Not training because you think you have nothing to prepare for?

Put the beer down and read.

When we leave active duty, we go through a lot of emotional ups and downs, we have many hurdles to overcome, and most importantly, we have to repurpose ourselves.

That repurposing process is a subconscious one for the overwhelming majority of us. We fall into the civilian world and look for things we couldn't do or have while we were in the service. You know, like drugs, experiences, traveling opportunities, and sleeping in past 0600 on a weekday. Basically, we're just adult versions of Amish teens on Rumspringa.

After we get those things out of our system, we find ourselves so far on the other side of society that we realize we need to get back to "normality." That normality is somewhere between the extreme lifestyle of the military and the post-DD-214 period of blowing off steam, so we think.

Check out the details of my transition struggle here.

This bell curve shows how the population is distributed when it comes to potential for greatness.

(I took the liberty of making this normal bell curve much better.)

The ‘Normal’ Trap.

By definition, we aren't normal people; we're 1%-ers. It's a different and much more dangerous 1%. That being the case, normal for us isn't the same normal as it is for actual "normal" people.

Falling into how normal people live looks something like this:

• Wake-up at the last possible minute for a job you hate.
• Fight through traffic to get to the same place you'll go for 15-30 years of your life.
• Expend all of your energy, will power, and decision-making ability by just trying to make it to the end of the workday.
• Get home exhausted, reach for an alcoholic beverage, sit on an unnecessarily comfortable couch, and watch 4-6 hours of premium content.
• Eat whatever is around or order something that you don't know where it came from or why you're eating it.
• Lose track of time due to social media and end up going to bed with only 4-5 hours left before you need to wake up for work again.
• Repeat for years on end.

Can you imagine what happens when you put a 1%-er into the same box as the majority? Have you ever seen what happens to a feral bull after it's domesticated?

But this is what happens when we allow ourselves to be subconsciously repurposed.

Here's how you can keep a 1%-er happy in the gym.

Build stuff, kick butt, and charge big bucks for it.

(Photo by Charles Forerunner on Unsplash)

Shadows of normalcy

We should instead be repurposing ourselves to do great things like growing businesses, shaking up industries, raising the status quo. In order for us to do that, we need to not forget the greatness we came from by ending up in a "normal" life.

I'm not just talking about combat veterans or vets with spec ops training here. I'm talking about all of us, all veterans, from the most boot Airman to the grizzliest retired E-9 turned private security contractor that you can think of. If we weren't better humans, we wouldn't have even thought the military was an option for us in the first place.

Get out of the shadow of normalcy.

The decision to end up in normal is a mistake for us. Normal kills potential. Normal shits on passion. Normal shames greatness.

We need to stay closer to the fringe than the normals do.

Here's how to clear your head so that you can actually figure out what empire you want to build.

Blasting normal in the crotch... after living like this there's no way you'll be happy being "normal."

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Fred Gray IV/Released)

The fringe is where the magic happens

It's not easy to stay on the fringe though… it's demanding and exhausting out here, but it feels like home to us. You need to stay fit and capable in order to live outside of normal.

That's why the military has fitness standards when normal people have 2.6 doctors visits a month. The fringe only seeks medical attention when something is broken from flying too close to the sun.

That's why you need to be training. You're training to stay strong, lean, and healthy, but even more importantly, you're training to stay at the tip of the spear, albeit a different spear than you stood on in the military.

It doesn't matter if your new spear is higher education, the business world, entrepreneurship, or parenthood. The best in their field are those that know how to leverage their body to produce greatness.

You've already been given keys to the castle of greatness through your military indoctrination. The foundation of that castle is training hard to take care of your body and make everything else in life seem easier.

That's it. Train hard, become the best at what you do, and teach normal people what greatness actually looks like.

Click the image if you want to get in touch with me directly.

Me (the author)

The new Mighty Fit Plan is nearly ready. Become one of the first to hear about it here!

Get over to the Mighty Fit FB Group here and join like-minded 1%-ers that are ready to step out of normalcy and into their next big move.