Brent Gleeson - Embrace the Suck

The pain that you are willing to endure is measured by how bad you want it.

DAVID GOGGINS

O ur minds are the most powerful weapon we have at our disposal. But often, our greatest tools can be exactly what stands in the way of overcoming adversity and achieving extraordinary accomplishments. If you cant learn to control your mind, youll forever be a slave to its evil limitations.

I met Brent in late 2000 at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, when we joined Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL class 235. Id already been in SEAL training at the command for ten months, having endured two Hell Weeks and multiple injuries, but my journey in developing resilience and mental toughness was only just beginning.

I grew up in a physically and emotionally abusive household and battled learning disabilities, obesity, and racism every day. That environment fueled depression and a mindset consumed by fear and a deep need for acceptance of any kind. I was constantly trudging through the muck so to speak, with no end to the suffering in sight. One day, I realized that I could make the choice to rise from the ashes and take control of my life. In 1994, I joined the United States Air Force and served for five years as a tactical air controller. I found happiness and fulfillment in service to our great nation. Giving to a cause greater than myself filled a void I had struggled with for years. But after leaving the Air Force, depression pulled me back into its lonely lair. Down there in the darkness, what I lost in myself I regained in weight. And at 297 pounds, I became consumed by the fear of permanency; that was simply who I was going to be. At the time, I accepted it. Then one day, I looked in the mirror and said, Fuck this. I decided to stop wallowing in misery, get off my ass, and start training. To take back control. Through extreme discipline and resolve, I lost 106 pounds in a very short period of time. In 2000, I joined the Navy with the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL.

I knew Id have to dive headfirst into hell and battle the devileven become the devilto achieve this goal. I immersed myself in this new normal. I transformed my mind to embrace the pain, to enjoy it. I developed the mental calluses necessary to go to war with myself each day. Brent used to joke that I was possibly the only person in the history of the SEAL training program who relished the torture, that this battlefield had become my home. We completed what was my third Hell Week in March 2001. Eight months later, after completing SEAL Qualification Training, Brent and I earned our Tridents and joined SEAL Team Five.

But it wasnt enough. I had become too comfortable in this new heightened state of performance. I needed to recertify myself as a savage and take my journey to the next level. As part of a cross-service training program after my first deployment, I opted to attend Army Ranger School. In 2004, I graduated from the program with the distinction of enlisted Top Honor Man and returned to Team Five. Soon after returning from Ranger School, I began my career as an elite ultramarathon athlete while on active duty as a SEAL.

Ive been on a journey of self-discovery and comfort zone crushing ever since. Over the years, Ive used my pain and suffering as fuel to drive me forward. Ive become an accomplished endurance athlete, completing more than 60 ultramarathons, triathlons, and ultratriathlons, setting new course records and regularly placing in the top five. I once held the Guinness World Record for pull-ups, completing 4,030 in seventeen hours.

But all of the awards, medals, accolades, and magazine articles mean nothing to me. Thats not why I do what I do. Sure, I have raised significant funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, but I dont need the recognition. Im not trying to be number one in the world at anything. Its not about how many races I run or how many miles Ive traveled on broken feet. Theres no scoreboard. Rather, its about achieving my personal best and pushing well beyond my comfort zone every chance I get. For me, physical and mental suffering are a journey of introspection; no other experience makes me feel more clear, focused, and alive.

We all have the ability to master our minds. But our brains are wired with defense mechanisms for avoiding pain and hardship, for staying well within the confines of our comfort zone. Our minds have a tendency to force us into a sheltered existence. I call this the forty percent rule. When our brains start sending signals that we can go no further, endure no more, to retreat to the blissful embrace of denial and mediocrity, weve only achieved forty percent of our mental and physical potential.

But when we find ways to harness our minds, we can defy all odds. From overcoming depression, abuse, financial strain, or illness to conquering the most unimaginably lofty goals, when properly vanquished, our minds become the weapon needed for success on any battlefield. We just have to embrace the suck.

About a year ago, Brent asked me to send a few motivational words to one of his mentees who was about to begin SEAL training Hell Week. This young man had lost his mother to a sudden brain aneurysm a week before checking in at the command. This is the message I sent, which was shared with the entire class:

Please tell him that my words will make no difference when his balls are in his stomach from being so cold. Men dont get many chances to show their grit! You need to pray for bad weather! Pray for the coldest water! Pray for a broken fucking body! You should want the worst-case scenario for everything you do in Hell Week! Pray for it to be so hard that only your fucking boat crew makes it all the way through! They succeed because you lead those motherfuckers through the worst Hell Week ever!