to be unbreakable.

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

82 people are currently reading
408 people want to read

About the author

Thom Shea

4 books14 followers
THOM SHEA served 23 years with distinguished service as a Navy SEAL earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star for Valor and multiple Valor awards in combat. Thom led the SEAL Sniper Course and the Research and Develop Department until retirement. Upon retiring founded Unbreakable Leadership Training, a multi-million dollar leadership mentoring group, released the best seller Unbreakable: A Navy SEAL’s Way of Life and Three Simple Things: Leading During Chaos, and co-hosts Unbreakable podcast. Graduates include fortune 500 company leaders and endurance athletes committed to sustaining high performance not only in business but also in their health, relationships, and spiritual lives.
As a hobby Thom competes in ultra-marathon events and directs 24 hour leadership challenges.

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5 stars
197 (38%)
4 stars
173 (33%)
3 stars
97 (18%)
2 stars
37 (7%)
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13 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Laura.
4 reviews7 followers
September 14, 2017
Firstly, I will say what I did like about the book. I think the overall message of controlling your inner dialog was great and Shea told some interesting stories about his very exciting life. I am married to a combat veteran and I am grateful for Shea's service for our country. I enjoyed Chris Kyle's book and I do like books about war or the military.

However what I liked about the book was overshadowed by what I didn't. I don't know if it was just his writing, but I found myself constantly rolling my eyes at Shea. He's not a very likable person--which for me, made reading his memoir irritating. I agreed with his work ethic, patriotism, and lessons on inner dialog, but I was completely put-off by his conceit, misogyny, and xenophobia. In a lot of ways, he was just too over the top. He reminded me of a parody of a Klingon warrior. Perhaps I'm just not Spartan enough to appreciate this book.
Profile Image for Steve.
54 reviews
November 10, 2015
This book is more than a Navy SEAL story in that it contains lessons and techniques that all of us can apply in our own civilian lives. As a distance runner I could relate to the concept of Internal Dialog that forms the central theme of the book. Shea tells us how to master our Internal Dialog and believes that it is the key to achieving your goals even in the face of great hardship. There are other lessons regarding relationships with other people that we need in our lives as well.

I learned a lot from reading this book. When you read what Thom Shea went through - you realize he has clearly established the credibility to tell us how to survive and even to thrive in the face of complete chaos. I note one of Thom's favorite books which I also read is Shackleton's "Endurance" which should be required reading for this survival genre.

One other point I found very interesting is the technique the SEALS use to visualize all the imaginable scenarios that could occur in a situation and how they would react. Later when things go wrong (like they always do) hopefully there is some "familiarity" with previous thoughts thus providing controlled response.

I agree with another reviewer that the relationship he had with his wife is unique and certainly not common. They both made it work through total commitment to Thom's job. She is an exceptional woman and he is an exceptional man. But I could not extract much value out of this for a normal civilian marriage.

The battle scenes are well described and you get a great feel for these guys and how they handle all the stress. They are incredible guys and thank God we have people like this to respond to a National 911 call.
Profile Image for Kelly Bell.
92 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2019
I enjoyed this book; however, I’m sure it’s not for everyone.

After hearing a small amount of what Seals (and others) have endured, words cannot adequately express gratitude for what they’ve done for us. But I will humbly say thank you anyway.

Speaking to the actual book itself, Shea recounting the stories of battle and the adventure race were the most interesting and passion-filled parts of this book. You could feel his love for his team and for his mission. Being let into those stories is as close as I’ll get to any of that and I’m thankful to have learned from them.

I’m assuming the author is not a professional writer and that is why some of the writing seemed a little disjointed or contradictory, but that’s life. I wish the lessons were pointed out more as the story went along. They seemed to kind of be there on the outskirts and didn’t go into enough detail on that. I would have been content with just the telling of Shea’s stories and the lessons he learned as he went along. Although, I did listen to the audio, so maybe it’s different if you’re actually looking at the book.

What happened to the couple who helped them? I don’t recall hearing anymore of them after the “we’re worried” letters.

If you appreciate the military and/or are open to approaching life in a more focused way, you would probably enjoy this book. If you don’t want to know about military, are sensitive or are just looking for self-help, this is probably not the book for you.
1 review
March 31, 2016
Thom Shea goes beyond just the typical description of war and the struggles accompanied by it. He throws in certain life lessons that can be applied to everyday life. Throughout the novel he speaks of 13 Adamantine Lessons and how each one is able to shape our character. Another overarching theme is his emphasis on the Internal Dialogue. Thom recognizes that the mental aspect of a man is the most important, and without mastery over the mind, the man is susceptible to break. Once you read what he went through, you realize he is more than qualified to give advice on how to make it in life. The book stresses the importance of the mastery over one's thoughts and mind in order to achieve greatness. The book is written as a guideline to his children in the unfortunate scenario Thom would not return home. When reading it, I found it useful to accept the challenges he presents in order to make myself more successful. This book gave me even more respect for all the men and women who dedicate their lives to the service of our great nation.
Profile Image for Chiara Cokieng.
162 reviews30 followers
February 22, 2015
Thorough discussion of 'Internal Dialogue' and how you talk yourself into doing things or out of doing them. I love how he took one idea (honing and using your internal dialogue to become a strong person who achieves things) and hammered it home. Too many authors try to cover too many things and fail to deliver a clear message. After reading, I am intensely aware of when I tell myself "I'm tired, I'll do this tomorrow," "I can do it next time" etc. so I can tell myself the opposite, push through, and win.
Profile Image for Steve Cohen.
2 reviews
May 31, 2014
I was lucky enough to pick up an ARC at BEA, shake Thom's hand and thank him for his years of service. I very much enjoyed the life lessons he wove throughout the war stories and how he always came back to his family as his touchstone and reason for doing what he did time after time. I will read the book again and again to help me deal with and control my internal dialogue and hopefully be as successful as Thom is one day. A must read for anyone
2,367 reviews31 followers
November 4, 2017
I asked for a recommendation and this was the one I received. I had asked for a book that elicits emotion. I guess it does, but not in the manner I had sought.

First off, allow me to make clear: I appreciate the job Mr. Shea and other person who volunteers his life to defend our country. For that, sir, thank you. I truly appreciate you and the service you provided.

It takes a certain type of person to risk his life for his country. These warriors possess different skills and thoughts than the rest of the populace. Shea attempted to identify what that is and teach his children and us, the readers, how to find that within ourselves. An admirable task, but one that I think did not work out as well as intended.

There are some good talk here. There was some engaging combat tales. The tying together how the combat tales fit these "truths" was weak, imo.

A large part of the book was examining the strong bond Shea has with his wife. Her words of strength kept him focused in combat. I would never even pretend that they didn't as I have no combat experience. But boy, did she and her outlook come off as contrived.

I find it almost unbelievable that a man in combat would accept guidance/mentoring from an unknown man back home via e-mail who had never had combat experience. That seems to go against the lessons Shea tried to impart about focus. Here at the end of the book I still shake my head at Jerry's part in this tale. And it wasn't wrapped up.

And that is where this book ultimately failed for me. Shea knows combat and leading men in battle. Shea is not as skilled as a writer. Loose ends were left all over the place. The 13 points were not illustrated throughout as a reader needs them. Battles were left hanging. I felt Shea contradicted himself on self doubt in battle by stating he felt like he was going to die in one battle. There were too many things like that for me in this book.

In the end, while there is some wisdom to hang onto:

The first important discovery you must make in accessing, and thus mastering, your Internal Dialogue is to access and understand the core of your physical performance.


Son, I want to tell you something. Never look for a way out. Always look for every way possible to get back in the game, whatever the game is.


there just wasn't enough strength to the premise for this reader.

Shea is quite full of himself. And on a battlefield with the enemy shooting at you, be big! I think that would absolutely serve you well. How well that translates to us mere civilians is where I have trouble with the advice wrapped up in the bravado. This book just didn't wow me.
1 review
January 12, 2018
The book Unbreakable by Thom Shea is a nonfiction memoir of sorts where Thom explains his time in the navy seals as well as talking about mastering your personal dialogue, so that you can do things you never thought you would ever be able to do. The main character the author himself takes you along for the ride through this personal experiences in war, parenting,and mastering your internal dialogue. This book is one where once you pick it up you can not put it back down. From the time Thom competes in a 100+ mile race to the time he had to trudge through waist deep water to engage the enemy in the cover of night this book will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This book by Thom Shea was a true work of literary perfection. Thom was able to describe and give color and image to any setting that his story involves. When he was on the military transport plane describing every member of his team, I felt as though I knew those people personally. When Thom was engaged in combat I felt as though I could hear every shot ring out in the silence of night. This book is similar to another book that I read called American Sniper written by Chris Kyle, is another great read that anybody who enjoys reading military stories will likely enjoy.

The many characters in this book are created by Thom to flow seamlessly between different memories of Thom’s past experiences. Thom also is able to capture and motivate any reader looking for guidance through the hardships of life. I can personally recommend this book to anybody. With Thom’s flawless writing skills you can adapt the message from the book to any problems you are facing in your everyday life. I strongly encourage anybody looking for a great memoir to give this book a try. The only complaint I have is that this book had to end. Unbreakable is truly deserving of a 10/10 rating.
2 reviews
December 19, 2023
Having read multiple books by combat veterans, I am not surprised to see multiple comments vilifying Shea and labeling him misogynistic. However, I disagree with this take because I set out to read these books with a different goal in mind than many. I seek to learn specifically what a “spartan lifestyle” and modern day “spartan mindset” might look like so that I can extract any meaningful principles from someone who has lived a different life than I and incorporate them into my own life and that of my family.

For any future readers, don’t expect Shea to portray himself as some “Disney-style hero”. He is raw and I think that level of realism is refreshing when reading these types of stories. Whether you choose to see him as someone to emulate is up to you. However, I do choose to see him as heroic and thankful he shared these experiences. That doesn’t mean I agree with many of the ways in which he describes various individuals or groups of people, but I didn’t come into the book expecting to agree nor did it ruin the book for me.

The principles Shea lays out for his children/readers in this book are apropos for all - especially outside of military life. The organization of them within the book was a bit scattered and why I gave the book a 4/5.
Profile Image for Jennifer Smith.
Author 1 book1 follower
April 17, 2020
I found Thom’s book quite by accident when I was at a point in my life that I felt broken. His lessons were inspiring. But more than that, they were motivating. I took his lessons to heart and completed his 24 hr walk challenge within the year after reading it. My life has never been the same. If you’re looking for a book to entertain you this isn’t it. This book is for people who need change. Who need a shot of courage to keep tackling life’s mountains. Only the brave need crack this spine.
14 reviews
January 24, 2024
Quite the life he lead, one most of us can't even imagine.
Depicts a remarkable relationship with his wife. (I don't know that it was necessary to more than once, let us know that they enjoy a hot sex life) Clearly he loves his family and it pains him to have to be away. He's intent on instilling good character into his children.
Internal dialogue is key and he elaborates on the why and how to utilize it to your advantage.
Worth the read.
Profile Image for Jeff Ford.
148 reviews6 followers
October 8, 2017
Shea's message about internal dialogue was worth reading. He communicated that message in the first fifty pages. The rest of the book is about Shea's ego. The further I got, the more my dislike for Shea detracted from his message. Building your life and your relationships around your job title doesn't appeal to me at all.
4 reviews
January 5, 2018
This book was very interesting. I liked how they put different points of success to certain goals in life for each chapter. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes war books despite the fact it cusses a lot. The in depth of how he became who he is is very cool.
50 reviews2 followers
July 3, 2018
Great book ,amazing man .
Will definitely read again .
22 reviews
March 3, 2021
Book has some good lessons and is worth the read.
Profile Image for Rosie Norman.
83 reviews1 follower
July 29, 2021
Really hard to get through this one. First and last chapter were valuable. The rest could have been skipped.
Profile Image for Adam Goff.
56 reviews
January 9, 2023
It is such a wonderful book about letters and conversations from a Navy Seal during a combat deployment to his kids about life and what is important.
5 reviews
September 24, 2023
Unbreakable

Learn a better way of thinking! This book will help you on your journey. It will also open your eyes to the hell of war and the true cost of freedom!
445 reviews4 followers
January 27, 2021
As a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, I know the rigors that SEALs endure before completing their training. We need effective warriors like Chief Shea . . . and families like his who equally endure many hardships imposed by the "needs of the service".

But as I read along I needed to declare a Full Stop on page 64 when I read that the author believes God has faults. What?! I read the paragraph three times . . . this caused me to put the book down and return it unfinished to my public library. Whatever analogy the author was trying to record did not click with me.

We, as mortals, constantly overflow with a superfluidity of faults: thankfully, God never.
Profile Image for Sarvoday Bishnoi.
2 reviews4 followers
February 20, 2017
One of the best books I've read!
We all know the concept that author is trying to convey but had no idea about how important it could be. Author gives real life examples and discusses how "self talk" could build/kill one's demeanor and attitude towards challenges.
I've never experienced such hostile situations as author did but I could totally relate it at my own level. Highly recommended!
Profile Image for Ryan.
1,376 reviews194 followers
September 14, 2020
This was a weird combination of war memoir, letter to one's wife and kids in case he didn't make it back to them, and pitch for a leadership consulting business. By trying to do all 3 things, it didn't do any one of them well, but was still decent.

The author was deployed as the senior NCO with SEAL Team 7 in Afghanistan early in Obama's administration, when there was quite a bit of action but things had mostly settled into a routine. He has a few good war stories, although his adventure racing story early in the book was actually more interesting to me than any of the Afghanistan stories (as he was able to go into detail, and because the focus was more on him.). There are both more representative and more interesting Iraq and Afghanistan memoirs if you're interested in life over there; SEALs were sort of in an uncanny valley where they didn't have a huge amount of expertise around given areas through extended deployment, but weren't doing high volume missions like JSOC. (I still want to read a more birds-eye memoir from someone in middle/upper leadership, like on ISAF command staff in Afghanistan, but haven't found any good ones, or more outside the wire/USAID/etc contractor memoirs.)

The "concept" behind most of the book is mastering one's internal dialogue, and using that as a way to achieve things. There's definitely validity in this, but then there are "the 13 adamantine concepts" and "the five inverted pyramids of achievement" which turned it into a generic leadership or personal development book using the war stories as color.

A lot of the book is in the form of letters between the author and his wife/kids (and transcripts of skype and other calls), as well as a weird interlude where he was interacting with an older couple with business success acting as mentors, which didn't really seem to make sense and seemed shoehorned in to promote consulting services.

Overall, this is probably an Afghanistan memoir I'd skip.
Profile Image for patrick Lorelli.
3,744 reviews39 followers
April 15, 2016
This is a book that describes more than just his experiences in combat. He set down certain life skills or practices and he did it at first with the intention for his children to have something from him and life lessons that he had learned. There is also a dialogue between his wife and him that I thought was very helpful for not only going into combat but also police work, and lines where you put your life on the line and your whole desire is to come home and to feel the strength from your home, your wife especially is vital. The way described their relationship made sense. Thought the entire book was good I like the chapter that he wrote for his daughter giving her strength and not relying on a man and being strong. Those were key for a father telling his daughter. A very good book. I got this book from Netgalley. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
Profile Image for Janet.
1,543 reviews14 followers
June 12, 2014
I said this was a difficult book to read and it was, not for any trouble with the author's style or words, but for the intensity of the feeling Mr/. Shea evokes in the reader. I experienced so many emotions, shock, awe, despair, pride, horror, and yes, love. This is a well written account of a warrior's life. We may not want to know the truth, but I think we need to know. Mr. Shea obviously thought his children should know as he dedicated the book to them. If you are looking for a book that accurately depicts the life of a man who chose to defend you; this would be it.
*I received my copy from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
10 reviews
January 24, 2015
Thom Shea thinks back and writes down all of his feelings, lessons learned from leadership, and life lessons about his time while serving as a Navy SEAL. This book is a lot different then most other books I have read. It lays out in detail lessons and objectives that you should do on your own time, how to do them, and what you will gain from accomplishing them. I found the best part of this book being what he writes about his family, and his Internal Dialogue. Internal Dialogue is a big part of Unbreakable. This book talks about how to master your thoughts and your mind throughout daily life to achieve greatness. Good and easy read, I learned a lot.
Profile Image for Mike.
33 reviews
September 12, 2015
The best parts in this book are his intense descriptions of being at war with his platoon. He raises an interesting idea about "internal dialogue" and how that drives our behavior, which I can explore in my own life. (I am married to his cousin and know his mother. My wife says I attended his first wedding, but my memories of it or him are foggy. At some future family gathering, our paths may cross again. He and his warrior brothers deserve our thanks.)
1 review1 follower
March 1, 2015
Warrior Guide Book for Entrepreneurs

Excellent book for teaching mind training and self discipline for Entrepreneurs and their team members.
Thom Shea proves again and again that there is no serendipity without action.
Profile Image for misty mann.
4 reviews1 follower
July 11, 2015
Truthful

More people should have mindsets like these awesome guys. Great book, greater lessons and much respect and appreciation to the elite.
Profile Image for Sean Crawford.
6 reviews5 followers
April 4, 2016
I found this to be a very good read, with a lot of insight on how to from an unbreakable mind. Gained new wisdom with this read, and would recommend to others.
Profile Image for Jay Morrissey.
3 reviews7 followers
March 2, 2016
I found it inspirational for the most part, however I found Shea's social commentary less than enlightened. That said, there are powerful messages of commitment and determination to be taken here.
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