Courage: The Missing Component To A Strong Nation

Let’s face it folks: America is a mess right now. Regardless of your political, social, or religious beliefs, you gotta admit certain things kind of suck right now. We have a pandemic, inflation, a border crisis, hostile arguments about what to teach our kids in schools, a sagging economy with 11 million unfilled jobs, disastrous foreign policies, etc… 

The two biggest things they’re talking to me about are…

(1) speed and volume of information

(2) we are becoming physically and emotionally weaker as a species. 

The speed and volume of information are going to keep accelerating. There will always be new innovations that disperse information faster, easier, and to a broader audience. As of today, you hear of 3-4 new “crises” every day. The news cycle is measured in HOURS — not weeks. There are a few behavioral modifications you can do to minimize the impact of this overwhelm of information, but it requires you to be strong—physically and mentally. 

Here’s how…

When I talk about being strong, I mean that in a John Wayne kind of way. John Wayne knocked men around in his movies, but he was also the first big celebrity to battle cancer and win. He was bold and outspoken. He stood up for his principles. He was more than a strong man, he was courageous.

I challenge you to describe a strong man or woman who doesn’t have courage. Courage is the missing ingredient in today’s America. I don’t mean to say we don’t have any courage as a nation, but we don’t have nearly enough for the situation we are in.

When your company or your politicians tell you to get a vaccine, you need to have the courage to ask questions if you have them. You need the courage to say yes if you feel it’s right, and the courage to say no if you think it isn’t right for you. You need to have the courage to accept the consequences of either choice — which could be enormous. If governing agencies are requiring masks for your kids and you disagree, you need to have the courage to object. If you don’t like what your kids are learning, you need to have the courage to object. You need to have the courage to start working on a plan for hyperinflation. You need to have the courage to stand up to bullying protestors. You need to have the courage to go to court, form and participate in activist groups, or perhaps a neighborhood patrol. 

Nobody knows what the next few years will bring, but right now we are seeing a lot of stressed out, confused, tired, and timid people in America. People, no matter what their choices are, are getting attacked on social media (and the legacy media). Nobody knows what they can or can’t say anymore. 

When the moment comes that we cannot discuss ideas, we are no longer a society, we are no longer a unified country, we are no longer courageous, and we are getting closer to this every day. 

Surprisingly, the solution isn’t to try to get along. The solution is for everyone to have the courage to speak up and be heard while having the humility and bravery to admit you were wrong—if you were.

What I learned (the hard way) as a Navy SEAL is that courage is taking the appropriate action while simultaneously being scared to take such actions. Interestingly, it is more of a practice than a characteristic. Like any practice or skill, it is something anyone can learn (no one is born courageous).

Allow me to geek out for a moment and I’ll show you the secret of how to become more courageous…

The part of our brain that controls our courageous tendencies is the prefrontal cortex. However, I like to think of it as a simulator (like a pilot’s flight simulator). You can think about actions and play them out in your brain like a movie—without physically acting anything out. Therefore think about your options for any given scenario and figure out the best likely path—before you take any action.

However, a poorly functioning prefrontal cortex always leads to bad decisions and bad outcomes. 

Here’s where I blow your mind…

The number one way to get your prefrontal cortex to work as well as it can is to get the right amount of sleep. The number two way is to reduce stress hormones (cortisol, Epi, NorEpi). Coincidentally the best way to reduce your stress hormones is to get the right amount of sleep. 

You see, stress hormones interfere with the performance of your prefrontal cortex. So, the more stressed (a.k.a. scared) you are, the worse your brain works. The worse decisions you make, the less confident you are, and the less courage you are capable of. 

Your prefrontal cortex is also impaired by the low availability of brain nutrients and the buildup of waste products in the brain. Both of these factors are highly regulated by sleep. For you men reading this, your anabolic hormones (Testosterone, DihydroTestosterone, DHEA, Growth Hormone, Insulin) are also regulated by sleep. Try being a confident and courageous man with low levels of testosterone. 

If you want to learn more about all these associations, there are literally millions of blogs, books, and BS all over the web that promise better sleep, yet they only give you better sleep because they bore and confuse you!

If you don’t have the time or the patience, and you want to see how I’ve treated every stressed, overworked SEAL, entrepreneur, and busy parent for the past 12 years, then check the Sleep Remedy formula at https://SleepRemedy.com.

Drastically improving your sleep gives you more mental and physical energy, and reduces brain fog and stress so we can be our best, most courageous self.

We are talking More + Better: 

• Intelligence
• Creativity
• Productivity
• Patience
• Memory
• Emotional stability
• Reaction time
• Problem-solving skills
• Willpower
• Athleticism
• Strength
• Endurance
• Balance
• Ability to parent in the way you want to

and in the end…

…a better, stronger nation.