Warrior's Mindset Blog

Learn a Knife Trick

Set yourself a challenge to master a new skill. A new skill that is likely to be out of the your normal capability range.

All you need is a butter knife and some patience. Like anything new, at first you will be clumsy and uncoordinated. Repetition, practice and persistence are the key and you soon will start to get a feel for it. Before you know it you’ll be spinning that blade around like a pro.

We all learn new skills by committing to learning them. When we set aside time, show up and choose to be humble, we are receptive to new learnings. Being humble allows room in our bodies and minds for new information to enter.

Dare to Stand Strong! – Rich Hungerford

Human Extinction Is On The Cards But Remains Optional

Author and researcher Julian Cribb in his insightful book Surviving the 21st Century - Humanities ten greatest challenges and how we can overcome them, provides some thought provoking commentary on events that we are witness to today. Published in 2017, it is an uncanny narrative and description of the global strife we now stand amidst.

In stating that the, "Current scenarios for human extinction being explored [by researchers globally] include ; A process in which delusion becomes so prevalent in politics, business, economics, religious beliefs, popular narratives and the behaviour of society that it paralyses our ability to take pragmatic action to save ourselves." - Cribb, 2017.

The only way to avoid arriving at the destination we are hell bent on getting to, is to make serious, very inconvenient and compassionate changes to how we live life today. Few people are prepared to do that and devoid of critical mass, that leads us to a logical and reasoned acceptance of an inevitable collapse.

Develop the courage to make changes in your lifestyle and to take personal action to give your self and those you love a chance as the brimstone hits the fan. Learn now what you will need to know tomorrow.

"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

How to Manage Your Personal Fears

This video concerns managing personal fear and we consider how powerful choosing a different perspective in relation to fear and the sources of that fear, may be in shifting how you respond to it.

Being capable of self-control and of controlling emotional responses such as fear remains one of the hallmarks of the warrior. This video will assist you to keep things real, in the right perspective and reduce inaction and indecision when the pressure is on you.

Dare to Stand Strong! – Rich Hungerford

Men Don't Hunt Anymore

As you head to your airconditioned office for another day, to get to another meeting concerning things that really seem a little out of touch with the actual priorities of life, have you ever felt a murmur of discontent in the depth of your being? That is the warrior within asking quietly of you, ‘what’s this all about?’ Putting the proverbial ‘food on the table’ as a phrase of language, now has a significantly different meaning to that it used to hold for us. Now we sell our time, energy and our intellect rather than head out into the forest to hunt animals with skill, prowess and respect. While a return to those days is unlikely, its useful to understand that the urge to hunt is a significant part of our now largely dormant masculine psychology. Acknowledge it and do your best to get into wild places and walk amongst the trees, mountains and rivers as often as possible. Rekindle that tiny flame of authentic manhood that possesses a respect for the living things that allow us in turn to live strong and to feed our families. There, deep in your own inherent psyche, you start to become aware of the existence of that latent ‘warrior within’.

Go always a little further than the sheep …
"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

Nothing Will Change This Year If You Don’t

Yep, you heard right. “You, you and you!” You have to do the changing no one else. In a world now where it is all about, “Me, Mine and Myself”, it is surprising that we are so reticent to embrace the ownership for the totality of our lifestyle, decisions and experiences. While we are happy to own the good stuff and the ‘ease’ we push back on the things that went wrong and the challenges we faced, as they are all someone else’s fault. Even when I did something wrong, I did it because … Sound familiar? It should as we all suffer the same journey in life no matter our level of wealth, happiness or health. Everyone has good times and bad times. The difference is that success warriors plan for the bad times when things are going well and take action during the bad times; to get back to the good times. It’s a cycle … There is a similar adage from the wisdom of the ancients … “In times of peace prepare for war, in war prepare for peace.” – Sun Tzu. That brings us back to total ownership of our decisions, direction, goals and ultimately experience of life going forward. We must be responsible to change our minds. Learn new things, meditate, take up a new sport, get to the gym, go for that run, read those books, etc. If you don’t want to change you, you know what … you won’t! If you don’t do the little things each day that move, you in the direction of your goals … you’ll stay put and spin your wheels. Lifetimes pass that way.

What are you doing today to change this year?
"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

The Power of the Warrior is Within the Warrior

People who believe that you need high speed gear and gadgets to survive, persevere or fight in austere or hostile situations and environments are coming from a place of absolute insecurity. They have hinged their personal welfare and safety on external and material items. The nice-to-haves. When these ‘nice -to-haves’ are removed from their possession, used up or otherwise unavailable, these people find themselves in the embrace of inner emotional crisis as a consequence of some area of lack. That is, they experience a full activation of their fight, flight or hide response and are limited by that physiological and neurological pattern of behaviour to a perceived threat. In this case, the sudden lack of an item considered vital to their wellbeing in the presence of calamity. They are consequently a victim to the fears present with their own minds as they have always relied on having ‘that’ piece of essential gear or vital resource should crisis and disaster loom. What about this as a crazy alternate concept; rely primarily on garnered inherent knowledge, stored within. Knowledge that can translate outwardly as skills and from skill become an object or effort of use in a time of crisis. Skills that enable the warrior to prevail despite the odds stacked against him. A distinct second to this inherent capability, is any item of equipment or external resource as a potential source of assistance rather than the latter representing a single point of failure. What is carried on the inside is invulnerable to being lost or removed from our possession. Additionally, it weighs nothing so we can carry endless quantities of it. When we invest in developing inherent knowledge, experience and skill, we find ourselves in possession of true resilience.

This is the Warrior’s Way of preparing for life’s many challenges.
"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

Warrior’s Focus on The Mission

So many times, in life we find ourselves in repeat mode. Days roll by, weeks disappear with our hectic schedules that usually are somebody else’s schedule; a schedule established to ensure they achieve their goals. Months pass and ultimately years go by as we step through hoops going nowhere in particular. One day we wake up and find ourselves in a place we never expected to be. A place that fails to serve us. This atrophy of life fulfillment is often the result of us failing to lock down clear goals and then focusing on those goals. Warriors are inherently good at getting goals achieved, be it often limitedly contextual to the work situation. Warriors are good at it as the goal equates to a mission. A mission is clearly defined goal, and a plan is established to ensure that it is successfully completed. During the planning of a mission’s accomplishment, warriors undertake a detailed Mission Appreciation Process (MAP). A process that ensures that as many relevant factors involved in the task are considered. It is by necessity a brutally honest appraisal. That includes the various Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) involved. When we define the mission this way, we know with reasonable certainty what is going to factor in its subsequent success or failure. More importantly we have a crystal-clear goal established in our minds. We know where we are going to. If we applied such a rigorous planning process to our life goals, we would definitely move forward. Imagine what we could achieve, how far we could progress.

“A warrior focuses on what they are going to … not what they are going through!”
"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

United We Should Stand in the Face of Adversity

A warrior stands for diversity and stands against division. Being different from another person is not the same as being divided from them. Accepting and acknowledging the aspects of ourselves that make us different from one another empowers us.

It is the maturity of our spirit that occurs slowly via the removal of the behaviour of competition; a fear-based strategy that strives to allow our ego to feel that it is better than someone else.

Those wrapped up in competition are by nature, akin to insecure children deep within themselves. Children desperately fearful that every toy they possess will be ripped from their little hands and that they will never be allowed to be fully themselves.

In their view all they possess is temporary and transient. They consequently seek control over events, circumstances and people. This is how they attain security and safety in a world that appears fearful to them. In their behaviours we see expressed the thought pattern of 'separation'.

Whenever we separate ourselves from another because they do something different or appear different, we narrow the bandwidth of potentials. We ourselves become stuck in fear. “They are better than me, they will attack me, they will take from me.” This speaks of and reveals inherent insecurity. It screams “I’m not strong enough to stand on my own. I am weak!”

To compensate for our own inadequacy we demonise the other. They must be wrong, for us to be right. “Them and Us. Them versus Us.” This separation is a dividing line that is less than useful when requiring team cohesion and the full range of problem solving potentials to be brought to bear against a problem.

The strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ in warfare is real and is effective. When I confuse and diffuse my opponents’ strengths, he is unable to focus his full energy on me. He is preoccupied with trying to communicate and link up with himself and thus unable to bring to bear his full might against me.

Collaboration is the opposite approach and is only achievable when those involved are comfortable in their own skin. They have control of their ego rather than their ego being in control of them.

They have no requirement to prove anything to another or themselves, nor do they require praise, adulation or ego stroking. These are the tactics parents employ to sooth a tempestuous child; one not yet able to control his emotions. The evolved warrior leaves these things in the past with the other remnants of childhood and adolescence.

Likewise, ‘United we stand’ is the alternative to remaining divided. In unity we remove divisions, we take the handbrake off and access the unique strengths of our respective differences. This makes us collectively more diverse and therefore increasingly capable of solving complex challenges.

We now understand that monocultures are more prone to disease and failure to thrive. Too much of one thing in any one place never works. When our differences are re-perceived as strengths, we become a polyculture. Rich in options and experiences. When we collectively face adversity, it is in unity that we prevail not division.

"My warrior brothers stand with me and add their strength to mine.
"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford

Advice to a Military Veteran (Men in General) on Fighting the War Within

Just remember that it [healing from the past] is a process and one that we all step through in a different way and to a different cadence. Stay close to your family, be there for them, serve and protect them. They are your world, so vent off that anger and rage and don't inflict it on them. Let, 'they deserve the best of me' be your mantra.

Your son needs to see your best self. That is his lighthouse as he learns how to be in this insanity of a world we live in. Be that for him and you render useful service to the world. Never mind the hiccups, trips and falls, just keep getting up and use them for what they are ... 'reminders' that 'you' have work to do on you.

Ditch any sense of perfection, embrace imperfection, that's all we really are, imperfect works in progress. Walk forwards and polish the mirror of yourself with patience, diligence and in a way that does not leave you feeling disgusted by the sight of the reflected image you see in the glass. At the same time never be overly impressed by it. Use it as nothing more than an objective measure of the stride you take on your journey through life. Use it also as an alarm system to warn you of any regression to a lesser version yourself.

When you find yourself taking yourself far too seriously, stop it! Laugh at the idiot in the mirror, forgive him and accept his imperfection. Your immediate family deserves the best of you and your task is to figure out how to provide that to them. Plan for and accept days when you will not be compassionate with yourself or others. These are the days you wait out the storm in a safe harbour, allowing the thunder and lightning to roar and explode as it expresses itself, vents energy and passes. All storms pass, remember that when you are standing there in the midst of your personal storm, raging at the world. 'This too shall pass.' After the rain, the earth is renewed and new things grow. It's all a process.

Understand this and allow it so that you can be what you need to be in this life. Always others are more important than yourself, but never in a submissive way, rather because you acknowledge your inner strength and call it forth. Servitude then becomes the warrior's purpose and thus his power for the path is all about contributing to the betterment of self and the world for the benefit of our children.

"Dare to Stand Strong!" - Rich Hungerford