In our last +1, we spent some more time with Admiral McRaven.
He tells us: “At some point we will all confront a dark moment in life. If not the passing of a loved one, then something else that crushes your spirit and leaves you wondering about your future. In that dark moment, reach deep inside yourself and be your very best.”
How do we do that?
Well, we’ve talked about this countless times.
Most recently with our Antifragile Algorithm.
In this context, it would go something like this: “If I am facing a dark moment, then I will be fiercely committed to my protocol to ensure that I have the emotional stamina and antifragile confidence when I need it most.”
As it turns out, this perfectly leads us back to the title of McRaven’s book and his #1 tip for life:
Make Your Bed.
Yep.
MAKE YOUR BED. (<- All caps.)
Admiral McRaven is a brilliant story teller.
He kicks the book off with a story about the very first days of his SEAL training when, every morning, his instructor would come in and inspect how he made his bed.
Were the corners tucked in just right? The gray blanket “expertly folded into a rectangle at the foot of the bed” with the pillow “centered at the top of the bed and intersected at a ninety-degree angle with the blanket at the bottom”?
That was the standard. Any deviation and he’d get reprimanded.
Why was doing that right so important?
Because, McRaven tells us: “It demonstrated my discipline. It showed my attention to detail, and at the end of the day it would be a reminder that I had done something well, something to be proud of, no matter how small the task.”
So…
How about you?
Are YOU making your bed?
Are you controlling the little controllables in your life that give you a sense of agency and intense trust in yourself that you can handle whatever life throws at you?
It’s easy to think the little things don’t matter.
But, of course, the little things are, at the end of the day, what drives EVERYTHING.
Back to McRaven: “Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
That’s Today’s +1.
Let’s remember: “If you want to change your life and maybe the world—start off by making your bed!”
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