Eric Davis's Blog, page 6

Gear if Life - Life is Gear

There is really no such thing as “gear”. These things, this stuff, these gadgets and guns, these cords, boards and gizmos figuratively and literally represent the circumstances of which life is made up of. Nothing more and nothing less.

If we get a new, full suspension, light as hell mountain bike, will we not be on the trail within a day? If we take good care of our gear does it not take good care of us? If we neglect our gear does it not become another piece of clutter and cost? What I'm say...

Working Outside

If you can accept that a primary tactic of marketing is to have you feel dissatisfied than you’ll quickly see why they use the word “balance” so often.

In my endeavor to reconcile the pragmatic application of human performance and the primal requirement for the outdoors I’ve discovered the essential as well as the unconventional: the packable and transportable workplace.

I work outside, not the kind of “feel good” getting back to nature outside, I’m talking about a natural and compulsive need f...

Doing Good Works

At the end of March, I spent the day in Santa Ana, Calif., with Doing Good Works, a new kind of benefit corporation that merges the world of profit and nonprofit in a unique and powerful way. The executives there have figured out how to multiply and redistribute the power of capitalism into social programs by helping to add corporate social responsibility to businesses through promotional products and specialty coffee.

I was there to help attendees understand how we've been repurposing the pro...

WOMEN SEALs? IT’S ABOUT TIME.

Damn, it was cold.

My buddy took me between his legs, wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me close—“nut to butt,” as the instructors say when they want us to line up and take up as little space as possible.

I was so close that I could feel my buddy’s heartbeat, his breath warm on my neck.

“I gotta take a piss,” he warned me.

“Go for it, dude,” I said. “Just piss on me.” I was so cold I didn’t care anymore. Anything warm would do.

SEAL training isn’t pretty. It is designed to push an individual...

Kids Water Confidence

Confidence comes from learning to do things you could not do before.High levels of confidence, (swagger,) comes from learning to do things that most others can not do.

We live in a competitive world which will require continuous and competitive learning for our kids to survive and thrive. Just getting good at something is no longer sufficient. We must train our kids to get good at getting good. I call this being an expert at being an expert.

We've been slowly getting our SEAL Pup program off t...

Trying vs. Training

Many of us spend a bulk of our time on this planet stranded atop the plateaus of life. Despite our busy schedules and exhaustive efforts to accomplish something beyond the ordinary, we make very little progress.

It’s common to chalk this all up to a busy life, which is partially true, but there’s something else preventing us from making sustainable and meaningful gains.

From our earliest memories, we were taught to merely “Try” things. Food, sports, classes, and even careers. A wholesome way to...

Swim Buddies

YES YOU’D JUMP OFF A CLIFF IF ALL YOUR FRIENDS DID

He was a bit weird, but quick to befriend me. And since I didn’t know anyone, and I’m a bit shy by nature, I was quick to welcome any friend I could get. However, as soon as he started talking about how to hack SEAL training (you know, get away with not doing the work), I knew I had to distance myself from him immediately.

“Try not to get your greens issued to you,” he told me within minutes of our first meeting. “Greens” are the old Vietnam-st...

Be Effective Not Right

Bang.

This was the third shot that the sniper student missed. One more, and he was done. Out of sniper school. A failure.

I looked down and noticed that the student’s body position was still off despite my earlier coaching to correct it. The final round cracked off, and nothing else was heard—no sound of lead impacting steel at a distance, no “hit” uttered by the spotter. Nothing except the sound of what was now a former sniper student’s head landing on the shooting mat.

“Man, I think there’s so...

T-Shirt Got me Through Hell Week: Part 1

Originally published on sofrep.com March 3rd, 2016

I was slouched over a stack of pancakes in the BUD/S chow hall, quietly experiencing the thousands of microabrasions that come with 48 hours of being wet and sandy. It was Tuesday night of Hell Week, and it was the first time the pain of it all had really settled in. It was the burning that was getting to me, as if the tiny nerve endings in my skin had started an orchestra to which my internal organs had decided to join.

“Hey, what are you doin...

A T-Shirt Got Me Through Hell Week: Part 2

This paper is also featured on sofrep.com

In my last paper, How a T-Shirt Got Me Through Hell Week: Part 1,I discussed how visualization—or what I call “Paradise from the Pain”—can help us get through challenging or difficult times by allowing us to live in the moment that comes after the pain or discomfort.

But how do we do that? How can train our brains to focus on what’s up ahead and not on what we’re experiencing now?

Training a SEAL

I was recently preparing a young man for SEAL training. It...