When you fall on your face, get up and move.

When you think about failure and how it comes in many forms, you get reminded of the times you fear for your life. As a member of the SWAT team, and more specifically the “breacher,” you have a very important job. As the breacher, you are the guy that opens the door for the rest of your team. The longer it takes you to open the door, the more time the bad guys have to prepare for you and your team’s entry. If you can’t get the door open at all, you better have a backup plan.

Your tool of choice is normally the “ram.” A ram is a long metal tube with handles that weighs about 45 pounds. As a successful and well-trained breacher you will be able to open a door with just one hit. On any given morning you can be tasked to pick up your 45 lb ram and cram into the SWAT truck. You hope the occupants will still be asleep when you arrive.

Your approach to the house must be silent. The door is locked and they signal for the breacher to come forward. You step up to the door and make sure your footing is good. You ever so slightly place your foot against the door, to take any slack out of it. “Knock knock,” You think to yourself before that first swing. You pull back and with a mighty swing hit the door with the ram.

There is a half second pause as you realize the door did not come open. “What did I do wrong?” “This has never happened before.” “I failed.” Then you look down at the door and realize you missed the lock by half and inch and put the front end of the ram through the entire door.

Hurriedly you pull the ram out of the door and prepare for swing number two. Now with extra adrenaline running through your veins and swing with extra force. The door fails to open on the second swing. All you accomplished was making the first hole bigger.

Panic sets in. “We need to get in.” “He knows we’re here now.” You then do the next logical thing you can think of. You shoulder the door, knowing you wouldn’t miss this time. Now for those of you that have never attempted to shoulder a door open while wearing 40 lbs of gear and carrying a 45 lb steel tube, I will advise you against it.

The door comes open. Not in the super cool way it does in the movies though. This door folds like paper. When you hit it with your shoulder the door bends in half. The glass window at the top of the door breaks and showers over you. Your momentum carries you into the living room and onto the floor with a series of loud thuds and clangs.

Another note about breachers is that they are always the last one into the house after opening the door. This was the first and only time I ever beat the entire team into the house and it made me uneasy. Your first thought is more of a feeling. You feel the large empty space to your right where you know any number of threats could be. The second thought is that you know a train of men is coming in fast behind you and you need to move. You quickly get to your feet while simultaneously pulling your handgun from your holster and enter the nearest bedroom.

The scene is secured and luckily no one was injured during the operation except for your pride. You get the opportunity to get a lot of takeaways from this event. First is that overconfidence and not accepting failure as a possible outcome leads to panic when failure does occur. In whatever endeavor you are approaching you should understand that failure is a possible outcome. When you realize this, it lessens the emotional response when things don’t go your way.

You can also learn a valuable lesson to not panic if plan “A” doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s better to take a breath and see what options you have at your disposal rather than moving ahead blindly. When you’re down on yourself after a failure you shouldn’t stay there long. It’s more harmful and you could miss other opportunities while you wallow in your self-pity. Instead, you should jump to your feet and look for the next goal to attack.

Lastly you can’t let past failures affect your future endeavors. Stop kicking yourself for things that happened in the past. The important idea is to learn from those mistakes and failures. If you can take that information and experience that you gathered along the way and apply it in a productive manner, then you won.

About the Author:

Justin Atherton is the Peak Performance Consultant for Confidence Unchained, a company that helps men find their EDGE.

In dealing with countless high stress and volatile situations Justin learned that integrity―in every aspect―is the most important factor in whether a man succeeds or fails.

With over 14 years of Law Enforcement experience in SWAT, Investigations, Officer Training and Leadership roles, Justin develops and shares tactics and techniques that help forge the next generation of leaders.

After departing the SWAT team, he launched Confidence Unchained, a company that teaches these same leadership principles to men from any walk of life.

From business owners, CEO’s and entrepreneurs, Justin has helped men across a broad range of industries build their own Peak Performance and regain their EDGE.

Now, detailing the mind-set and principles that enable Detectives and SWAT teams to accomplish the most difficult missions, Confidence Unchained shows how to apply them to any man, family or organization.

The three pillars of the program focus on a specific topic such as Mental Toughness, Emotional Fortitude and Health Awareness, explaining what they are, why they are important, and how to implement them in any environment.

Powerful coaching and direct application, Confidence Unchained revolutionizes personal consulting and challenges men everywhere to fulfill their ultimate purpose and keep their EDGE.

"Do Difficult Things Often."

Justin W Atherton

Peak Performance Consultant | Performance Strategist | Performance Coach | Speaker | Mentor | Confidence Coach | Leadership Coach | BadAss |Confidence Unchained | Executive Coach | Coaching for Men | Mental Toughness | Emotional Fortitude | Health Awareness