Ch01: Start Your Day with a Completed Task
*These are just my thoughts and summary, all in my own words regarding this topic so I may omit some information that was taught in this book or course.
In this chapter, we learn that by accomplishing a simple task first thing in the morning starts a momentum of achieving success that would follow for the rest of the day.
This book starts out with Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) sharing his morning routine at the time of his basic SEAL training days. Everyday, as soon as he gets up, he immediately begins to make his bed as his first task of the day, followed by strict inspections, rigorous physical activities, and a long day of verbal harassment from the SEAL officers.
Every morning, his SEAL instructors would check every angle of his uniform and bed making sure it was correctly done with exact measurements or face punishment by literally making him roll around on the beach until he was covered from head to toe with wet sand, becoming a “sugar cookie.”
This precise completion of his bed did not get praises as it was expected of him. The Admiral says, "It was my first task of the day and doing it right was important. It demonstrated my discipline. It showed my attention to detail, and at the end of the day it would be a reminder that I had done something well, something to be proud of, no matter small the task." For most of his life in the Navy, he relied on this precise way of making his bed as his very first task to give him a sense of pride that sets the mood for his entire day.
Fast forward, thirty years later, the Twin Towers came down in New York City and America was being attacked. During this time, he was recovering from a serious parachute accident that left him spending most of his days lying on a hospital bed wishing he could serve in combat with his fellow warriors.
And at the very moment when he was able to lift his body all by himself, he immediatley made his hospital bed looked presentable and it was his way of showing that he conquered this adversity and was ready to serve his country again in the field. In those years he served in the military, the retired Admiral expresses his gratitude of working with all types of people from generals to clerk typists, and commends all the Americans who were deployed overseas and risked their lives for protecting this great nation. To end this first chapter, the admiral says that, "In battle soldiers die, families grieve, your days are long and filled with anxious moments. You search for something that can give you solace, that can motivate you to begin your day, that can be a sense of pride in an oftentimes ugly world. It is daily life that needs this same sense of structure. Nothing can replace the strength and comfort on one's faith, but sometimes the simple act of making your bed can give you the lift you need to start your day and provide you the satisfaction to end it right." And so he concludes, "If you want to change your life and maybe the world-start off by making your bed!"
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*These are just my thoughts and summary, all in my own words regarding this topic so I may omit some information that was taught in this book or course.
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Rapid Intake Summaries: Make Your Bed
Ch01: Start Your Day with a Task Completed
Ch02: You Can't Go It Alone Ch03: Only the Size of Your Heart Matters Ch04: Life's Not Fair - Drive On! Ch05: Failure Can Make You Stronger Ch06: You Must Dare Greatly Ch07: Stand Up to The Bullies Ch08: Rise to the Occasion Ch09: Give People Hope Ch10: Never, Ever Quit! BUY THE RAPID INTAKE SUMMARIES: MAKE YOUR BED EBOOK
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