Don Mann - Reaching Beyond Boundaries: A Navy SEAL’s Guide to Achieving Everything You’ve Ever Imagined

Copyright 2019 by Don Mann and Kraig Becker

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3667-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3668-9

Printed in the United States of America.

Chapter 1

PUSHING BEYOND BOUNDARIES

Dream big and dare to fail.

Norman Vaughn

H igh on a mountaintop in the Himalayas, a lone climber slowly scrambles up a steep slope. Strong winds buffet his body as he struggles to stand upright, snow swirling around him, obscuring his vision. His legs burn with exertion and his lungs struggle to provide the oxygen he needs in the increasingly thinning air. For a moment, he stops as a voice inside his head tells him that this would all be a lot easier if he just turned around and headed back down. He allows himself the briefest of moments to consider that possibility. Below him is warmth and sunshine, a comfortable tent, and the camaraderie of friends and family. Above, is only pain and suffering. He sighs deeply, drawing in even more oxygen before looking over his shoulder at the way he has come. Ultimately, he turns to continue upward. He hasnt finished what he has come here to do just yet. He hasnt reached the summit.

Somewhere on a desolate, sandy plateau in Afghanistan, a soldier ducks for cover behind an armored vehicle. A dozen rounds whiz past overhead as chaos breaks out all around him. He can see the other members of his squad scrambling for safety as bullets rain down from multiple directions. He takes a fraction of a second to collect himself, allowing his breathing and heart rate to stabilize. Adrenaline courses through his veins and yet he remains calm. This is what weve trained for, he tells himself, glancing around to take stock of the situation and assess where his skills and experience are needed most. Without hesitation he begins scanning the area for signs of the enemy, conveying vital information to his fellow soldiers as the firefight escalates around him. Even in this life or death situation, he is calm and collected.

On a lonely trail in the Alps a runner pushes on through the night. She is sixteen hours and seventy miles into one of the longest and most difficult endurance events in the world. The route ahead is illuminated only by the light from her headlamp and it has been a long time since she has seen another living soul. Exhausted, hungry, and in pain, she presses forward, long after most other human beings would have stopped. The steepest and hardest part of the race is yet to come, but she refuses to give up now, as there are many miles to go before she reaches the finish line.

These grueling scenarios may sound like something out of a work of fiction, but they are the kind of real life challenges that men and women undertake all the time. Some choose to push themselves to their absolute physical and mental limits while others have intense, life-altering situations thrust upon them unexpectedly. But knowing how to embrace those moments, compartmentalize the suffering, and stay focused on achieving your objectives can be the difference between success and failureand in some cases life and death.

Ive spent the last forty years of my life vigorously preparing my mind, body, and soul to take on some of the most intense challenges imaginable. Ive gone through arduous training so that I could defend my country against lethal threats from around the globe. Ive conducted missions in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, El Salvador, Bolivia, Korea, Panama, and Colombia, often in conditions that were brutally demanding, both physically and mentally. To my SEAL teammates I am known as Warrant Officer Manslaughter, Sweet Satan, Don Maniac, and Dr. Death. All nicknames that I wear like a badge of honor, having served multiple tours of duty with SEAL Teams One, Two, and Six throughout my career.

My story starts in Methuen, Massachusetts, where I grew up a skinny kid from the wrong side of the tracks. As a teenager I was a hell-raiser with no interest in school or organized sports of any kind. Like most of my friends, I was on a one-way path to becoming a criminal or drug addict. It was then that I realized that if I didnt find some purpose in my life, Id end up in prison, or dead. A number of my tough-guy friendsand even one of my girlfriendshad proceeded me to an early grave. I was constantly getting into fights and running into trouble with the law. Needless to say, the prospects for my future werent particularly bright.

To make matters worse, I was a terrible student. For me, school was nothing more than a place to hang out and have a good time. Some years I never even bothered to study at all. When our textbooks were issued on the first day of class, Id stash them in my locker, and wouldnt look at them again until the last day of school when they needed to be returned. Once, as the end of the school year drew near, a teacher asked for her textbooks back and I remember telling her, Im sure theyre in good condition, but theyre in my locker, and I dont remember where my locker is.

After barely finishing high school, and graduating near the very bottom of my class, I wasnt really sure what my next move should be. But, I knew I had to do something, so I decided to enroll at a community college in Waterbury, Connecticut. I thought maybe Id be well suited to becoming a policeman, telling myself that cops saw lots of action and got to carry weapons. I could be like my hero Evel Knievel who had switched from black leather to white, telling kids to stay in school and not do drugs, while still managing to remain a complete badass at the same time. So I signed up for a course in criminal justice and prepared myself for what I thought would be a good career path.

On the first day of class, the professor came into the classroom, looked around and asked, How many of you here think you want to become cops?

Practically everyone in the roommyself includedraised our hands. Then he said, You want to be cops because of what you see on TV. The car chases, the shootouts. Isnt that right?

A bunch of us answered, You bet!, while shaking our heads enthusiastically.

Well, those things will never happen, the professor told us. You pull your weapon from your holster, and youre in court the next day defending yourself. The hours are terrible. So is the pay. The divorce rate is the highest of all civilian jobs. You spend most of your time writing parking tickets.

It was if all of the air had been left out of the classroom. We all looked at each other confused and dumbfounded. This wasnt what we had signed up for at all. Writing parking tickets for a living sounded mind-numbingly boring. My dream shattered, I had to find another profession, but the question was, what could that possibly be?