u/claygup57

Hey y'all,

My post on intellectual masturbation got a lot of attention and I got several DM's about mental toughness so thought I'd answer it all in one post...

Myth-busting BUD/s

I understand why you guys asked about mental toughness since every TG says "BUD/s is all mental." However, I have a different take on that and I think most TGs would agree with me. A lot of you guys approach BUD/s as if it's some insurmountable crucible that will drive you to the verge of death. You imagine yourself barely alive as you crawl on a 4 mile run with broken legs. Stop with this bullshit self- imagery. BUD/s has a carefully curated curriculum. The instructor staff are not doing random bullshit. There is a schedule and careful thinking to everything along with risk management. There is a literal first phase curriculum guys. BUD/s is like any other Navy school but with a shitload of working out. So you guys need to drop this mental imagery that it's gonna be some impossible crucible. Thousands of guys have made it and you can too (provided you have the right mindset, physical prep, athletic background, and luck).

What is mental toughness?

I view mental toughness as the combination of primarily two things:

1. Discipline

2. Confidence

Discipline: A lot of you think you build mental toughness by doing dumb shit like going and running an ultramarathon with no training. That's stupid. You build discipline by never missing a workout and following your program to a T. Even when you're struggling on that last rep or heaving for air, you finish the workout to the highest standards. You always workout whether it's 5am and freezing cold or 3pm and 90+ degrees in the summer. As you do this over and over (and hopefully have a lifetime of this), you build discipline. Now when you have a dreaded evo like land po coming up, it's just another day for you. When you have to do 4-count flutter kicks up to your class number, it's just another tough workout. Just like you didn't wanna go do that brutal workout when you were training but nutted up anyway, you nut up and do the evolution.

Confidence: This is the second core part of mental toughness. You need to have confidence in your physical ability to demolish BUD/s. How do you do this? First, off you do this by having killer PST numbers and killing all the prep for BUD/s. I had done brutal workouts with up to 600 lunges with a sandbag prior to going so I wasn't scared of log PT for example. I was excited to go smash SOAS and BUD/s. Go to your DEP group (even if you're an OCS candidate) and smoke absolutely everybody and get first in everything. Signup for a Hyrox pro division and place in top 10%. Go to Stew's and crush everyone or go to SOCOM Athlete Hell Day and make it look easy. You get the idea. Simply compete with other in-shape dudes and prove to yourself that you're the best. And while you will likely not be #1 in everything, you should always strive for that.

Deep-dive on the competitive mindset:

This is another thing that irritates me with how you guys think about BUD/s. You view it like some brutal hell to go survive. This is a bad mentality and how you end up a quitter. Your mentality should be that you're going to absolutely obliterate BUD/s. During any evo, your goal should be to smash it and be #1 with a smile on your face. It should piss you off everytime you don't win at BUD/s. If you are constantly focused on winning and competing, you won't think about quitting. I'll give you another example. Dude in my BUD/s class went on a very light 3 mile run morning after securing hell week for example. You need to get rid of this weak victim mentality of hoping to survive BUD/s and shift into a competitor mentality of a dude who's coming to destroy BUD/s.

It's such a privilege to get paid to workout in sunny Coronado guys. Families come to vacation in Coronado and play in the surf. You should be excited about BUD/s. So much more fun than working out at RASP in Fort Benning (yuck). Do not have a victim mindset of fear. This applies to when you're in the teams and this mindset is key to joining an organization full of alpha males.

Physical prep:

As you can see, none of this mental toughness is possible if you aren't a physical stud. So focus on that. If you don't have this competitive mindset focused on being a high performer, that should be another warning sign to you that the teams aren't for you. Your level of physical preparedness is an indicator of how bad you want it and how much you're willing to sacrifice for your dream. It's my all time favorite when dudes say they're willing to die before they quit yet they show up with bullshit PST scores... Ah yes, you're willing to die for this but you aren't willing to go to the gym and workout harder. Lol.

Misc. tips:

I also recommend playing some hard sports if you're younger (esp. wrestling or water polo). The bjj guys in my class did well but I am torn on whether the injury risk is worth it. However, hard ass sports will help build confidence (remember my point from earlier) in your physical ability.

If you're out of school, I would recommend hard, manual labor. Working a hard roofing job or on a farm for long hours will build your ability to handle a long day of selection and physical activity. If you just do a bullshit 1 hour gym workouts and then sit in your AC corporate job for 9 hours, you're cooked. However, working those hard manual labor jobs and THEN staying disciplined with working out before and after is a great way to build mental toughness.

Closing thoughts:

If you are scoring <8:30, 100+, 90+, 20+, <8:30, crushed leg workouts, and followed the advice above, you should have an 80%+ chance of making it. Ultimately, the only thing that should stop you from securing hell week is injury which just unfortunately comes with BUD/s. Hopefully you don't get hit with bad luck and get catastrophically injured or hit a vicious snowball of SIPE, VGE, etc. However, you should do all the possible physical and mental prep to ensure that the only thing that stops you from making it is injury. And remember, BUD/s is just the beginning. It only gets harder. BUD/s is the easy part. Teams are the hard part.

Okay that is all. Time to enjoy my 4th. Good luck and keep training hard gents!

About me

I used to be on this sub under a diff username a very long time ago back in the OG days. Sub used to be a place that was focused on working out and training. I ended up making it as an O.

I stopped being active on here around when Jeff Nichols made that post asking for Gabe's phone number and address which would've been late summer 2019. Anyway, had some time the past couple days and came back to see what a shit show the sub has become.

Have shared these thoughts with a few of y'all already but sharing for broader exposure since some of you found it as a helpful wake up call.

Rant

A lot of you spend way too much time on intellectual masturbation. It seems to me that you guys over-intellectualize everything. You obsess over life in the teams from what schools you'll get to how to lead a platoon when you can't even pass a PST.

There are those of you who post for years and honestly know more about the teams than newly pinned SQT grads lol. This is not a recipe to succeed. If you enjoy being an expert on the teams and SOF more than working out, you won't make it. If your idea of fun when you're bored is watching an episode of the Shawn Ryan Show instead of going and crushing a run, swim, lift, or ab workout, you won't make it.

You don't enjoy the life. You enjoy the idea of being a team guy. It is weird to me how it doesn't deeply bother you guys when someone has better PST numbers than you but you get super worked up if someone gets the details of some random mission 20 years ago incorrect.

None of you should even dare ask about which unit would get the most action if you aren't at least <8:30, 100+, 90+, 20+, <8:30 on the PST. If working out isn't core to who you are as a person, that is a major issue.

So I'd encourage you to stop intellectualizing everything generally. The pipeline doesn't need it and overthinkers don't do well. This also applies to overintellectualizing working out too. Throw whatever nonsense program is hot these in the trash - whether it's Jake or Jeff or whoever dick it's popular to suck nowadays.

You don't need some "optimal prep" nonsense. There's no such thing. Just run, lift, and swim. For me personally, I did the PTG for 6 months, 12 weeks to BUD/s, and then 3-4 months focused on preparing for BUD/s specific shit (e.g., hot laps, lunges, land portage) and getting my legs strong as fuck. I mixed pilates and yoga in there for injury prevention as well.

If you follow that, I guarantee you'll be physically prepared (may need more lifting if you're weak). If you can't handle that or think it's overtraining, you won't make it. If it takes you longer than a year to get ready, you have no business going to BUD/s. You simply don't have the athletic background.

Guys who make it genuinely love working out and it's the favorite part of their day. They love sharing workout ideas and often keep a journal to ensure they're improving. If that's not you, seriously rethink whether you want this life.

I'll give you an example from my class.  There was a dude in my BUD/s class who literally found out about OC8 in boot camp. All he knew about BUD/s was from a couple clips from SEALSWCC's youtube page back when they had it. And you know what? That dude EMBARASSED BUD/s and is crushing it in the teams today.

He was an excellent high school athlete, 2.0 gpa, and after hanging out with him through BUD/s, I learned how much he obsessed over working out. Dude had detailed performance journals where he would constantly try to figure out how he could take his performance to the next level. Strive to be like him.

Are you built for the life?

Some of you guys love getting into debates about O vs E and talk seeing action and being a pipehitter, as you critically analyze texts and craft counter-arguments. You love gathering information from multiple sources - your rando buddy in DEP, podcasts, posts on reddit, books from shitbirds, and you synthesize it into a conclusion. Is that how a pipehitter who wants to "see action" acts or an intel weenie? Do some reflection.

The average profile of an enlisted dude who ends up doing 20 years is usually 2.0 high school gpa, excellent athlete in hs (crushed multiple sports and maybe even set a school record or two), and worked a hard manual labor job (e.g., construction, farm work). They usually wisen up and mature as they spend more time in the teams. That's the background of your typical Senior Chief or Master Chief. They would not be sitting on reddit arguing about the intricacies of the teams if they were in your position lol. They'd be overjoyed their bodies aren't broken and they'd be working out like beasts.

So in summary, focus more on fitness and working out. If that's not who you are and not your number one hobby / passion, seriously rethink this career. If you have no athletic background, this line of work is not for you. That is analogous to being a 2.0 gpa student your whole life and then competing in the MIT Integration Bee. It's not going to happen.

What to do going forward:

Now you guys are also faced with information overload. Cut out all the noise. No more Shawn Ryan or weirdo fake war story podcasts or trash books.

1. Read all the official material from NSW. NSW is really big on quiet professionalism right now and they've shut down all the incredible official stuff they used to have. However, I'd recommend looking into:

A. NSW PTG. If you're one of the "optimal training" guys, stfu. The PTG is well made, free, and works. You're not built for the life if you can't handle it. After you can crush week 26 of the PTG, then something like 12 weeks to BUD/s and dedicated BUD/s specific prep after is good to close any gaps.

B. NSW injury prevention guide

C. NSW podcast (episodes from here are harder to find but they are out there on the interwebs. It's the single best official source of info on the pipeline)

D. Watch SWCC: Making an Operator documentary on Youtube. Yes it's for SWCC but it'll give you an idea of what the pipeline is like these days with the uniforms worn currently, PI/BI, beatings, and just how things are like. 234 is outdated as hell.

2. Leave this subreddit and social media generally. You don't need it. ONLY post if you're sharing workout ideas and tips. Back in the day, there used to be discord invites posted out so guys could meet up in real life and train. Consider doing that - especially to work on pool skills. If this subreddit returns to just asking questions about training, I promise you TGs will return to giving advice. Right now, you guys are acting like high school JV football players asking each other about what life is like at different NFL teams.

3. AFTER you are obliterating the PST, make a LinkedIn with a nice, clean headshot and send out connection requests to guys who are transitioning out of whatever SOF units you're interested in. Most will ghost you but some will be willing to get on a 15 min Zoom if you have a well crafted, thoughtful message. Ask all your questions. If you're curious about being an Officer, don't only ask an enlisted dude about what O life is like. Chat with ~3 guys and then you should 100% have everything you need to know.

To other TGs

Stop encouraging and indulging these guys in fanboy questions. If they want to be SEALs, they don't need to know it.

If you read this and realize you're more of a fanboy

It's cool to think TGs are cool but don't waste your time being obsessed. It's weird to think so much about other grown ass men and this info won't benefit you at all. Focus on bettering your fitness and honestly, think about being an Intel O. You may genuinely enjoy it. You're essentially acting like an intel guy managing OSINT with how you behave on reddit.

That is all. Train hard and good luck gents! You now know everything you need to know.

And yes, I mean only gents. If you're a chick, just be realistic with yourself. It's not gonna happen. You should go to RASP or Navy EOD where women have actually passed.