Have you ever felt like there is more beneath the surface of your life just waiting to rise up?
Shortly after joining the Navy, I suffered a near-death car accident on my way home from bootcamp. When I returned to duty, I found myself challenged with restructuring my life and searching for greater meaning in one of the unlikeliest places: deep in the ocean on a Navy submarine.
Living in the iolsated, underwater environment forced me to slow down, think about what I truly wanted out from my life and the person I really wanted to be. I realized that the key principles of operations that enabled the submarine to overcome significant physical pressure of being underwater were also principles we could use in our daily life as we work to overcome to manage the depths of life's challenges while developing the strength to bring our best selves to the surface of each day.
In The Relentless Rise, I combine the principles of submerged operation with human performance behavior and emotional science to map out effectives strategies and tactics to help examine what is really happening beneath the surface of our inner selves to better understand who we really are, what we are actually capable of, and what challenges we need to overcome to pursue our own Relentless Rise.
What is the emotional level of depth you are experiencing most in your life right now?
The Relentless Rise utilizes the submarine theme to illustrate people as vessels transporting their purpose as a vision for fulfillment through the often unpredictable challenges we encounter in our life missions. The book recognizes the increasing difficulty of navigating the various unseen sources of pressure in a partially submerged society and the growth of people operating through reflections of social profiles rather than genuine semblance of their true selves.
Looking beneath the surface of our daily lives means we are spending time making the necessary external dives into the world around us to meet the challenges that we face personally and professionally requiring our focused attention and efforts.
However, looking beneath the surface also applies to making the necessary internal dives to explore the uncharted areas of our potential, uncover potential emotional shipwrecks that can still be salvaged lying on the seafloor of our wellness, and discover greater purpose hidden within the day-to-day routine of our daily lives.
The principles of submarine operation presented in the book propose a potential solution to help regulate life's personal pressure fluctuations.
Key principles of submerged operation ensure that the vehicle transporting the vision for the mission is always in the optimal position and condition to succeed against the odds. Human performance success factors connect these principles to provide relevance to the different types of influences we tend to encounter in our daily lives.
The principles of operation in the book have the same intent as they would apply to the most powerful submerged vessel on this earth: to ensure the optimal operation of the overall vehicle and supporting systems while also providing a roadmap to troubleshoot problems and respond to any unexpected casualty. However, the powerful submerged vessel that this book is focusing on is you. You must see yourself as the vessel of your vision (containing great value within) and the vehicle of your vision (charged with transporting your dreams to a point of delivery).
The principles in themselves connect submarine operational themes and apply them to some of the most effective behaviors and skill sets in personal development and leadership training.
"The 7 principles and 5 tactical touch points per principle presented in the book are a masterclass on productively performing in line with your purpose, optimizing opportunities, and overcoming obstacles while facing pressure of differing depths and intensities. This book, which is more like a life operating manual, is something I will continue to return to as I seek to express my highest and best self in the world."
