Do you know your Limits? ?

One of my good friends is a serving member of the United Kingdom's Special Forces (UKSF) - Special Boat Service. Unsurprisingly, he is a remarkable individual in character, ability, resilience and mindset. When we served together in the same Commando Unit, I was forever in awe of his capabilities.

Prior to joining the Marines he'd attended University and could likely have competed in the Olympic with his times in Rowing, but he chose to sign up instead. As a recruit he passed Commando Training with ease, then went onto complete the infamous Royal Marines Mountain Leader Course and subsequently passed UKSF Selection on his first attempt. When I asked him about selection - (having failed it spectacularly myself - twice ??). He just laughed and said:

"I actually enjoyed the Hills mate, it was good fun".

A few years ago, he was part of a team trialing a new parachuting technique, which involved high altitude jumping - some 10,000m, at night, with equipment. For those who have parachuted you'll understand the nature of how dangerous and fraught it is, not in the least with the added element of equipment and night jumping.

On one of his jobs he collided with another operator, both their parachutes tangled and they began to plummet towards the ground, from 5000m in the pitch black. When he told me this story he recalled;

"I just accepted that I was a goner mate, what could I do?"

Thankfully both survived - with no real life changing injuries. My friend seriously damaged his knee... but when all things considered - thats not the worst outcome.

A few days after the accident he was cycling and running on his smashed up knee. A physio had gawped at the injury and the fact that he could still train on it - "My knee was destroyed anyway, I thought, I may as well still stay in shape". His physical fitness allowed him to do that - and significantly improved his recovery time.

So what does this all mean? And why am I telling this story?

Well it makes him a serious outlier.

Lets consider the numbers:

The Royal Marines has on average ~5000 to 6000 serving regular personnel. Compare this to the ~140,000 Regular British Army or ~30,000 in the Royal Navy and ~38,000 Regular Royal Air Force, you're already dealing with a small % of individuals compared to the wider Armed Forces. Now let's think about it in wider terms, the UK population is ~67.33 Million people and according to the Office of National Statistics there are ~1.8 Million Veterans in England and Wales (Excluding Scotland).

That means ~1.9% of the UK population are Veterans, which in turn means <1% of the UK Population are Royal Marines, which also means <1% of those people are UKSF.

All of this is a super long around-about way of saying - chances are you are not my friend. Probably not even close.

Which brings me to the point of the Newsletter - How close have you come to your limits? To even know where to set your parameters? You need to have experienced both extremes - peace, tranquility and flow. Whilst also having experienced burnout and chaos!

Many consider someone like David Goggins to be the pinnacle of pushing beyond your limits.

Let me be clear on this now - it is a mistake to use Military examples, anecdotes and mindset to calibrate your limits.

I'm going to write that again...

It is a mistake to use Military examples, anecdotes and mindset to calibrate your limits.

Statements like - "When you think you're at 100% - you're actually only at 40%".

Really? By who's Standards?

When you're in the Military and training for War, you absolutely must prepare for the worst case scenario - this is why its so extreme. Military training can be so brutal people are often, seriously unwell, injured or in some unfortunate occasions - killed. People like Goggins are caricature's of life - they use extreme examples to insinuate people aren't working anywhere close to their capacity.

Yes this is true - you probably aren't working at 100% of your capacity. I can assure you if you did, it wouldn't last long or the results would be catastrophic.

If we're aiming for optimum health and wellness then you shouldn't be working at 100%. To give the devil his due, Goggins has a point - some people have very little to no resiliency whatsoever. There are times when we have to be prepared to push our limits and go outside of our comfort zone - there is power in discipline and hardship. We often place no value in anything we haven't suffered to obtain.

But does this mean telling someone who has a full-time job, a 2 hour commute, 3 children and elderly parents to look after they should be running ultra marathons everyday? Probably not. You are also in no position to define someone's capacity or limits. We all have VERY different parameters upon which we measure things.

The old saying rings true here "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it's stupid".

I have some basic principles that I run through my life to determine if I need to work harder or take a break:

• Sleep - If I've had less than 6 hours sleep, I'm taking it easier. We simply cannot assimilate the same information or recover well on poor sleep. ??
• Apathy - If I feel super apathetic around training/writing/reading - I likely need a break. ??
• Time - If on weekdays I work from 0830 to 1730 - I have 7 hours around my work schedule to fit in - training, writing, studying and up-skilling and family/friends. Time-box each area to ensure you get the balance right. ?

• Illness - If I'm unwell then I rest - no questions asked. ???
• Symptoms - If you or your partner notice changes in your behaviours then you might need to reevaluate the balance - I get irritable, annoyed easily, angry sometimes, extreme fatigue etc. ??
• Integrity - Self-discipline is the ultimate test of integrity - excuses sound best to the person thats making them - are you extremely fatigued? Or just tired? Only you can truly answer that. We must always remember that like ripples in a pond - small decisions we make daily compound to our overall results. Be honest and crush excuses when they arise. ??

There is a lot of nonsense out there - be honest with yourself and your capacity. We all know deep down when we're not working at the pace we can/should be. But equally, rest and recuperation are as important as work. ??

Stoic Affirmation

"We should always be asking ourselves; Is this something that is, or is it not in my control?" - Epictetus.

Someone called me closed minded and a short-term thinker - because I said "The current situations in the world and economic climate are not within my control".

Does it mean I don't care? No. But what is lying awake at night worrying going to do for me or my health? I can't change the ebb and flow of the World - nor is it entirely my concern. What should worry me?

My actions - my words and my life.

Nothing outside of our control should ever be given credence. Those who think otherwise carry around a burden of anxiety and fear - what use are they then to themselves and others?

The Ascend Risk Management Level Up ????

What is easier to Measure? ????

Risk Impact or Likelihood?

A Senior Leader told me recently, this is one of his first and preferred questions. Initially it took me back because I thought - what would I have answered?

Thankfully Impact was what came to mind - We can predict the impact quantifiably - if Z is lost then we have Y as an outcome. But likelihood? Well.. thats the X Factor, who knows what will happen in the World? Likelihood is in flux.. Predict what we know - mitigate and prepare for the rest!

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