How To Become A Stronger Person (Lessons From A Navy SEAL!)

Mark Divine served as the commander of U.S. Navy SEAL Reserve Force for fifteen years. He is the founder and CEO of SEALFIT, an organization that helps people meet their “warrior spirit” through nerve-racking trials and tribulations.

Divine has taught thousands of people how to focus the energy of their mind, body, heart, and spirit on a meaningful purpose and achieve breakthroughs in life.

Today we will learn how to become a stronger person with ten simple lessons. 

1. Small decisions help you gain self-control.

Mark Divine says that it’s not the big decisions that shape our destiny, but the little ones. When we decide to use our smartphone the first thing in the morning or eat unhealthy food that doesn’t provide energy, we are forming a weak pathway to our future.

So always focus on the small decisions.

As Mark Divine says, “when you take control of the small decisions and don’t give up control to your smartphone or TV,  you become the author of your life again and are able to write your script. That script is written moment to moment.”

How To Become A Stronger Person: Give importance to small decisions.

2. Use your breath to use the power of the present.

Practice deep breathing to find your center every time you feel too anxious or distracted. Many people already do this before a job interview or before giving a public speech.

Mark Divine says, “In the present, your decisions have spaciousness in them because you’re not reacting to the internal and external stress. You have a spaciousness between your stimulus and your response, which we call the witness. You become connected with your witness instead of the thinking process or your ego.”

According to him, breath control is the most important tool to developing mental strength.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Breathe deeply to feel centered.

Mental Toughness (Motivational Video) by Fearless Motivation – WATCH FREE:

3. Always remember your purpose.

According to Mark Divine, you need to have an incredibly meaningful purpose that will drive you beyond all the obstacles in your path.

Whenever you’re down and want to give up, remind yourself why are you doing it. For example, if you’re working nights to provide your family a great lifestyle, remind yourself of it and it will give you strength.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Work for a bigger, meaningful purpose.

4. Win in your mind first.

Mark Divine says that prior to becoming a Navy SEAL, he would visualize every day how it’d feel. He built a training space in his mind and saw himself as his own hero.

According to him, “Nine months into this training I had a shift. A wave washed over me. I felt total certainty that I will become a NAVY Seal.”

This shows the true power of visualization and how it strengths your self-belief.

How To Become A Stronger Person: See yourself winning in your mind every day.

5. Work on your past through introspection.

Divine says that “If you’re looking in the past and regretting decisions, then that energy sucks you dry in the present. Because you’re always second-guessing if you’re good enough.”

You need to be free from the shackles of the past to conquer your mind and become mentally strong. Work on your past issues, if any, through introspection, and if needed, take professional help.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Resolve all issues from your past with introspection or professional help.

6. Use this powerful technique for instant mental strength.

Divine gives a powerful technique to keep going when you feel overwhelmed and unable to move forward.

This is crazy:

Here are the three simple steps to gain instant mental strength:

1. Breathe through your nose to center yourself in the present moment and calm your mind. This will make sure you relieve yourself of all the overwhelm and create enough space in your mind to focus on what matters.

2. Get rid of all the negative thoughts. If there is pain, tell yourself that pain is just weakness leaving the body. If there is a distraction, you tell yourself that it doesn’t matter.

3. Feed the courage wolf. This is done by doing something productive that takes you toward your goals. For example, you could do twenty minutes worth of work to make progress. But before you attack the micro-goal, visualize yourself being strong and draw energy from it.

You can even use a mantra such as, “I’m a mean lean working machine”. Mark Divine’s mantra is, “feeling good, looking good;  oughtta be in Hollywood.”

This power of visualization and drawing strength is evident in a Michael Phelps quote,

“When I feel tired, I just think about how great I will feel once I reach my goal”.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Feed the courage wolf, do a small bold act to gain mental strength.

7. Go beyond your perceived limits

Divine says that we need to go beyond our limits to realize our true potential and gain strength. In an interview with Ramit Sethi, he said that one practical way to do this is to do 1000 pushups in a single stretch.

Divine says that since 1000 is too big for most people, you can start with a goal of 250 and keep going after if you can. It is okay to take breaks in between, but finish it in a single stretch.

As Divine says, even if you do 250, you’ll feel much stronger after moving through the mental barrier you had. Always focus on “one more push-up” and not 100 more push-ups.

Here’s the trick:
Focus on the next step instead of the thousands of steps ahead. This is how you feed the courage wolf.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Set huge goals but focus only on the next step. 

8. Become Hyper-focused

In the same interview with Ramit Sethi, Divine said that it is essential to have a laser-like focus to have a strong mind. You cannot be constantly distracted by social media if you want to launch a million dollar business.

To become hyper-focused, challenge yourself to be completely silent for 2 hours, although Mark Divine has gone through 6-day silence retreats for the same.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Cut out all distractions to focus on your goal.

9. One Powerful Action After the Other

Divine says that we need to act like we’re strong right from when we get out of bed. He recommends doing one act that symbolizes strength or self-control. For example, you can make your bed right after you get up.

Making your bed is a simple act but gives you the feeling of small accomplishment that you will carry through your whole day. Divine says that we need to take one powerful action after the other throughout our days as if our life depends on it.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Take one powerful action after the other throughout your day.

10. Give Yourself An Unfair Advantage

Divine says that we need to grow physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and intuitively. This is called integrated growth because human beings are much more than their physical bodies and emotions.

A core part of this strategy is the use of heart intelligence over cognitive intelligence. When you’re doing something difficult, your mind may get tired, but your heart doesn’t. So using the intelligence of your heart is the most powerful thing you can do to move forward.

How you give yourself unfair advantage: Use your heart.

The first way to do this is to give yourself a meaningful purpose. A purpose is something that you’re emotionally bonded to. The second way is to work with your team. When you care about your team, you draw strength from your heart and don’t give up.

How To Become A Stronger Person: Use not only your mind but also your heart. That’s where real strength lies.