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Note: The Bookrat email is a spin-off from Anthony Pompliano's Pomp Letter. You will receive all future book summaries here, while still receiving Pomp's finance, economics, and bitcoin commentary on The Pomp Letter. Our goal is to separate the two types of content to make it easier to consume.
I read one book per week. Last week’s book was Perfectly Wounded by Mike Day. Highly recommend reading it. If you are interested in the individual highlights that I made in the physical book, you can read those here. Hope you enjoy these notes every Wednesday morning.
Mike Day is a former Navy SEAL who was shot 27 times while on a night raid during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Not only did Mike survive that night, but he went on to help hundreds of wounded veterans once he returned home. This memoir reveals the hopes, dreams, challenges, and dark secrets of one of our nation's greatest warriors. Unfortunately, Mike Day took his own life recently, which is what inspired me to re-read the book.
💡 Idea #1 — Toughness comes in many forms. You can be physically tough, mentally tough, and/or emotionally tough. An easy barometer for someone's toughness is to see what their colleagues and friends say about them.
"If you’re really lucky in life, you will have an opportunity to meet someone like Mike Day. Someone who has overcome so many challenges, whose spirit seems unbreakable, whose heroism is matched only by their humility and whose compassion for their fellow warriors knows no limits." — Admiral William H. McRaven "Mike was the guy you wanted in your SEAL platoon. He always had a smile on his face, always laughing about something. Always willing to help. And always taking the jobs no one else wanted." — Admiral William H. McRavenIt is one thing to impress your colleagues at your corporate job, but Mike Day impressed the toughest Navy SEALs.
"When Mike Day entered the fight, the odds changed, because he was willing and able to out-suffer, outfight, and outlast everyone." — Lt. Chris Tyll, Navy SEAL "It would be a big mistake to believe that Chief Day was not prepared for anything; to him, that mind-set seemed amateurish. Mike Day was prepared for everything, and he was going to be absolutely sure that you were prepared too." — Lt. Chris Tyll, Navy SEAL💡 Idea #2 — Most people think of Navy SEALs as violent men who use physical strength to impose their will on the world. Mike Day believed that he was a lifelong student. He was constantly seeking new knowledge:
"Being a SEAL is a never-ending education. You are either fighting or training to fight."One of the big lessons that Mike Day learned was how to effectively lead teams in peace or war. He writes:
"In my experience, effective leadership is not about telling people what to do, or using people to achieve your own personal goals; this type of leadership backfires and people will either leave, find a way to leave, or do the opposite of what they are asked to do until they leave. I have come to learn that the most effective leaders build trust and legitimacy with everyone around them." "Trust builds legitimacy, and trust is the currency of every effective leader."Leadership can be shown in different forms. Mike explains what makes SEAL leadership differently:
"The SEAL teams are different than other military units, there was no need for me or any of our leaders to reprimand our brother or tell him to be more careful; however, outside the SEAL teams, I have seen other commanders micromanage their warriors. We have come to understand that the relentless peer ribbings and dark humor were far more effective than lectures, and the ruthless ridicule served as friendly reminders of mistakes not to be made again. This is all a normal part of our continuous process of improvement."💡 Idea #3 — You can eliminate weaknesses only after you have identified them. It requires hard work, patience and discipline, but it can drastically improve your life if you focus on this difficult task. Mike writes:
"I believe Navy boot camp gives everyone the lessons they need when they need them. It’s designed a lot like life itself: it identifies our individual flaws, highlights our weaknesses, and forces us to adapt accordingly. If we have the humility and will to recognize them, we can train to correct our flaws and eliminate our weaknesses."Subjecting yourself to stressful situations is a great way to eliminate weakness and build the resiliency necessary to succeed in the uncertain world.
"If you are willing to work hard, be comfortable while being uncomfortable, be humble, and remain calm under stress, then you have a slim chance of making it through BUD/S." "Successful navigating of these high-stress situations builds resiliency, a strong sense of self-reliance, and the skills and confidence to meet and overcome the next test."💡 Idea #4 — The ability to control your emotions and handle stress is a prerequisite for success in any industry. Mike writes:
"BUD/S demands that you find a way to remain calm under stress, because you have only two options: either keep going or quit." "Remaining composed under pressure and calmly working through various problems is the only way to survive these situations, because panic can be a death sentence."Controlling your emotions is not a psychological trick. You can actually condition your mind by stressing your body. Mike explains:
"I didn’t understand it at the time, but stress, like working out, builds psychological resiliency."Those who are good at doing this have learned to focus on what they can control.
"My response to stress is to control only what I can, know what is out of my control, and not expend too much energy on either. I only really have control over how I frame and react to every situation in my life. I have come to learn that when I’m in control of my emotions, I can better evaluate stress and find small ways to improve my situation, which gives me some level of control."💡 Idea #5 — Understanding the enemy is essential to winning whatever battle you are fighting. Mike Day writes:
"I’ve been asked if I feared the enemy in Iraq and any of the other places where I’ve been deployed. The answer is always no: the vast majority of enemies I’ve encountered are undisciplined and poorly trained, and many are what I refer to as economic combatants, who fight as a means for survival rather than ideology. Given the opportunity and means, I think those economic combatants would choose to leave their country and start a new life elsewhere, if that was an option."This understanding of the enemy is not exclusive to war zones. Trauma can be an enemy as well.
"Trauma steals. It takes away; it robs us. Trauma can cause the loss of one ability, or many. Trauma can also delete emotions or our capacity to experience a full range of them. Worst of all, trauma isolates; it separates us from the ones who love us, the One who made us, and, most importantly, the love that we should feel for ourselves. Over time, trauma can morph people into victims and render us feeling powerless. Trauma acts like a virus, infiltrating our bodies and minds, hijacking our language. I would hear people refer to their traumatic experiences as “my PTSD” or “my injury.” These phrases are the echoes of trauma."
This is a powerful story. Mike Day is known as one of the toughest Navy SEALs to fight for the United States over the last 30 years. Highly recommend reading the book if you have time.
My first big takeaway is how fortunate Day is to have survived that fateful night in Iraq. He was on a raid with his SEAL team and walked into an ambush — four terrorists and him in a room. They all died. Mike Day left alive, after being shot 27 times, and walked himself to the medical evacuation helicopter. The definition of badass. But Mike would be the first to say that he survived that horrific event because of thousands of hours training various tasks, drills, and skills. Preparation met opportunity.
My second big takeaway is the camaraderie that exists with SEAL teams. This is a rare degree of connection in modern society. So many people spend hours a day behind a screen. The population is becoming lonelier and more depressed. The SEALs have figured out how to build a community of tight-knit people, which instills trust on the battlefield but also provides a support system for family and friends. Consider building your own community of people you can trust — it will likely make you happier.
My third big takeaway was the positive outlook that Mike Day had after being injured. He writes:
"It may seem strange but being shot twenty-seven times, then having a grenade blow up next to me was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. It was the start of a personal revolution that continues today and hopefully will go on until I take my last breath. I say revolution rather than evolution. As a result of my experience, I have tossed out and/or abandoned every bias, relationship, belief, and dogma that has blocked my self-awareness and joy. A revolution is not a static event set in time; it’s a set of ideas that are tested every day. All revolutions begin as personal ones, erupting internally, triggered by a single idea before they manifest externally in actions. The struggle between old ideas and new ones, good and evil, takes place inside of us all each day."A personal revolution. Not exactly what you expect to hear from someone who was shot and blown up. Mike Day took a bad situation and responded in the best way possible.
My fourth and final takeaway is the ultimate conclusion of Mike's life — he took his own life at the end of March 2023. It is nearly impossible to comprehend the pain and anguish that he must have lived through for the last 16 years. During that time he helped hundreds of wounded veterans and constantly served as an example of fortitude and resilience. You never know what someone is going through. You never know the pain and suffering. Be kind to everyone you meet. Call your friends. Pay attention. Life is short.
As I mentioned, last week’s book was Perfectly Wounded by Mike Day. Highly recommend reading it. If you are interested in the individual highlights that I made in the physical book, you can read those here. Hope you enjoy these notes. Reply to this email with your thoughts, including what you agreed or disagreed with. I will respond to as many emails as I can.
-Pomp
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