FROM BATTLEFIELD TO BOARDROOM: APPLYING MILITARY DISCIPLINE TO LIFE AND BUSINESS

There are too many of them now. Motivational coaches. Inspirational speakers. They’re everywhere, shouting from the corners of the internet. Some say they can make you a millionaire if you follow their path. Some say they can turn your life around with one piece of advice. And they all want your money. They all promise success in a bottle and sell it like it’s the secret to everything.

I’ve listened to some of them. The louder they get about their magic formula for success, the less I believe it. I’m not interested in being told to think positively or to dream big. You can dream as big as you want, but it won’t mean anything if you don’t do the work.

In the military, no one gave motivational speeches. They didn’t have to. It was about training. Strength. Endurance. Skill. And an oath that meant something. No one had to tell us to be the best we could be on the battlefield. We understood it. We had to survive, and survival meant being ready for anything. Drill Sergeant Greely said it clear enough: “The only unfair fight is the one you lose.” He didn’t talk about heroes. He didn’t talk about patriotism. He talked about readiness. He talked about fearlessness.

“You can’t pick your opponent in combat,” he’d say. “You need to be better than the enemy you face.”