209: 20X Your Performance With These Four Skills, with Commander Mark Divine

Hey hey! Welcome to episode 209 of Life on Fire. If someone told you that you were capable of increasing your performance and your results by 20x would you believe them? Now what if the person who was telling you was a commander and one of the most decorated Navy SEALs in history? Then would you believe that person?!

On this episode, Commander Mark Divine drops by to explain why you truly are capable of 20x your performance and the four skills you need to develop to do so. We also talk about my experience at his Unbeatable Mind program, and what you can expect to hear from him when he speaks at our Life on Fire event in December.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Why applying principles is as important as learning them. (4:05)
• How do yoga and martial arts help develop character? (9:55)
• One breathing technique to slow your body and mind. (13:40)
• What does it mean to feed the courage wolf? (21:10)
• What is the difference between visioning and visualization? (25:35)
• And so much more!

When you hear Mark Divine’s Navy SEALs background you can’t help but be impressed. He entered BUD\S training at 25 years old (it’s the six month program to become a Navy SEAL) and he graduated first in his class. 

For the next 10 years he was on active duty, doing intelligence and foreign internal defense work in 45 countries. The decade after that he was in the SEALs reserves as part of Special Operations Command in the Pacific and Hawaii region. He was the commanding officer of SEAL Team 1 on the reserves side.

His time with the SEALs saw him serving in Iraq and the Middle East, before he retired as a commander in 2011.

While in the reserves, he got back into the business world when he launched the Coronado Brewing Company. He followed that success with SEAL Fit and Unbeatable Mind. His primary focus today is on SEAL Fit, Unbeatable Mind and his newest yoga program called Kokoro Yoga.

He’s taken what he’s learned from his time as a SEAL and translated it into lessons and programs for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone else wanting to develop their full potential. His programs are based on the fundamental principle that character is developed through integrative training. That integrative training encompasses the physical, spiritual, mental, emotional and intuitive parts of our selves.

There are four skills that when combined set the stage for this integrative training: they are breath control, positivity, visualization and action. He explains each of the four in detail during our show today, a summary of each is below.

1. Breath control

Mark explains breath is profound, it links the mind, spirit and the body. So learning to control it and use it for different purposes is critical to generating your highest level of performance.

For example, you can calm yourself in any situation by learning and training your body with a technique like box breathing. Box breathing is when you breath in through your nose for four counts, holding it for four more counts and then exhaling through your nostrils for four counts.

2. Positivity

Once your breathing is under control, the next skill is positivity. With a calm body, you can become aware of your thoughts and you can change them as necessary. Create a mantra for yourself, like the one we used at Unbeatable Mind: “…feeling good, looking good, I oughta be in Hollywood!”.

3. Visualization

With a calm mind and body that are focused on the positive, you can move onto the third skill: visualization and the use of imagery. Now you can focus your positive thoughts to lead you to victory. Create a clear vision of what that victory looks like, be as specific as possible and include smells, sights, sounds, and feelings. Make the visualization as rich as you possibly can.

4. Action

With the other three under your belt, ask yourself what is the smallest task you can take that will lead to the biggest opportunity for success? Then take that action, with your image of victory in mind. Mark says no plan survives contact with reality so you must have vision of victory. But right now with best information you have, take the simplest and most effective action step to lead you in that direction.

He explains each of those four skills in greater detail on today’s show, as well as why they need to be developed individually before you can effectively combine them all. He also gives an example of how to develop and implement these four skills.

Mark is one of our speakers for December’s Life on Fire event so he also shares what he will be speaking about from stage. Be sure to check out what he has in store for you on episode 209 of Life on Fire! 

EPISODE RESOURCES

• SEAL Fit
• Unbeatable Mind
• Mark Divine’s books
• Life on Fire event
• Subscribe to Life on Fire TV Podcast
• Write a Review on iTunes