Wow! With your support, we have surpassed our goal to raise a dollar for every foot climbed to the peak of Mt. Denali at an elevation of 20,310 feet. We care deeply about the opportunities provided by the Guardsmen Scholarship Program to at-risk youth, and I owe my success in life and this endeavor, in part, to my Navy SEAL Training Program.
Thank you for following our Denali expedition team and supporting The Guardsmen – Alden Mills, Brett Bush and Chip Pyfer – as we climb to fundraise and create awareness for The Guardsmen Scholarship Endowment Fund.
Over the past decade, we have strengthened our camaraderie and honed our mountaineering skills while reaching the summit of some of the highest peaks on several continents, including:
As we undertake these challenges, we also want to enhance these experiences by giving back to the group that brought us together – The Guardsmen. Moreover, we also hope to inspire others to aim high, set big hairy goals, and harness the multiplier effect of teamwork to reach objectives.
These accomplishments are not easy, but neither are they impossible. They do require inspired goal setting, commitment to a greater cause and unstoppable teamwork with likeminded individuals.
Navy SEAL training in “unconventional warfare” involves exerting a force-multiplying effect that is asymmetrical to their numbers. Conventional tactics do not work in the arena of anything-goes-warfare, nor do they necessarily work in the battleground of business and life.
The concept of conventional warfare is doing “the expected” – what was tried and proven in the last war – but I believe that conventional practice traps us in the comfort zone of mediocrity and limits our influence.
To succeed, you need to leave the comfort zone of the familiar and stretch your thinking about what is possible. The only way to do this is by tapping into your ability to push yourself and to recognize that it also takes a team.
Related post: “Team Building 101, Part 1: The 4 Cs of YOUR Team”
I spent the better part of seven years as a Navy SEAL platoon commander learning how to use my weapons platform to lead Navy SEAL missions around the world. As a civilian, I spent the next 15 years learning how to convert my weapons platform into a successful platform to build companies, lead volunteer organizations, and most importantly, be a father to my four boys.
I have a unique perspective, both in Navy SEAL Team and in business; and have learned that in order to succeed in unconventional warfare, as a Navy SEAL and as an entrepreneur, I have to train differently, think differently, and act differently.
My current mission is training leaders and teams to think and act outside their comfort zones, and learn what it takes to be unstoppable. Thanks to over 25 years in business and the military, I can help you deal with fear and failure and talk you through how to focus your determination, discipline, and perspective – and most importantly, your sense of humor when there is nothing else to fall back on.
Onward and upward!
Alden