Diamond Minds: The 40% Rule by Navy SEALs

The 40% rule is straightforward. It says that when an individual’s mind begins telling them that they are physically or emotionally maxed out, in reality they have only pushed themselves to 40% of their full capacity. In other words, they could endure 60% more if only they believed that they are capable of it. ”

Summary and Take-aways:

• Implement a tool called Stoicism, a centuries-old life philosophy that is all about consciously and intentionally choosing your thoughts. The reality is that all of life’s events, even the ones that we find joy in, are neutral. We are only emotionally affected because we choose to assign judgment and perspective to them. Thus, we can select to view hardship as a learning experience, and we can also train ourselves to not react through negative visualization and practicing voluntary discomfort. Finally, we must realize that there is very little in this world that we can control. Thus, all we can do is try our best and accept what comes.”
• Perseverance is one of the keys to what we want in life. Life is tough, so we ultimately need to develop or find helmets to get to where we want. We can’t hope to get through life planning for the absence of hardship; rather, we must plan for it and plan for what to do once it happens.”
• Mental Tool: What does this positive or negative event have an impact in your life in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years? FYI, You can also do this before you are impulsively going to buy or spend time/money on something :)

Sources: Observations, The Art of Intentional Thinking