My legs could hardly keep up with me.
“Just lean forward and keep running,” I told myself, charging through loose sand. My heart was pounding like it wanted to break free from my chest.
“This is it. This is the one.”
Obstacle 1: Climb, duck, jump… run.
Sleep-deprived and running on fumes, I pushed harder. I ran like a madman.
Obstacle 2: Crawl under barbed wire, jump up… run.
I tasted iron in my mouth, but there was no time to slow down.
Only one thing mattered—finishing the course in under three minutes.
Another obstacle…done..… run.
My combat boots pounded the sand. My uniform stuck to my overheated body, itching with sweat and grit. I barely noticed; the only focus was getting through.
Another obstacle flashed by as I raced toward the end, thoughts screaming through my head: “Am I still on time?”
I was in the final week of my 13-week Special Forces Training
This was our Hell Week.
At the end of it, if I passed, I’d receive my coveted Green Beret.
My girlfriend would be there. My parents would be there.
If I made it.
Over 70% of the guys I started with had already failed. But not me.
“I cannot fail this. No freaking way.”
I crossed the finish line, gasping for air.
The staff sergeant looked me dead in the eye.
“What do you think, Coenen? You made it?”
I had no idea. I nodded, hoping.
“3.02 minutes. Do again.”
Not good enough. Again.
Too slow? Again.
Foxhole not deep enough? Fill it up and do again.
Again, again, again.
In the Special Forces, we’re trained to push past any limit.
Work harder. Till you succeed. It’s burned into my brain, that relentless drive.
—
For years, that mindset guided me as an entrepreneur.
Hustle harder, work longer, grind it out.
Failure was never an option.
But here’s the thing. At some point, it broke me down.
And the people around me as well ;-).
No way I could do this for the coming 30 years or more!
I see hustle culture everywhere now.
The glorification of burnout, the myth that more effort equals more success. I used to believe that too.
But after years of running myself into the ground, I found another way.
A way that doesn’t sacrifice your life or sanity at the altar of work.
I’ll tell you about it next time.
