The Program

44Developing Physical Toughness

ALTHOUGH FITNESS IS important, we are going to face some form and level of adversity that we will not be able to overcome just through our fitness, just because we have more energy. Our ability to still accomplish the mission will be dictated instead by our physical and mental toughness, and that of our teammates and team leaders. Therefore, regardless of the battlefields where we compete, the best teammates and best team leaders are both physically and mentally tough.

As previously discussed, based on Eric’s experiences, personal strengths and weaknesses, and the realities of functioning in an extremely harsh environment like Mount Everest, he believes that climbing it was 95% physical and 5% mental. To accomplish the mission, he had to be extremely physically fit and physically tough. The 5% mental is what would have killed him, but the great proportion of his success on Mount Everest (and throughout his life) he attributes to the former. Based on our own experiences, strengths and weaknesses, battlefields that we compete on, and the summits we attempt to attain in our own lives, these percentages are different for each of us.

Athletes, members of the military, and the first-responder community might require an even split between physical and mental toughness. Others who typically work in climate-controlled offices might have a much greater need for mental toughness than physical for successful mission accomplishment. Although many of us may ...