2] Change the world By William McRaven
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you
made your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task
of the day. They will give you a small sense of pride and it will
encourage you to do another task and another and another. And by the
end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks
completed.
Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life
matter, if you can't do the little things right. You'll never be able to do
the big things right. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will
come home to a bed that is made that you made and a made bed gives
you encouragement that tomorrow will be better to pass seal training.
There are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the
night swim before the swim. The instructors joyfully brief the students
on all the species of sharks. That inhabit the waters off San Clemente.
They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a
shark, at least not that they can remember, but you were also taught that
if a shark begins to circle your position.
Stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And if a shark
hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summons up all
your strength and punch him in the snout and he will turn and swim
away. There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the
swim, you will have to deal with them.
So if you want to change the world, don't back down from the sharps.
Over a few weeks of difficult training. My seal class, which started with
150 men, was down to just 42 there were now six boat crews of seven