The Most Eye Opening 10 Minutes Of Your Life

In this world, once you set aside your phones, computers, and all the modern conveniences we rely on, your brain is the only thing you truly have. When you’re facing depression, hardship, or loss, you can’t Google your way out of it. You might have a therapist or a best friend, but there are 24 hours in each day when you’re alone with your thoughts. During those times, your brain will try to control you, pulling you in all directions. If you can’t control your own mind, it will control you. You need to tell your brain where to go, how to go, and how to get there. If you don’t, it’s over.

For me, it started with asking, “How am I going to make this work?” All I knew at the time was hard work. That was the only way to get anything done. I kept hearing, “You have to work hard.” So, I worked hard to learn things, to push through. I’d read a paragraph over and over again until I got it. If I couldn’t swim or was struggling with something else, I’d try again and again until I succeeded. Eventually, I realized that success came from persistence—doing something over and over until it clicked. My brain started recognizing that I wouldn’t stop. It became a new normal.

In Navy SEAL training, I learned to embrace this mindset. I was told the training would last six months, but I went through it for 18 months, enduring three “Hell Weeks” in one year. How did I survive? I adjusted my mindset. I made suffering my new normal. I would go into training broken, with stress fractures and shin splints, duct taping my feet, but my mind adapted. It said, “This is what we do.”

When I first tried to become a Navy SEAL, I was overweight at 297 pounds. The scariest thought was that I could’ve stayed there, stuck in that life forever, thinking that was my maximum potential. But over time, I lost 106 pounds, graduated Navy SEAL training, and did things I never thought possible. It wasn’t about trying hard; it was about building a new norm, one where I pushed past limits.

People often think I’m sadistic, but I simply understand how the brain works. I had no foundation to start from, but I learned to build mental toughness through self-discipline. When you’re constantly pushing yourself, even when your body is broken, your brain taps into survival mode and gives you energy. This is what happens when you’re in the fight-or-flight state, when you’re exhausted and your body is at a disadvantage but you keep going.

You have two choices: you can focus on how broken you are, or you can keep fighting because you have no other option. That’s when you tap into real power. Suffering becomes a tool, not a hindrance. Your brain knows that this suffering is temporary, and the more you push, the stronger you become.

When things get really tough, you don’t think about your past or hold onto anger. Your mind moves beyond that, pushing forward instead of holding onto grudges. You have to dig deep—deep enough to reach the core of your soul. It’s a level of resilience that most people never reach because it requires self-reflection, trials, and pain.

I couldn’t give that to you, nor could anyone else. You find your true passion and strength through struggle and accountability. I found peace not by avoiding pain, but by embracing it. Accountability, especially when it’s hard and uncomfortable, is what leads to real growth. And that’s what ultimately gives you peace—not by avoiding suffering, but by learning to grow through it.

This mindset, this ability to keep going despite pain, is how you grow. Success, inner peace, and strength all come from embracing the hard times and knowing that the way out is through.