Two Time USA Memory Champion, memory training expert and memory keynote Ron White would like to share with you some of the things I learned while training for the U.S. Memory Championship, and is now available in my memory training seminars.
It was an awesome pleasure to work with my friend, Former U.S. Navy Seal T. C. Cummings, the founder of “Noble Warrior Training,†as he coached me on how to “Think Like a Seal.â€
Navy Seals using "Hard Eyes"and "Soft Eyes"
As most of you are aware, Navy Seals are the “best of the best.†They go where most Marines leave off, and tackle some of the most complicated and dangerous operations the U. S. Government asks them to do. What keeps them going, long after the average man gives up, is the training and mindset they have. I was fortunate to have T.C. as a coach to help me understand the way a Navy Seal thinks, and his training helped me to become the U.S. Memory Champion, not once – but twice!
The reason a Navy Seal is able to go above and beyond where others have failed is the mental attitude they learn in order to survive life and death situations. They are taught basic principles that keep them alive, and these lessons convert well to civilian life as well – in both personal and professional life.
A Navy Seal doesn’t necessarily have a higher IQ, nor any more courage than most other men, what they have is the ability to FOCUS. They know what their mission is, what they have to do to accomplish it, and set their sites on achieving it. They don’t let diversions stop them because they are prepared for any contingencies.
“The majority see the obstacles; the few see the objectives; history records the successes of the latter, while oblivion is the reward of the former.” – Â Alfred A. Montapert, (American motivational author)
A Seal has been trained to take in everything – from the big picture to the smallest details. To them what they don’t see could kill them. When they walk into a room they immediately take in the whole picture – from the lighting to the number of people in the room and where the exits are located. They call this taking using your “Soft Eyes.â€
Our eyes can take in a lot more than we may think it does. Our peripheral vision takes in larges areas of space. We then bring our attention to whatever distraction is around us – the details right in front of us, or a noise that seems out of place. They call this using your “Hard Eyes.â€
Picture this scenario: A group of Seals are given a mission to clear out a five-mile area so a Marine battalion can come through safely. The terrain is rough and full of high brush. Their helicopter sets them down in a clearing. Before they are set down each of them scans the area to looking for anything that seems out of place. Ignoring the whirring of the helicopter blades, they focus in on any noise that seems strange to the area, any branch out of place, etc. Their senses are on high alert and they use every one of them. These Seals are using both their Hard Eyes and Soft Eyes, and moving from one to another. Each of them does the same thing, watching each others back along the way.
They are also using the right side and the left sides of their brain – the cognitive side and the senses side. By making use of all the regions of their brain they are able to focus on their mission, observe the terrain around them and keep sharp lookout for any possible problems that may arise, deal with them if they have to, and carry on until they have completed their objective.
If we set a goal; plan on how we are going to achieve it; focus on that goal and don’t let distractions take you away from achieving it – you will not fail! This is true for an entrepreneur, a Navy Seal, and a U.S. Memory Champion.
“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.†– Muhammad Ali
For more information on how you too can think like a Navy Seal, check out our “Mind of a Seal†CD Package.