ARMY LEADERSHIP – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!

Basically, the process of influencing people by providing them with purpose, direction, and motivation while you are operating to accomplish a mission and improve the organization is defined as "Leadership". Being a leader is a lot more complex than just giving orders. Your influence on others, for example, can take many forms. Your words, your deeds, or the values you speak of, the example you set; every action you take on or off duty is all part of your influence on others. This is exactly similar to the case of being a leader in military. In the scope of military, an army leader is anyone who, by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility, inspires and influences people to accomplish organizational goals. An army leader, needless to say, is someone who motivates people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus-thinking, and shape decision-making for the greater good of entire organization.

PROVIDING PURPOSE AND VISION

Leaders, in any practical situations, should provide a clear purpose for their followers. They can either exert direct means through requests or orders. If you are an army commander, you need to communicate in a consistent style of leadership command and decision-making that builds their trust and confidence. This is because as time goes on, your subordinates will notice and eventually be able to read a situation and anticipate your intentions and actions. Hence, by providing a clearer purpose, this will enable your soldiers to foresee the underlying rationale for a mission; rendering them an ultimate reason to act in order to accomplish your desired outcome.

Despite administering a clearer purpose, vision on the contrary is another way that assists army leaders to convey their objective. Vision, in general, refers to an organizational purpose that may be broader or can incur less immediate consequences than any other purposeful statements. In many occasions, the Higher-level leaders in the army do consider carefully how they communicate their visions to their soldiers.

PROVIDING DIRECTION AND MOTIVATION

When it comes to giving directions, you should make yourself clear about how you want your soldiers to accomplish a mission you have assigned. By character, you have to be decisive principally at prioritizing a range of appropriate tasks, assigning duties as well as responsibilities, delegating authorities, and ensuring subordinates to understand the Army standard for their tasks given. No one else but you will be the one who performs a decision-making while being as an army commander. It is you who directs or decides how to accomplish a mission and resource the availability of people and time in your own way, while your subordinates’ job is to carry out your orders as instructed. However, in order for you to do so, you need to provide them a clear roadmap beforehand. After that, let alone and allow your soldiers to use their own initiatives, abilities, and imaginations.

On the other hand, motivation is naturally concerned with the will power to accomplish any assigned tasks. By profoundly studying who your soldiers are together with their capabilities, you will soon be able to gear the entire team forward to the mission. Once you have given an order, do not micromanage the process (let your soldiers carry out their tasks to the best of their abilities) such as when they succeed, praise them. When they fail, give them credit for their attempts and coach them on how to improve.

Remember, it takes more than just puns or words to motivate them since the example you set is as unreservedly crucial as to what you say and how well you manage the work. Stay involved and motivates yourself to attain the best mission result so that your enthusiasm will carry over. This is because a leader’s role in motivation is essentially to understand the needs and desires of others, to align and elevate individual drives into team goals, and to influence others and accomplish those larger aims.

Perhaps, you will discover that some people have high levels of internal motivation to finish a job, while others need more reassurance and feedback as you proceed. However, bear in mind that this distinguished facet so-called "motivation" does help in driving one’s initiatives prolifically, notably when something needs to be achieved no matter what.

Read More

THREE PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO AN EFFECTIVE ARMY LEADERSHIP

The characteristics of an effective Army leader constitute the “Be, Know, Do” philosophy. As you have already learnt the fact that a leadership role is about influencing others to take appropriate actions, being a leader of an army involves more than one aspect; your character, your competence, and your own doings. You get to learn how to lead well by adopting the Army Values. You have a chance to explore and study military skills as well as practicing leadership actions. Only by this, the so-called self-development will be implanted and you will become a far more confident and competent leader of characters in the army.

1^st PHILOSOPHY – BE WHO YOU ARE (A LEADER OF CHARACTER

Army leadership begins with what the leader must Be — the values and attributes that shape characters. It may be helpful to think of these as internal and defining qualities you possess all the time. As defining qualities, they make up a leader’s identity. Your character is who you are and informs everything you do and ask others to do; you demonstrate your commitment to character and to a leadership role in the Army by adopting and living the seven Army Values and the leader attributes. These values form the foundation of your character as a military officer surely will guide you to succeed in your career. By embracing the Army Values put into practice, you will teach and lead your subordinates by example; helping them to develop leader attributes that you possess.

2^nd PHILOSOPHY – KNOW THE SKILLS YOU HAVE MASTERED (A LEADER WITH INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY)

Competence in soldiering skills (what you already know), is as important as good character in your growth as an Army leader. Without it, your command will lack substance. To ask your subordinates to perform according to standards, you must first master the standard of yourself. In order for you to do so, below here are the five types of Army leadership attributes and skills which will help you master in your training:

1. Mental Agility – having the flexibility of mind, a tendency to anticipate or adapt to uncertain or changing situations.

 

2. Sound Judgment – having the capacity to assess situations or circumstances intellectually and to draw feasible conclusions.

 

3. Innovation – having the ability to introduce something new for the first time when needed or when an opportunity exists.

 

4. Interpersonal Tact – interacting with others and accepting the character, reactions, and motives of oneself and others.

 

5. Domain Knowledge – possessing facts, beliefs, logical assumptions, and an understanding of military tactics related to securing a designated objective through military means.

Above all, the inherent part of an Army officer’s tenure is the opportunity for career advancement and promotion. As you advance in rank and responsibility, you will face many newly greater challenges. Therefore, having an understanding of and competence in the basic Army skills will give you the ability to tackle these new challenges with confidence.

3^rd PHILOSOPHY – DO CARRY OUT YOUR DECISIONS (LEAD, DEVELOP, and ACHIEVE)

As you learnt from the two previous philosophies, here comes the third or the last part of what an army leader actually does. Obviously, leadership takes place in action. What you “Do” is as important as the “Be” and “Know” aspects of your Army leadership philosophy. While character and knowledge are essential, they practically are not enough. This is because leaders cannot be effective until they apply what they know. What leaders Do (the leader’s actions) is directly associated with the influence they have on others and what is vividly done on the field. While the process of influencing others may seem a little vague or intangible at first, the concept becomes concrete when it is coupled with operating actions (e.g. the short-term goal of accomplishing a mission such as holding a briefing or conducting a military drill).

It is a natural attribute of humans’ competitive drive wanting to get better and improved at what they do. Leaders in seeking to build morale, unit esprit de corps, and performance will strive to improve not only the Soldiers, but also the facilities, equipment, training procedures, as well as resources under their command at all cost. Nothing speaks more clearly to your subordinates about your strong commitment to excellence and improvement than your on-going assessment of your unit’s performance. After all, your investment of time, effort, and interest in your subordinates’ improved performance will pay dividends in building significant trust and sincere loyalty.

Read More

AN OVERVIEW OF MILITARY STRATEGY

In theory, military strategy is a set of ideas carried out by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. It is the art of troop’s arrangement dealing with a series of planning and conduct of campaigns, the movement and the disposition of forces, as well as the deception of the enemy. Military strategy is the planning and execution of the combat between groups of armed forces. It is the practice of reducing an enemy’s physical capacity and willingness to fight, and continuing to do so until one’s aim is achieved.

In the scope of military operation, strategy is somewhat different from tactics. Tactics is the military science employed to secure objectives and defined as part of the military strategy; particularly with the methods whereby men, equipment, aircraft, ships, and weapons are employed and directed against an enemy. Whereas military strategy, in contrast, refers to the employment of a nation's entire military capabilities through high level and long term planning, development and procurement to guarantee security or victory.

Fundamentally speaking, military strategy focuses on how to win a war through a series of battlefield and campaigns, while military tactics concentrates on how to use the available means to triumph over the warfare. Military strategy which is a sub-discipline of warfare and of foreign policy is a principal tool to secure national interests. It is larger in perspective than military tactics which involves the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield. After all, military strategy entails the exploitation of resource availability such as people, equipment, and information against the opponent's capabilities to gain supremacy or diminish the opponent's will to fight through the commands of military science.

Back in the 19th century, the implementation of military strategy was viewed as one of the "arts" or "sciences" that govern the conduct of warfare; the execution of plans and maneuvering of forces in battle, logistics, and the maintenance of an army. The father of Western modern strategic studies, Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), defined military strategy as "the employment of battles to gain the end of war". The view had prevailed since the Roman times, but the borderline between strategy and tactics at that time was ambiguous.

In addition, military strategy is practically divided into four components; ends (objectives), ways (course of actions), means (resources), and risk. The practice of military strategy is described along with military power, which is attached by nine "principles of war" and they are objective, maneuver, surprise, mass, economy of force, offensive, security, simplicity, and unity of command.

Many military strategists have attempted to summarize the subject of a successful strategy in a set of principles. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) who is regarded the father of Eastern military strategy, for example, defined 13 principles in his The Art of War book, while Napoleon listed 115 maxims. Both strategy and tactics in military are closely related and exist on the same mechanism; all deal with distance, time and force. However, military strategy is in a larger scale which can last through many years, while military tactics are in a smaller scale which entails the disposition of fewer elements; enduring within hours, weeks, or several weeks.

Lastly, military strategy was preliminarily applied to govern the prelude combat, while military tactics controlled the execution part. Such principles of military strategy emerged at least as far back as 500 BC in the works of Sun Tzu and Chanakya. The campaigns of Alexander the Great, Chandragupta Maurya, Hannibal, Qin Shi Huang, Julius Cæsar, Zhuge Liang, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and Cyrus the Great all had demonstrated a remarkable strategic planning and movement in the army deployment.

The Battle of Thermopylae in which the Greek forces were outnumbered, for example, stood as a great exemplary lesson of an ancient military strategy. Although The Greek allied forces lost the battle against the Persian troops back then, however, the repercussions of the intense training, weapon utilization, and strategic location conducted ultimately had enabled them to take out their enemy’s souls as many as they could prior to their epic defeat.

Read More

TYPES OF MILITARY INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES

Interrogation, also called questioning or interpellation, is commonly employed by police officers, military personnel, and intelligence agencies with an aim of extracting confession or obtaining information. The subjects, for instance, are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime. Such an interrogation procedure may implicate a different series of techniques ranging from developing a relationship with the subject to outright torture.

So far, there are multiple techniques employed in interrogation execution such as deception, torture, elevating suggestibility and the use of mind-altering drugs to some extent. A person’s suggestibility, for example, is executed according to how willing they are to acknowledge and act towards suggestions by others. In many case, interrogators seek to escalate a subject’s suggestibility by employing several methods such as moderate sleep deprivation, exposure to constant white noise, and the use of GABAergic drugs such as sodium amytal or sodium thiopental.

1^st TYPE – DECEPTION

Deception can form a central part of effective interrogation. In the United States, for instance, there is no explicit law or regulation which prohibits the interrogators from lying about the strength of their case; from making up misleading statements or implying that the interviewee has already been entangled in a crime scene by someone else. The issue of deception is regarded traditionally from the perspective of the interrogators engaging in deception towards the individual being interrogated. Recently, work completed regarding effective interview methods used to collect information from individuals who score in the medium to high range on the measures of psychopathology engaged in deception directed towards the interrogator have appeared in the literature. Whatever it is, the significance of allowing the psychopathic interviewee to tell one lie after another and not confronting until all the lies have been presented and exposed is essential, particularly when the goal is to utilize the interview process to unveil the improbable or unlikely statements made in the future court proceedings.

2^nd TYPE – THE REID TECHNIQUE

The Reid Technique is basically a trademarked interrogation technique, which is widely utilized by law enforcement agencies in North America. The technique which requires interrogators to watch the body language of suspects to detect lies has been criticized for being difficult to apply across cultures, especially when it comes to eliciting false confessions from innocent people.

3^rd TYPE – TORTURE

Such an interrogation scheme may necessitate torture if necessary. When torture is employed, the first thing that the interrogator typically does is speculating on the series of information gained that she/he would like to extract from the subject detained. As a result, this assists the interrogator in creating a benchmark which the subject must meet in order to end painful or adverse situations that occur during the torturing.

The process of carrying out torture to extract certain targeted information may incur three possible outcomes. Firstly, the subject knows nothing and provides made-up stories or a false confession in order to cease the torture. Secondly, the subject has the information which the interrogator seeks, but is able to hold out or divert the interrogator’s attention with fabrication. Thirdly, the subject yields or surrenders under torture and eventually offers the interrogator truthful information. Although interrogation can provide three possible results, however, there is still much controversy surrounding the pattern of its process due to the issue of human rights implications and the fact that it remains very likely that an innocent suspect can be tortured.

Read More

GOOD COP & BAD COP

Good cop / Bad cop, known in British military as Mutt and Jeff is a psychological tactic used for interrogation. It is also called joint questioning friend and foe which involves a team of two interrogators who take blatantly opposing approaches to the subject. The interrogators may interview the subject alternately, or may confront the subject at the same time. The ‘bad cop’ takes an aggressively negative stance towards the subject; making bold accusations, contemptuous remarks (insulting comments), intimidation, threats, and creating antipathy towards the subject. This, in return, sets the stage for the ‘good cop’ to act sympathetically; being encouraging, understanding, and supportive for the subject. The good cop will defend the subject from the bad cop until the subject may feel the needs to cooperate with the good cop, hence, seeking for protection and decide to trust the good cop by spilling out all the information needed.

Perhaps, it has become prevalent for a subject (an individual) to testify falsely under the good cop/bad cop "duress/coercion", only to revoke the testimony at a later point when the psychological stress is no longer there. The technique, by far, is useful against the subjects who are young, frightened, and naïve in particular. However, if the subjects are fully aware of the attempted manipulation, they may try to close down or wilfully disrupt the whole procedure. Owing to this, experienced interrogators will conduct preliminary assessment on the subject’s level of intelligence and personal background prior to its interrogation.

Meanwhile, there are various countermeasures available which can disrupt the tactic or cause it to backfire. An experienced subject, for instance, may opt to purposely bait the ‘bad cop’ with provocative attitudes such as giving insulting comments about the bad cop’s racial ethnic, family, gender slurs, offensive gestures, and so forth – hoping that the bad cop will lose self-control or react violently towards the subject.

If we look at from a legal aspect, most liberal democracies expect the utmost professionalism from law enforcement regulators. Therefore, any physical abuse towards a subject during interrogation in the absence of bona fide physical provocation could compromise the prosecution case and/or even lead to civil as well as criminal legal consequences for interrogators. Overall, the type of severe verbal abuse or otherwise derogatory behaviour targeted at ‘good cop’ has proven to be highly disruptive on certain occasions. It is a common dramatic technique in the typical American action films where the bad cop often goes beyond legal attitudes.

Read More

MILITARY PSYCHOLOGY AND ITS ESSENCE

In theory, military psychology is basically the research, design and application of psychological approaches, as well as data experimentation towards understanding, predicting, and countering behaviours either in a friendly or a hostile manner in the civilian population, which can be undesirable, intimidating, or even potentially harmful to the conduct of military operations. It is applied towards counselling and treatment of stress and fatigue of military personnel, military families, as well as treatment of psychological trauma suffered as a result of intense field operations. The goals and missions of current military psychologists have been well preserved over the years varying with the focus and strength of research intensity put forth into each sector. Because of this, the need for mental health care is now an expected part of high-stress military environments.

Historically, psychological stress and disorders have always been an inherent part of military life, especially during and after wartime. However, the mental health section of military psychology has not always experienced the awareness as it does now. Even in today’s present, there is much more research and awareness needed and concerned with in this area. And, one of the first institutions established to care for military psychiatric patients was St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington D.C. (formerly known as the United States Government Hospital for the Insane), which was founded by Congress in 1855 and is currently in a state of despair even though some foreseeable operational plans to revitalize the building was scheduled to begin in 2010.

OPERATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

By function, operational psychology from the military viewpoint is the use of psychological principles and skills to improve a military commander’s decision-making as it pertains to conducting combat and/or other related operations. Well, this is a relatively new sub-discipline categorization which has been employed largely by psychologists and behavioural scientists in military, intelligence, and law enforcement arenas. While psychology has been utilized in non-related health fields for many decades, recent years have witnessed an increasing focus on its national security applications. The examples of such applications incorporated can be the development of counterinsurgency strategy through human profiling, interrogation, and detention support, information-psychological operations, and the selection of personnel for special mission units.

INTELLIGENCE TESTING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Lewis M. Terman, a professor at Stanford University, revised the Binet-Simon Scale in 1916 and renamed it as the Stanford-Binet Revision. This test was the beginning of the “Intelligence Testing Movement”, and was given to over 170,000 American soldiers during World War 1. In short, Professor Yerkes published and documented the results of these tests in 1912 and that became known as the Army Report.

Essentially, there were two tests which initially made up the intelligence tests for the military; Army Alpha and Army Beta. These two tests were developed to evaluate the vast numbers of military recruits that were both literate (Army Alpha Tests) and illiterate (Army Beta Tests). While the Army Beta Tests were designed to measure “native intellectual capacity” as it also helped to test non-English speaking service members, the standardized intelligence and entrance tests which have been used for each military outlet in the United States has transformed significantly over the years.

For example, In 1974 when the US Department of Defence decided that all Services should utilize the ASVAB for both screening enlistees (future military personnel) and assigning them to carry out military occupations, classification testing made the entire testing process more efficient through the combining selection of screening procedures. As a result, this specific testing system used in the US military went fully into effect in 1976 shortly after.

Read More

IMPLANTING THE MENTAL TOUGHNESS OF A SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER

We humans are capable of doing extraordinary things. A large brain that is adept at manipulating its surroundings can be credited with many technological marvels in our world today. This powerful tool so-called human brain can and should be at our disposal when catastrophe threatens the livelihood of our well-being, notably during the survival conditions to exploit the power of our brain beyond limits. After all, the ability to use this power starts by having a proper survival mindset; the same mindset taught to Special Forces soldiers across the globe.

 

Often, we hear the news reports or stories of people stranded in the outdoors with no gear and minimum in any survival training, yet somehow, many of these people triumph all the odds and eventually survive. So, how is this possible? Well, these people possess a strong will power to survive and that mindset has been evident over time which appears to be more fruitful than any other single trait when survival is questioned. The military realizes this and tries to implant this very resilient mindset into the soldiers who are being trained.

WHY HAVING A PROPER MINDSET IS SO CRUCIAL?

According to studies, 95 percent of people who perish from psychological trauma are likely to die within the first three days. It is truly the mind over matter situation. Losing the ability to think clearly, for instance, will be more detrimental to our chances of survival than any number of other contributing factors. And based on the research studies, one survivor was reported to have eaten his own belt when no other food sources were available. There were others who have lost as much as 25 percent of their body mass due to dehydration, yet, they did not perish.

It is almost as common as the stories of well-prepared individuals who yield or give up when the situation becomes overwhelmingly difficult to cope up with which caused them to succumb to death. Even worse, some would rather take their own lives than fight for their own survival. It is no wonder at all if we look at the fact that all military survival guides begin with chapters about the survival mindset before detailing actual survival techniques. Nonetheless, the message conveyed is clear – “Mindset is The Key to Our Safety Well-Being”.

Next, the human brain will go through a series of processes and emotions during a survival circumstance. Understanding these basic stages of thoughts in advance is actually the first step to achieving the appropriate mindset. The exact series of emotions will vary from situation to situation and from person to person, but whatever it is, the basic stages will always be or remain the same.

When initially confronted with a survival situation, most people including us will experience a mental shock. This form of shock, known as psychogenic shock, occurs as a result of extreme emotional stress. If not controlled properly, the crisis stage can immediately lead to irrational thoughts and panic, which are crucial to survival. The crisis stage is when most people suffer from temporary symptoms, which imitate psychosis as it can quickly lead to death due to severe psychological trauma for the unprepared individuals.

COPING STAGE AND GOAL SETTING

A coping period ensues (occurs later) after the initial situation assault. Survivors are now confronted with the gravity of their situation and must begin to take imminent actions. The importance of creating a plan during the crisis stage should now be apparent. Not only did creating the plan help deter feelings of desperation, but it could also render the transition to action much easier and less stressful.

Staying calm and adhering to the plan ensures that logical or rational decisions are made consistently. Decisions to take action based on emotion are usually not favourable to survival and can even be dangerous. Learning from the Navy SEALS Training Program, many prospective recruits attempt to become part of the elite squad, but as many as 75 percent of them unfortunately fail to complete the intensive training regimen. Consequently, The Navy then decided to investigate why so many physically capable candidates were failing and they began to commission a team of psychologists to have the problem figured out afterwards.

Actually, physical ability was not the issue why the above candidates did not succeed. Intelligence was also not the issue either as most of the Navy SEAL candidates tends to score above an average on their IQ tests. The psychologists determined that the sole reason for failure was that the candidates were not mentally prepared for the emotional and psychological stress that they had to deal with throughout the course of their intense training. Because of this, The Navy SEAL has since added psychological training to its curriculum and failure rates have been reduced drastically. Nevertheless, these same survival mindset tactics can be used by anyone and can truly mean the difference between life and death.

Meanwhile, most of us know the importance of setting goals in life. They intrinsically help us achieve the things we desire the most. Goal setting is even more pivotal during a moment of crisis. Short term, medium, and long term goals are all critical aspects of a proper survival mindset. The logic is simple. Instead of thinking about the long term consequences of survival, short term goals are much easier to attain and will build the confidence we need.

A short term goal might be as simple as surviving the next five minutes. A medium or mid-term goal could be something like locating and securing shelter for the evening or procuring some food. A long term goal may be as simple as surviving until the next day. The timeline for what is considered a short, medium, or long period are transformed during a survival situation. Living in this limited focus manner, consequently, will keep our brain healthy even when we are faced with unimaginable situations.

Read More

TRAINING AND DEVELOPING MENTAL RESILIENCE

In case if we consider some of the most difficult tests, cadres, and selections of a soldier or a military officer can face in their career, we need to question what are the conspicuous attributes and attitudes which would be regarded as the most important elements to succeed at such undertakings?

 

EXPLORING AND DEVELOPING MENTAL RESILIENCE

A topic of high interest concerns mental toughness/strength and resilience has become one of the most important psychological constructs related to successful sport performance, as it has also attracted significant attentions in a military context. Sport psychology research over the last decade, in fact, has investigated the cognitive and emotional factors which are associated with athletic achievements in an attempt to identify the personality characteristics of skilled athletes and the mental preparation strategies they use to perform successfully. Mental resilience has proven to be an essential part within performance domains. In a military context where the ability to deal with adversity and challenge is essential to success, the so-called ‘mental toughness’ is commonly regarded as the most core attribute that enables an individual to achieve high levels of personal performance.

Perhaps, we can acknowledge that a ‘green’ training environment is replete with opportunities for recruits and soldiers to showcase their mentally tough behaviour. While individual talent which includes physical fitness is an important variable in performance achievement, it is not uncommon for talented individuals with exceptional physical attributes to fail to perform to their full potential. Indeed, it is these psychological factors which are recognized just as important as in determining athletic performance, with mental resilience being acknowledged as one of the key competencies and the most important attributes in attaining performance excellence, particularly in a context where the ability to deal with adversity and challenge is essentially vital to an individual’s success.

THE ISSUES OF STRESS, ANXIETY, AND FEAR

Problems of stress, coping and adaption are highly relevant in military training, where distractions, anxiety and fear are increasingly common to be experienced by recruits and soldiers as challenges, for which all of these require a degree of mental fortitude and various coping strategies. At present, these important psychological competencies are implicit with recruits and soldiers having to rely on their own cognitive functioning and coping strategies to control thoughts, emotions, and behaviour. Consequently, while many recruits and soldiers learn these vital mental lessons over time, the remainder will have varying degrees of difficulty in acquiring these skills. Therefore, it is arguably reasonable that the variety of applied concepts in sport psychology are deemed so critical to high-level performance of an athlete (mental toughness & psychological skills), which could be further implemented in military training to enhance performance and facilitate coping measures in any stressful situations.

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF RESILIENCY (MENTAL TOUGHNESS)

Prior to recommending which mental preparation strategies to utilize, it is important that we understand what mental toughness is and explore the underlying mechanisms associated with it. From a behavioural perspective, mental toughness has been defined as “the ability to achieve personal goals in the face of pressure from a wide range of different stressors”. The key attributes that characterize mental toughness include coping effectively with pressure and adversity, recovering or rebounding from set-backs and failures, persisting or refusing to quit, being insensitive or resilient, having unshakeable self-belief in controlling one’s own destiny, thriving on pressure and possessing superior mental skills. Overall, high levels of mental toughness in an individual has been proven to be related to lower ratings of exertion in high intensity exercise, higher pain tolerance or physical endurance, faster injury rehabilitation, and higher levels of optimism and coping.

In a military context, mental toughness has been shown to significantly predict higher levels of performance over and accounted for by individual fitness levels, normative as well as affective commitment, and recruit adjustment in training. Besides, mental toughness has also been found to be important for sustaining high levels of performance and success when faced with stress intensity and adversity of a physically and mentally demanding military task. Indeed, there are many similarities between the performance-related psychological challenges that soldiers and athletes are required to deal with. While studies have shown that mental toughness may be related to a collection of unobservable values, attitudes, emotions, and cognitions, mentally tough behaviour is simply or just that an individual’s behaviour itself. Therefore, the presence or absence of mentally tough behaviour (persistence, effort, perseverance) should be determined beforehand prior to focusing on unobservable predictors.

Read More

DEVELOPING A MILITARY MINDSET TOWARDS ACHIEVING FUTURE LIFE GOALS

“Train as you will fight!” – We probably have come across hearing over this saying or maxim in a military context. The principles behind the military training might differ from that of a regular classroom or college degree. However, in reality, they can be equally utilized for living a life brimmed with confidence, courage, discipline and strength. Over the years or so, military personnel have been put under rigorous physical and mental training programs that push the limit of their physical human body and mind. As a result of which stress, pain, trauma, heat, cold and just about any life threatening situations inflicted, those soldiers manage to have survived, overcome all the obstacles, and ultimately endured.

Generally speaking, learning how to build a military mindset can lay the foundation for a successful, more fulfilling, and satisfying life for all of us. Before learning how to be on a battle-ready mode, the military mind has a far greater important lesson to study from, which is learning how to master your mind. It is said that the aim for military training is not just to prepare soldiers for battles, but also to make them last for it. And speaking of building and developing a military mindset, it is going to take every amount of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength.

A state of mind achieved after completing intensive training, the military mindset can be colloquially summarized in the following mental attributes:

1. A mindset with discipline.

2. A mindset with courage.

3. A mindset with purpose.

In order to develop all (or any) of the above attributes, you do not have to undergo exhaustive training like an Army General or a Navy SEAL. Simply put, all you need to do is to take three simplest, yet, practical steps, in which they are:

1^st STEP – TRAIN YOUR BRAIN

What would be the first thoughts that cross your mind when you think of a soldier? Based on your thinking prowess, your answers might lie in the spectrum of extremely courageous to ruthlessly resilient. Well, that is precisely what military sergeants and soldiers are. After undergoing intensive mental training and preparation, the mind of a soldier gets stronger and sharper.

Similar to a military personnel, treat your mind as a muscle and start training it every day to improve a sense of your mental toughness, strength, resilience and focus. If you know anything about military, you probably know that their day begins at the strike of dawn. The value of time is absolutely immense in the military life, and they practice punctuality like a lifelong ritual. Their day begins at the same time every single day.

So, how can you do it? Well, being punctual is the first and the easiest way to train your brain. Punctuality breeds discipline which in turn breeds mental strength. And remember, the state of your mind is also a muscle. If you snooze, you lose. When you start getting out of your bed on the same time every day, this habit will become a solid foundation to help you get out of your mental and physical comfort blanket. Simple as it might sound, yet, when a Navy Admiral was asked about the most important lessons he learned from his SEAL training, he replied by saying “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed”.

2^nd STEP – DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

From random shouts to unanticipated attacks, the military mindset is all about preparing for the unknown. In military term, this is called ‘Situational Awareness’, which is the ability of your mind to pay attention to what is going on or happening around you. Of course, a military environment will require entirely different levels of combat tactics and mental conditioning techniques to develop this special ability. However, you too can practice this technique at any point and time in your life.

Mental agility is built when you give your brain something new, challenging and entirely unknown to experience. To make better decisions in your personal and professional lives, you will need lots of mental planning and courage. Mental conditioning drills in the military world are reinforced by positive thinking, controlled aggressive thoughts, relaxation and defusing of destructive emotions. The training involves thinking of new situations and circumstances that might (or might not) happen in the future.

So, questioning how you too can do it? Well, start by giving your brain new situations and simulations on a daily level. Routine is the recipe to safety and to develop mental courage, where you will have to break the patterns of your regular activities. Perhaps, it is easy to be happy when you are well-placed in your personal and professional life. However, go and ask yourself whether you will be happy if you are put in a totally different situation or curve in life, or how well would you respond to the unknown, or whether you have the courage to take the unexpected punches and fits life can throw at you anytime.

So start by going out to new places, making an appointment to meet new people (even if you are an introvert), and so forth can be among various examples of doing something different. Try saying yes to new experiences and activities. Pick up a new hobby or a useful skill. Bottom line, in order for you to be successful, you must learn how to build the right amount of mental confidence and preparedness, as you must also embrace the unknown and have the courage to try out something new and different whenever life gives you an opportunity.

3^rd STEP – VISUALIZE YOUR FUTURE GOALS OR DREAMS

Visualization is one of the most critical fundamentals when it comes to developing a military mindset. No matter how hard you train your mind and how confident you are in life — if you do not have a life purpose or future goal, you will never know which road will take you there. For your reference, a soldier is trained to visualize life-threatening events and situations that they might encounter at any given time. It is almost as if visualizing the future in the present situation so that you can tap your mind into believing you have already witnessed this forthcoming event.

Military personnel in conjunction with that are trained to move towards a common goal. In military training, a ‘trigger’ is developed as part of the mental training, and this trigger can be anything or can be different for everyone. However, the point of this trigger is to remind you of a goal that is worth fighting for, living for, and even dying for.

So, how can you do it?  Well, the answer is very simple – “pick a goal in life”. If you cannot do so, at least try to make a list of things that you find fascinating and then identify what can be of that one particular goal which truly can drive you or guide you ahead. Your goal could be anything from eating healthily, getting fit, writing a book, learning a new skill, or whatever. A visual trigger will help you to learn how to envision or dream it (before you learn how to do it). With that being said, simply choose your trigger. Have one image in your mind that instantly moves and pushes you forward. Make this mental memory the ultimate motivation you need to achieve your goal. Whenever you are in doubt, dilemma, or depression – pull that trigger and go for it!

Finally, the power of visualization is immense. However, it is most effective when practiced with discipline and sincerity. Take a few minutes out of your busy schedules for instance and visualize your goals every single day. Be consistent in your goal visualizations. Always tell yourself that you can do it, even on the days or during the period when you think you cannot do it. Above all, the point behind building a military mindset is to take the best techniques and strategies so that you can use them to up your personal and professional game. Similar to a battlefield, life is not an easy curve. To be successful and have a fulfilling life, the secret is to use your mind to the best of your potential and advantage.

Read More