Punching Above Your Weight

Punching above your weight is a metaphor for playing a bigger game. It’s the mindset of serving a purpose bigger than yourself when the odds are against you. It’s what Green Berets do: get surrounded on purpose and immerse themselves in the problem. But it's not unique to Green Berets. Leaders who are feeling that deep desire to punch above their weight are the ones that are going to make a difference in the world.

It feels like you're out over your skis. That's how I feel right now. Taskforce Pineapple has blown up. What started with four or five people, has turned into this organization of 150+. It's helped raise over $2 million for relief efforts and has been covered by multiple news outlets.

“Pineapple” was a code word to get an Afghan commando across the line into friendly hands, and it has become a metaphor for hope, honoring a promise, trust, and people knowing that you won't leave them behind. At our core, it's what we stand for and demand from our leaders.

There’s a cost to punching above your weight. That’s why so many people don’t do it. I’m really feeling what Steven Pressfield calls “resistance”. I keep asking myself, “Who am I to do this? This is too big for me.” Pineapple received calls from a super senior person in the White House, one of the chiefs of the military, the CIA, and other agencies asking Pineapple to get their person through the wire.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’re sticking our necks out. When is this administration going to say, “They're making us look bad,” or when is someone going to come out and say, “I'm with Pineapple,” and say something that destroys our credibility? I just keep waiting for something to happen that brings it all crashing down.

My health is suffering. The nightmares are back, and the sleep isn't great. It's not where I want to be, it's where I'm called to be. The cost is constantly there reminding me of the lost time with my family and my suffering business, but that's what it takes to punch above your weight. And the same is true for you. If you're going to punch above your weight, you have to play for something bigger.

Lieutenant Colonel Scheller, a Marine battalion commander whose Marines were killed by the bomb in Afghanistan, made a video where he called out his leadership for accountability. He knew that if you're not willing to risk it all, then you're not leading your people. His family’s security and career were gone the moment he hit record, and he knew it. But he also knew that the moral injury he would have to live with would be far greater than being relieved of command.

That's how I feel too. I know there's a good chance that I could lose things out of this. I've lost friends who are senior officers. I lost respect for them because they didn't make a stand. My name could get dragged through the mud, something bad could happen, the government could make some declaration about my organization, but I made a decision.

Our volunteers are the same way. They're out over their skis, but they understand punching above your weight. If you don't do that, then you are not playing at the highest level as a leader, and people are not truly following you.

We are designed for a level of autonomy that allows us to actualize and serve a bigger purpose. It's when we feel our best and our happiest. We need to stop putting agency in other people to solve our problems. We are hungry for a leader who will stand with us, be relatable to our pain, relevant to our goals, and knows there's a moment right now to play a bigger game because no one else is coming.

The things that matter, not just in our life, but throughout history, are born in struggle. We come from struggle, and we return to struggle. We've drowned that out today in this mass technology world. We're in a trance-like state where we've surrendered our agency to leaders who divide us and play on fear and anger-based behavior. We have the opportunity now to reclaim agency.

It's not up to Biden or Trump, it’s up to the Afghan people and citizens of any country who see what's happening and say, “I will not be a part of this moral outrage.” That's what this country, the world, your community, your family, and your business needs. We must shake off this trance.

Go to the people you unfriended on Facebook and say, “I'm sorry. Let's talk.” What does that have to do with Afghanistan? Everything. Combat veterans have been re-triggered after years of trying to put this behind them. But when they see you screaming at each other with contempt, that's when they feel like Afghanistan was for nothing. If we don't connect here at home, punch above our weight, and do what's right, what's happening in Afghanistan is not far away from here.

Let's work together, demand that we honor the promise, demand that we do the right thing, and we can bring thousands out. That's what we intend to do, and we're not going away. I'm ready to go back to my business, but not until somebody shows me that they're going to handle this.

Look at your life and business. Are you truly punching above your weight? The moral injury, both individually and collectively, that will come our way if we don't, will haunt us for the rest of our days. It's not just true for Afghanistan, politicians, and combat veterans, it's true for you too.

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