Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 1 of 4: 4:30 means 4:15
June 30, 2009 by dr. lam
A few months ago I attended a business symposium in Houston that featured ex-Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, and I thought, “What is a Navy SEAL doing here at this conference?” That is what Luttrell pondered as well, as he said, “I don’t know why I’m here.” After his hour and a half “lecture”, which was really a story of his life, there was no question. He was the most inspiring, mesmerizing speaker of the entire weekend. He culminated his talk with an excruciating recounting of how he was the only survivor in Afghanistan where his entire SEAL team was killed in front of him in his search for Osama’s right-hand man, Ahmad Shah, the story of which was documented in his New York Times bestseller, Lone Survivor. He talked of how he was riddled through his legs with 11 bullets through-and-through, bit his tongue half off, had his back shot through, interrogated (read tortured) by the Taliban in a small Afghani village, how he made hard decisions, and how he was eventually saved by merciful locals.
During his speech, I thought what lessons could I cull from this remarkable man who had such remarkable experiences that make my meager existence pale in comparison. I wanted to take some key lessons of his life and see if I could put my own personal spin on them to help my readership. So that is what I am doing here.
He started his talk with how he grew up in a small Texas town of Huntsville and his father telling him, “Boy, before you take from this country, you better serve it first.” With that exhortation, Marcus and his brother decided to become Navy SEALS. He had not even heard what that was exactly, but he knew he wanted to do it. He trained with this ex-Green Beret, Billy Shelton, from the Vietnam era who had that always “crazy look in his eyes.” Marcus said that when he walked up to his door the first time he interrupted the man’s dinner and was so petrified he couldn’t remember why he was even there. Shelton told Marcus, “If you want to train with me, we start tomorrow at 04:30.” Marcus sheepishly showed up precisely at 4:30 am the next morning to begin his pre-military exercises. Shelton responded, “Boy, you are late. When I say 04:30, I mean 04:15. 04:30 is when we roll not when you arrive. Don’t let that happen again.”
I thought that was a great piece of wisdom. When I was undergoing moderator training for my EO forum group, I was told not to get there at 3:30 pm when we would start our meeting. That means at 3:30 pm, I’m still flustered by just arriving. I’m trying to open all of my papers to start figuring out the agenda. I am not really ready until 3:35 or 3:40 pm. Instead, I try to arrive 10 to 20 minutes in advance so that I am ready to roll at the appointed time. I think when we have an important meeting, we should consider getting there a few minutes early to prepare for the meeting so that we are ready to roll both psychologically and emotionally at the appointed time.
Comments
14 Responses to “Lessons from a Navy SEAL Part 1 of 4: 4:30 means 4:15”
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and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
And he’s still alive? !! Golly, that guy’s been through the mill! I’m happy and content with my meager existence…
Great advice about being punctual. That’s kind of my weakness area. I typically tell myself that I have to be somewhere an hour earlier than I do, because I know that I am always pressed for time and that it usually takes me longer than I expect if I don’t trick my brain. Man, I’ve got problems!…lol
Thanks for the great advice, Dr. Lam!
my problem is responding to blog comments immediately when they are posted. haha.
Love it!
sam,
I was told there was no such thing as being on time. You are either early or late.
cheers,
Michael
cool,
the solbergcenter responds. yeah! nice comment.
namaste,
lambo
solberg, get a gravatar just for fun!
Great! We have another gravatar buddy!
michael is my rolfer and tenant in my building. he saved my mom’s back and saved my career. my posture and walking are so much better because of michael.
Wow! Michael, sounds like you’re a petty awesome person! Keep commenting here!
Oops, meant to type pretty* awesome there.
don’t worry, michael is a bit petty too. LOL.
Michael, you have got to defend yourself here…
lol
don’t worry, michael has as good a sense of humor as i do. i think i will call him “petty boy” from now on. LOL.
lol