Book Review: Make Your Bed
Make Your Bed
Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe The World
Admiral William H. McRaven
By Veronica Baginski
Admiral William H. Raven (U.S. Navy Retired) gave the commencement speech at the University of Texas in Austin in 2014. As this is his Alma Mater, he had some hesitations in giving this speech but to his great surprise, his words of wisdom were well received. He focused his speech on 10 lessons he learned during his career as a Navy SEAL. Below are two that resonated with me as a young business professional.
Start Your Day with a Task Completed
In this lesson, Admiral Raven details the extreme process of making your bed in the military. With everything you must do and all the adversary you must face in the military, I put this concept down to the Commanding Officers just want to give the Team a hard time. They want to instill orderliness and ensure they are following the rules they are given. Admiral Raven had a better interpretation than my sinical version. He details the importance of routine and the effect it has in the chaos of life, but the thought that stuck out to me was, “ and at the end of the day it would be a reminder that I had done something well, something to be proud of, no matter how small the task.” The idea of starting your day off with completing a task, doing it well, and then at the end of the day seeing the completed task shows the importance of structure, routine, and accomplishing the day. Making your bed takes a few minutes but the compounding effects it has on your day are pronounced. If you had a good day, a made bed at the end of the day is simple and is the cherry on top of your ice cream sundae. If you had a bad day, it is a reminder that not everything was bad, and you did accomplish something good in the course of your day. Small wins lead to big victories.
Life’s Not Fair – Drive On!
In this lesson, Admiral Raven recalls a time he was ordered to become a “sugar cookie.” For those who do not know, a “sugar cookie” is when you dive into the water, cover yourself thoroughly in sand, and proceed with your training for the day. It is a punishment reserved for SEALs who commit a violation during training. In this story, Admiral Raven was ordered to become a sugar cookie and when asked by his Instructor if he knew why he was ordered to do so, he said he did not. His Instructor informed him the reason why he was a sugar cookie is “Because, life isn’t fair and the sooner you learn that the better off you will be.” Being a sugar cookie was exhausting, painful, and tested your limits to perform with patience and determination. No matter how well you perform in training, sometimes you are still a sugar cookie. Same is true in life. You can do everything “right” and still the hard work does not pay off. But, as Admiral Raven wrote in the chapter title, life’s not fair, drive on!