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Self-Discipline: How to Develop the Mindset, Mental Toughness and Self-Discipline of a U.S. Navy SEAL

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Learn the high-level techniques used by the U.S. Navy’s top psychologists to train Navy SEALs into the most self-disciplined, toughest, grittiest warriors in the world.If you would like to have the indomitable will of a U.S. Navy SEAL… and do it even if you’re (currently) lazy, undisciplined and couldn’t motivate yourself out of a paper bag…then this book will show you how.Discover the self-discipline techniques of the deadliest SEALsU.S. Navy SEAL training is the toughest in the world. It’s so tough that over 80 percent of SEAL trainees quit. To help get more SEAL trainees through the grueling training program, the U.S. Navy hired some of the world’s top psychologists to identify the key traits of the toughest, most successful SEALs… and teach these powerful techniques to SEAL trainees. And guess what? In this book, you’ll learn those exact techniques.How will you learn to develop the mindset, mental toughness and self-discipline of a U.S. Navy SEAL?Here’s a small sample of what you’re about to learn…How to set goals like a Navy SEAL (and why it will 10X your grit)How SEALs mentally prepare for their toughest missionsHow SEALs “shut down” the instinctive fear of drowning and remain calm in life and death situationsAnd much more!Transcend your limits. Operate at the edge of what’s possible.What could you do with an unwavering level of self-discipline? Well, you no longer need to wonder, because by the time you’ve finished reading this book, you’ll 4 keys to extreme mental toughness (created by the U.S. Navy’s top psychologists specifically for Navy SEALs)The 7 principles Navy SEALs live byHow one Navy SEAL had an instructor trying to make him quit during the infamous “Hell Week” by giving him thousands of harsh exercises… and how he still made it throughAnd much more!“Do today what others won’t; do tomorrow what others can’t.”Discover…What you can learn about mental toughness from a multimillionaire who randomly invited a Navy SEAL to live with him for 31 daysHow Navy SEALs use humor to increase their mental toughness (and how you can too)A special bonus “The SEAL Cheat Sheet”And much more!To unleash the SEAL within and conquer your most ambitious goals, scroll up to the top and click BUY NOW!P.S. Get ready to 10X your grit.

72 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 2, 2016

904 people are currently reading
970 people want to read

About the author

Dominic Mann

42 books29 followers

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238 (15%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
Profile Image for Jamie.
52 reviews8 followers
January 2, 2017
While it was a good mental kick in the pants to get my head right, it was very short and didn't seems to have many original ideas. It felt like I was reading a term paper that the student had bound into book form.
Profile Image for Claudia |✨Cushin Violeta's Bookish Realm✨.
1,619 reviews57 followers
November 7, 2021
A perfect bite sized guide for practicing self discipline

I loved how beautifully this book is written in a power punched but concise way.
With the heavy topic of self discipline and practicing will power and mental toughness, the author gives us bullet points and precise chapters making such a topic a very interesting read.
Can't wait to put to practise the secrets learned within. Loved this one. ❤️❤️❤️
35 reviews21 followers
April 17, 2021
Excellent short read. It contains practical advise based on knowledge assumed about Spartans. Some key techniques taught in this book can be summed up as minimalism, focus on what is of utility, etc. Also this has quotes from the successful people of our age such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, famous literary writers, etc. to support the author's point.
8 reviews
May 25, 2017
Effective and Inspiring

This quick read lays out the exact strategies used by Navy Seals to overcome obstacles and achieve success quickly and effectively. It will inspire you and get you focused on achieving the goals you've set for your own life or career.
Profile Image for Lina.
103 reviews
July 18, 2024
Don't read this crap.

Another man obsessed with Steve Jobs tries to replicate his success by replicating his wardrobe.

I also started reading this completely out of context, not knowing of the other Dominic Mann's "masterpieces" such as "Alpha male" and "Unlock her legs".

As for the book - not so much a book but a pamphlet, an essay - boring, unoriginal, repetitive, probably was written solely for the sake of making money via clickbait.

The ideas presented are messy, coming out of the wrong place in terms of motivation. I hope at some point in life the author will grow up, go to therapy and rethink his priorities.

Also zero practical advice in the whole book. ZERO!!! He didn't even bother to come up with some strategy.
Profile Image for Amine Benjelloun.
3 reviews
January 24, 2022
Since i'm writing this review after skipping my breakfast, i would qualify this book as Quick last minute , that smoothie was made of multiple quote from famous writers, concerning discipline and the victory over ourselves and our lack of discipline, while using from time to time some bits from the author life's example.

Mr Mann, did a good job to summurizing multiple facets of the Spartan's Displine, while relating with contemporary authors or some quick example how we can apply in nowadays personnal life.

Saying this, after finishing this Ebook after 45 minutes, naturally, i'm not fully satiated (intellectualy of course haha), i felt it, this subject has a great potential, and it needed more digging in term of history when it comes to Spartan and their lifes, but instead, the writer filled up the book with famous quotes here and there coming from Sun Tzu to Tai Lopez. Trying to relate the example of disciple in Spartans, with our today lifes, or quotes, was a challenge for the writer, where in some sections, the correlation was a stretch to understand or has of feeling of being forced to be put out there. As for the format, i would have suggested to have a 'practice' section where the reader, is giving clear instruction of how these advices needs to be applied in our daily, but this is just my opinion afterall.

Although, these book was a genuine short read, i believe, the author, could have done a better exploring the subject of discipline within the lifes of the legendary Spartans warriors.
42 reviews
December 19, 2024
It’s all in the mind. Mind over matter. So toughen up. Develop the ability to continue, even when you feel like you can do no more. Every day, like the Spartans, work to develop your self-discipline. In fact, studies have found that willpower is like a muscle. One’s willpower strengthens with use.

In his book, Living with a SEAL, Jesse Itzler writes about “the 40 percent rule.” The idea behind this rule is that when you feel dead exhausted and feel like you’ve reached your physical limits, you’re really only at 40 percent. You still have another 60 percent left in the tank. It’s just that your mind has evolved to be lazy and try conserve as much energy as possible.


In addition to all that, get into shape. As the ancient Greeks and Spartans used to say, “a healthy mind in a healthy body.” These days, this sentiment has proven to be correct. It has been scientifically proven time and time again that physical fitness and health are directly correlated with the capacity for dynamic and creative intellectual activity, as well as the ability for self-discipline. Furthermore, exercise (especially lifting weights) increases testosterone. Cold showers have also been found to boost one’s testosterone. And this is key, as testosterone is the hormone that fueled such warriors as the Spartans. It’s the masculine hormone associated with strength, muscle mass, sex drive, confidence, aggression (in a good way), and the overall masculine drive that leads to victory in all areas of life.
In fact, scientists have actually found a miracle hormone that makes heaps of money and beds lots of women. That’s right, you guessed it: Testosterone.

No man is free, who cannot command himself.”
— Pythagoras

“Through discipline comes freedom.”
— Aristotle

“All Greeks know what is right, but only the Spartans do it.”

“Luxury dilutes hunger.”

“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”

“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my
own perceptions—not outside.”

Young Spartans started military training at age seven. They were taught to endure immense pain and came to learn that, as modern day Navy SEAL instructors say, one’s strength isn’t in the size of their biceps. Rather, strength is—according to Navy SEAL instructors—90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical.

“Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer it are made free and those who are conquered by it are made to suffer until they have the courage to defeat it, or death takes them.”
— Alexander the Great

“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first.”
— Harry S. Truman

Full bellies don’t plough fields

That said, this doesn’t mean you should become a masochist. It means you need to form the habit of choosing delayed gratification over instant gratification. In the case of the Spartans, this meant choosing to become the greatest warriors to have ever lived over meaningless orgies and feasts.

So toughen up. Be like a Spartan. Block social media. Throw out the batteries in your TV remote. Tip your couch upside down. Well, that last one might not be necessary, but you get the point.
Take a freezing cold shower. Hit the gym. Read books that will arm you with the knowledge you need to achieve your goals—books such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.


“Everyone must choose one of the two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”
— Jim Rohn

“There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.”
— Frank Underwood

“Through discipline comes freedom.”
— Aristotle
There are two types of wants in this world. There are the wants of the body and the wants of the mind.
The wants of the body are the things that—in the heat of the moment—we feel we want. The wants of the mind, on the other hand, are the things we truly want. For example, we often feel like doing little more than sitting on the couch and watching Netflix while eating straight out of a bucket of ice cream. But is this what we truly want? No, of course not!
What we truly want is likely some variation of achieving success in the financial, physical, and social areas of our lives. We want the financial freedom to travel, live the lifestyle we want, and give our loved ones a great life. We want to be physically fit and attractive. We want to have a great social life. These are the things that most people truly want.
Unfortunately, these two different types of wants are incompatible. You either have it one way or the other, but you can’t have it both ways. You either eat ice cream or steak and veggies.
You either watch TV or hit the gym. You either mindlessly scroll through your Facebook feed or go work on generating a second source of income. The Spartans understood this. They knew that you either do one or the other. As Yoda famously said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

In my own life, I have found this to be so true you wouldn’t believe it. If you want to accomplish something, you need to either go all in or all out. Take it to the extreme. Be hardcore. Be unrelenting. By failing to be 100 percent committed—extreme, hardcore, relentless— exceptions get made. The occasional bit of junk food. The occasional skipped gym session. And before we know it, these exceptions become the norm. They become increasingly regular until the point is reached where progress ceases. Things go back to how they were. Goals remain unfulfilled.
The highly counterintuitive secret to god-like self-discipline is to take things to the absolute extreme. It’s easier to do something 100 percent of the time than it is to do something 98 percent of the time. Serious. This mindset was one of the hallmarks of Spartan society. They were unrelenting. They were hardcore. They took things to the absolute extreme and allowed themselves no exceptions. They had the self-respect to not make excuses for themselves.

If the Spartans would have allowed the occasional exception here and there, they would have very quickly found themselves descending all the way back down to the largely undisciplined lifestyles lived by those in neighbouring city-states. Perhaps they would have allowed themselves the occasional massive orgy and some several dozen course feasts (requiring self-induced vomiting to continue eating) like the Romans. Before realizing it, Sparta’s dreams of producing the world’s greatest warriors would be little more than a distant memory. A painful regret.
As Charles Bukowski, the American poet, wrote in his poem Roll the Dice, “If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start.” And it’s not just the Spartans that discovered the value of being unrelenting and allowing themselves zero exceptions. One of my favorite modern-day examples is a personal anecdote famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar shared in his book Over the
Top.

Ziglar recounts having made an unbreakable commitment to himself to go for a run early each morning and get in shape. However, one day, after having flown out to Seattle to give a talk and then flying back home on the same day, he found himself going to bed at 4:00 A.M. So obviously he just skipped that day, right?

Wrong. In his own words, he said he knew, “that if I made an exception and slept in because I was tired and sleepy, it would be easier to make an exception the next time, and I knew that the exception often becomes the rule. The commitment goes out the window.” Ziglar later goes so far as to say, “exceptions are the most dangerous things that we have to deal with in our lives,” and even refers to smokers and alcoholics who make an exception and have “just one drink” with tragic results.


Instead of searching for a miracle workout, focus on never missing a gym session. Instead of sporadically attempting the latest fad diet, focus on not eating unhealthy foods. Put simply, to make big gains, avoid tiny losses.

The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term, is the indispensable prerequisite for success.”
— Brian Tracy

The Spartans were very familiar with the distinction between instant gratification and delayed gratification. They understood that short-term pain leads to long-term gain—and glory. That difficulty and hardship leads to growth (both physically and mentally) while luxury and comfort leads to stagnation and atrophy. Growth, improvement, and long-term happiness are found outside of one’s comfort zone.


Whenever, Wherever, However
The Spartans never made excuses for themselves. They fought just as well in pouring rain as they did in scorching heat. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that, when facing an enemy, the Spartans used to ask, “Not how many, but where.”


“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle—victorious.”
— Vince Lombardi

Spartans left it all on the battlefield. They had a saying, “Come back with your shield, or upon it.” In other words, either come back with your shield in hand, victorious, or come back with your dead body upon your shield. Victory or death. They would either come home victorious or die trying.


Here’s a secret: The Spartan’s didn’t have abnormally high levels of willpower. It wasn’t their genetics. In fact, plenty of them would have had less willpower than you. It is just that they got into the Spartan routine and developed Spartan habits. For the Spartans, although their life looks like one of intense self-discipline to outsiders, for them, it was just habit. It was normal. Just another day in a little Greek city called Sparta.


Nobody told you, that you face the truth alone
but you got the power to begin
Let yourself wonder that your spirit find a way
and reach for the power from within
you got the reason to let people keep you down
stand up and fight for what you are
and your biggest challenge
is the one in life within yourself
know what you're fighting for
hold on to the vision in your eyes
keep the fire burning bright
got to make them realized
only with this power can you rise
hold on to that vision in your eyes
never surrender, to the dark clouds in your mind
never retreat from who you are, know
love is a magic that you carry on in on, in on, in on
know what you're fighting for
hold on to the vision in your eyes
keep the fire burning bright
got to make them realized
only with this power can you rise
hold on to that vision in your eyes
hold on to the vision in your eyes
keep the fire burning bright
got to make them realized
only whit this power can you rise
hold on to the vision in your eyes
Profile Image for Greg Mcneilly.
96 reviews2 followers
Read
December 7, 2021
SELF-DISCIPLINE: How to Develop Spartan Discipline, Unbreakable Mental Toughness, and Relentless Willpower | Dominic Mann,

* Spartan Minimalism
* Toughen Up
* Mind Over Matter
* Stoic Self-Discipline
* Conquer Yourself
* The Two Types of Wants
* The Discipline Infection
* No Excuses, Whenever, Wherever, However
* Spartan Habits
* Before you go
* Quotes
* All Greeks know what is right, but only the Spartans do it. - Plutarch
* Having a cold shower requires no discipline for he who has not hot water system. Eating healthy requires no discipline for he who has no junk food in the kitchen. Being frugal requires no discipline for he how has no money. Obeying the speed limit requires no discipline for he who drives a Prius.
* Many of the world’s most successful people have stumbled upon the value of focus through elimination - of simplicity.
* Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince.
* … the 40 percent rule. The idea behind this rule is that when you feel dead exhausted and feel like you’ve reached your physical limits, you’re really only at 40 percent. You still have another 60 percent left in the tank. It’s just that your mind has evolved to be lazy and try to conserve as much energy as possible.
* Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear - Marcus Aurelius
* … exceptions are the most dangerous things that we have to deal with in our lives.
* The good is mostly the absence of bad - Ennuis
* To make big gains, avoid tiny losses.
Profile Image for Aaron.
5 reviews
September 17, 2025
I picked this up after finishing Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins. It was on sale and I thought, why not? Honestly, I expected a rushed, cash-grab kind of self-help book. And in some ways, it is: it’s short (more like a long blog post than a full book), not especially original, and it leans on familiar SEAL stories and motivational ideas.

But… I actually enjoyed it. The concepts are solid, the writing is straightforward, and I found the motivational effect stronger than I expected. While it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, it does a great job packaging practical reminders about discipline, mindset, and toughness. By the end, I could feel my motivation building.

If you’re looking for deep insights or lots of detail, this won’t be it. But if you value brevity and just want a quick, no-nonsense read that gives you a push in the right direction, it’s worth it. Especially at a sale price.
Profile Image for Kani Mozhi.
3 reviews3 followers
April 11, 2023
Short and best book on self discipline

I loved the all the quotes how author has curated with the content.

If you are some one who is struggling to be discipline and don't know how to stay on track..can give a read to uplift your spirit.

My Take away::
Create a routine
Do one thing with all your heart.Go to extreme( Have a laser focus)
Either" Do it or don't do it"
No excuses ( exception are the dangerous things)
Build one keystone habit
Self discipline is more than doing it is not doing.( Absence of bad)eg: avoiding unhealthy junk foods to stay healthy.
Create a momentum.
Profile Image for Ghost14.
96 reviews
February 8, 2020
some thoughts might be a refresher on what you already know
some might be a provision of clarity on your existing subconscious intuitions
while some might be new advices that make sense once read and understood

and all these in the form of a tactical handbook with examines and queries synchronized appropriately where required for the theme being conveyed


there only thing missing is granularity of the how. it's more of a business case to convince the reader on a specific though powerful thought process. so the how might be not be in the intended scope of the book at all
Profile Image for Kapil Reads.
88 reviews1 follower
August 26, 2023
A perfect motivational short read.
Learnings :
1. Use 40% rule and push yourself
2. Find your WHY
3. Create a mental trigger
4. Create a daily routine
5. Set sub goals
6. Talk to yourself positively
7. 4x4 deep breathing
8. Don't blame others
9. Control your breathe
10. Use your diaphragm
11. Don't breathe into your chest
12. Think like a champion
13. Use mantra
14. Mental visualization
15. Do what others can't
16. Reframe difficulty as growth
17. Never QUIT !

PURPOSE, TEAMWORK & CHALLENGE
77 reviews2 followers
August 6, 2021
The 40% Rule is a bunch of junk.

The 40% Rule is a bunch of junk especially when you have worked out at the gym and you suddenly realize you have quit sweating and your left arm feels clammy that right there is the sign of heat exhaustion which is exactly what I had happen several weeks ago. The next step would to have heat stroke and throwing up due to over heating which would be the.third time in my life and then I would meet Jesus there.
1 review
August 7, 2022
I was looking forward to become more disciplined and this book had some really good ideas to achieve this goal. I would not consider the low amount of pages as a negative point. Instead this is a good thing as it makes the book very compact wherefore you can read this book multiple times. You would not do that with a book with over 200 pages. Therefore this is a good book to read every now and then to keep you motivated to achieve discipline.
Profile Image for Emil.
258 reviews5 followers
July 29, 2023
Important for everyone

This book although short offers good tips on incorporating a disciplinary lifestyle. You are not required to be a Spartan warrior (although why the heck not?) but you could learn so much from Spartan lifestyle and improve your life tenfold. Its not only about reading about such lifestyle but also incorporating and living this lifestyle that is your best teaching.
1 review
February 25, 2025
Building Self-Discipline

The author skillfully distills complex concepts into easily digestible lessons, making it an ideal read for those seeking to embrace a disciplined lifestyle without wading through unnecessary fluff. The real-life suggestions provided are both relevant and achievable, making this a must-read for anyone looking to cultivate a more disciplined and focused approach to life.
1 review
August 3, 2025
Powerful

This was an awesome book with some great points on how to develop self-discipline, be mentally tough, and develop a tough mindset. I read it in one sitting and love the principles of the Navy Seals. Being a Veteran (U.S. Army), the conversations and motivation tactics brought back great memories of my Army days and it helped greatly with the discipline side of things. Glad that I was able to purchase this book. Can't wait to purchase the other books to this series.
194 reviews1 follower
November 6, 2025
Short and concise gives the reader fourteen points that can led one to better self-discipline. Each point shared is learned through the riggers of USN Seal training. The writer is very straight forward. Starts with the principle, followed by the background, how it applies and an actionable takeaway. To give a few: accept responsibility, know your why you can anything, visualization, set bite size goals and the power of fake motivation, to name a few.

Quick but valuable read.
Profile Image for Shadin Pranto.
1,479 reviews561 followers
December 12, 2025
Plutarch wrote, “All Greeks know what is right, but only the Spartans do it.”

প্লুটার্কের কথার সূত্র ধরেই বলতে হয়, আমরা সবাই জানি কোনটি শৃঙ্খলাপরায়ণ অভ্যাস আর কোনটি বিশৃঙ্খলার নিদর্শন। কিন্তু নিজেকে নিয়ন্ত্রণ করতে ব্যর্থ হই। নিয়মানুবর্তিতা অর্জন করতে পারি না।

বইটা এককথায়, আবর্জনা। স্পার্টানের শৃঙ্খলা নিয়ে বলতে গেলে কিছুই জানা ��ায় না। দুই-চারটা উদ্ধৃতি জাহির করে স্পার্টানদের সময়ানুবর্তিতা ও শৃঙ্খলাপূর্ণ জীবনকে বোঝা যায়নি।

এই বইটিকে কোনোভাবেই পড়ার জন্য উৎসাহিত করব না।
Profile Image for Yoel Sommer.
1 review
January 25, 2018
An enlightful short read

This a quick read which summerizess what the author describes as the seven principals of a Navy SEAL. The book has good points and good descriptions of the principals overall. I would suggest reading the actual books quoted in this book to get a deeper insight.
11 reviews
December 19, 2020
Like a Navy Seal

This book teaches different principles that teach you how to develop the attributes of a Navy Seal. In a brief and concise manner, this book shares the principles you need to think like a Navy Seal. I like the way the author presents his ideas which are applicable to our lives.
124 reviews1 follower
March 25, 2021
This navy seal man says something that might change my life:

“Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they (navy seal) had the ability to step aside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: ‘How can I help the guy next to me?’”

This is the man I will love and adore. This is me who will strive to be.
Profile Image for Mike Gagliardi.
48 reviews
July 20, 2021
Super quick and easy read, took me under an hour. Dominic highlights key points from other SEAL books and philosophies, such as Jocko’s extreme ownership and David Goggins’ 40% rule. It’s a very simplified and broken down list of 7 Navy SEAL principles that anybody can apply to their life to help in every aspect.
Profile Image for Venkat Ramakrishnan.
Author 4 books1 follower
January 26, 2024
Absolutely valuable

This book condenses the essence of Navy SEALS' ways. It was great reading this book and making a cheat-sheet for my daily reference.

One improvement that I could find about this book is about formatting. The next edition, if there's one, can focus on careful proof reading on formatting.

Thanks to the author for this book!
47 reviews
February 25, 2018
Great read

Yes its another book about military discipline, processes and how they relate. The difference is all the seal books discuss different points, this book, surprisingly short, is a summary of 7 principles SEALS live their life by and how to apply to our lives.
Profile Image for Andrea.
324 reviews15 followers
January 16, 2019
Inspiring

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Awesome book . Had lots of great points and quotes . Felt a little like it used other people’s book to make a point but it was still good . Really short !
Profile Image for Carlos  Salinas.
19 reviews
March 2, 2019
Discipline

It is the main subject of this book which is the main goal of building my own personal discipline. This book is a very good guide in order the reinforced the self discipline
1 review
August 29, 2019
Good book

A real good read with some.really useful information on how to become a much more efficient and effective human in all aspects of your life , i really did enjoy this read 💪
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