Week 4 + 5: Lessons on Self-Discipline from Navy SEALS

Nadia Jones will be covering her training for the next 3 months leading up to the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon. If you would like to follow her journey, you can visit this blog each week for updates!

Here are the weekly summaries so far if you want to catch up, if not scroll down for Week 4+5 updates!

• Week 1 – I cover The Galloway Run Walk Run Method, and I attempt to define the word “postpartum.”
• Week 2 – Stop trying to buy your training shoes yourself and go to a running specialty store. I also discuss how NOT to clean your running shoes.
• Week 3 – A good book, a New Year’s resolution, and some lessons from my first love (basketball) gave me some good #thoughtswhilerunning.

I listened to David Goggins’ book “Cant Hurt Me,” on audible years ago. Goggins is a Retired Navy SEAL and the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. Reference: I copy and pasted that from his website. I decided I would listen to the almost 17-hour book after having a few patients (who were dealing with overuse injuries) mention his name and his training tactics they were using.

After I completed the book on Audible (I listened to the second half on 2x speed), I turned around and actually read a very short book, “Make Your Bed,” by Admiral William H. McRaven. Admiral McRaven is a retired United States Navy four-star Admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

The titles of both books sort of speak for themselves – Goggins book was certainly more focused on what he did to get where he was (which is incredible regardless of what you think about his personality), while McRaven’s book provided wisdom on “little things that could change your life.”  Despite the differences in these two books, I’ll avoid my full personal book reviews here, I still reflect on a common theme between them– the positive impact of self-discipline.

Goggins believes that it takes “relentless self-discipline” to schedule time daily to push yourself. I believe he said something about not believing in “motivation” in his book as well, but I couldn’t recall any quotes since I unsubscribed to audible for the 15^th time last year. Regarding not challenging yourself Goggins said, “You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” I may not have put it in those words – but I agree with Goggins on this matter.

While I don’t really feel that training for the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon is going to unveil some amazing athletic potential buried deep inside me, I have really tried to push myself towards one habit or small goal after another with diligence.  According to Merriam-Webster, diligence is defined as: steady, earnest, and energetic effort. “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied” (Proverbs 13:4 ESV). Crossing the finish line at the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon is only going to supply me with a participation medal. It’s the self-discipline of the training by Week 5 that I have found to be sanctifying and rewarding.  

McRaven took a much more approachable strategy in his book, particularly for people who are new to self-discipline. He recommended that we start with the “little things” when it comes to training ourselves for greatness. While he gives 10 short lessons, my favorite one is tied to the title of the book. Start your day with a task completed.  “If you want to change the world … start off by making your bed.” If you make your bed every morning, you have completed the first task of the day. This will encourage you to go on and accomplish more in your day. And of course, if your day doesn’t go so well – you come home to a made bed. He goes on to list 9 other short lessons about challenging yourself and not giving up, I would list here – but the book is so short you should just read it.

I also listened to “Atomic Habits,” by James Clear a few years ago on one of my audible membership kicks. I found the principle of “habit stacking” to be helpful in conjunction with the “make your bed” lesson by McRaven. Habit stacking is when you build new habits by taking advantage of old ones. You already have established habits that you’ve built over the years, hopefully some good ones (like exercising) and some that you don’t even consider a habit (like showering). By linking your new habits to one that you’ve already established in your brain, you are more likely to create a new habit.

Last year, I gave myself so much grace for not sleeping through the night for exactly 11 months and 13 days with Brady Joon. I “slept-in” a lot, like 6:30 or 7 am. By “sleeping-in” with two children who like to get up “early,” I was missing out on a few things that usually helped center my day.

1. First and foremost, I was unable to spend time with God early and before the sun came up – for me this is a quiet time where I can really focus on God’s word and prayer.

2. I was unable to drink a full cup of hot coffee (no such thing with kids who are awake). For anyone who knows me, black coffee is essential – the temperature is not. Ironically enough, I knew I was pregnant before a pregnancy test with both of my girls because the smell of coffee made me want to gag. I joke about coffee being essential, but I went nine months twice without a cup of my favorite Folger’s Breakfast Blend, no room for cream.

3. I was not exercising at all (literally, nothing) – but there’s a lot of grace here too, see Week 1.

4. I was unable to organize myself for the day – which, in turn, usually made everyone in my household late.

I don’t regret sleeping-in for those 11 months and 13 days, or the 6-ish months that followed it when Brady WAS sleeping through the night. I made the bed most of those days because I was the last one out of it. That did give me a sense of accomplishment and a nice place to put my head after a long day. I hope this encourages you to at a minimum make your bed every morning.

I am, however, thankful that I ended this long streak and started habit stacking when I started training for the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon. Every night my precious husband, Elliott, prepares coffee for me and programs the coffee maker to go off at 4:50 am. This is my “Love Language” BTW (another book for another day). My alarm goes off at 5:00 am. The smell of the coffee helps me get up and get dressed for the day ahead of me. Before drinking a cup of HOT coffee, I drink a full glass of water. Then I reward myself with the cup of coffee while I spend time with God in the Word and prayer. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I force myself to do my training on the treadmill while it’s still dark outside – I sincerely dread this, but thanks to habit stacking the coffee and the prayers help me to lace up my running shoes. After I finish my run, I usually still have time to come home and clean myself up as well as get organized for the day. Somedays before my entire family wakes up. I’m not making the bed every day anymore (because I am not the last one out of it, snooze ya lose Elliott), but I am one step further in my spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional training.

Self-discipline doesn’t have to be a scary word that makes you think of doing as many pull-ups as you can until your hands bleed (actual story in Goggins' book). Self-discipline can be taking small steps in the right direction, every day, towards your goal.

The Honeymoon Phase (another Love Languages book reference here) of Training has certainly worn off for me. The newness of running again and the cute leggings I got in December aren’t giving me a spark for training quite like they did the first few weeks. While the coffee is a HUGE help, it’s the Spirit inside of me cheering me on to “finish the race with endurance” and telling me “You can do this,” that gives me strength.

Quote of the Week - Week 4+5

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV)

Playlist - Week 4 + 5 – Genre this week is what my mom, a 70’s rock music enthusiast who got a David Bowie hair cut her senior year of high school in South Florida, would consider Fake Rock Music. You be the judge, but all these songs are good tempos for running with a higher cadence!

1. All the Small Things – Blink 182 – 150 bpm: A good starting song to warm-up and remind yourself that the night will go on, my little windmill.

2. Ocean Avenue – Yellowcard – 174 bpm: The first version I had of this song was from a borrowed burned CD where 22 seconds in another song blasted into it for about 3 seconds, it wasn’t until the days of iTunes that I realized that was actually a mistake. RIP to that friend’s computer, I am sure LimeWire gave it a virus and destroyed it after that download.

3. Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down - Fall Out Boy – 170 bpm: I’m not going to lie. When this song came out in 2005 (8^th grade), I thought FOB was a Fake Rock Band. Regardless of what anyone thinks, this song is GREAT for running at a higher cadence!