Brad McLeod: Rise In The Face Of Adversity
- Brad associates championship leadership with college football.
- You know a true championship leader when you see one.
- Those true leaders are lacking in many places today.
- Brad had a serious why: he wanted to do something to make his parents proud, and he wanted a certain level of respect.
- Brad knew deep down that he had something to give, but in life he wasn’t going anywhere.
- The why is everything. It will propel you.
- Going against your why should be a fate worse than death.
- You will be tested; you need to rise in the face of that adversity.
- What you think is the worst thing that has happened to you is probably the best thing that has happened to you.
- Your why will be the fuel that keeps you going.
- Championship leadership is more about responding to losses than getting wins.
- Own something heart and soul, that way when you fall down you can get up fast.
- What makes you the happiest? When are you at your best?
- Go right when everyone else goes left.
- Keep the radar open and listen to everything that happens around you.
- Never quit.
- Don’t take no for an answer.
Important Quotes:
“When a group is winning, you gotta tip your hat to them no matter where you’re at.”
“I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
“I put it all on the line.”
“It taught me about never quitting and never surrendering.”
“It’s not all roses.”
“I had to ask myself the hard questions.”
“I gotta play bigger.”
“I come back stronger.”
More On Brad McLeod:
I graduated from SEAL training in BUD/S class 132 against all odds and having failed out the first time through for a math test (I had been through Hell Week and was dropped in second phase).
Despite having no athletic background and having life long asthma I climbed my personal Mount Everest and made it through BUD/S the second time (I spent close to 10 (yes, ten) months in BUD/S in total going through Hell Week twice – and went on to serve on SEAL Team 4.
Although I lacked physical ability I was determined not to quit and worked hard to mentally stay in the game and succeed.
The saying at BUD/S is “The only easy day was yesterday” . That became my mantra as it was drilled into my head.
At SEAL Team 4 in Little Creek, Virginia, I worked as a Radio-man and also packed parachutes.
I had a killer time in the Teams and enjoyed every minute of it being deployed to Puerto Rico and visiting islands in that area.
I went on to serve one year in the reserves back in Coronado with the SEAL reserve unit there.
I spent a total of 6 years in the Navy and achieved the rank of Radioman second class (E-5).
This would set the stage for how I would live the rest of my life. I would always push forward and ignore the naysayers that try to take you down and become whoever I want to be in life.
Since my time in the Teams, I have worked as an Outward Bound instructor, Atlanta Rocks youth climbing team coach and in recent years as a CrossFit trainer at a local gym CrossFit Perimeter.
During my time in college at the University of Georgia I worked for 4 years in the Outdoor Recreation Program teaching rock climbing and caving. I have grown to love climbing and kayaking as my outdoor pursuits and have gained strength from the power of nature. I have trained hundreds of athletes in both CrossFit and SEAL style PT workouts with lots of stretching, yoga and body weight exercises. After having many students ask for copies and notes of my workouts, I started to write down my SEAL workouts and post up for athletes to check out. Eventually this led to a blog and a highly trafficked website. The goal was always to help other athletes learn and share the knowledge.
I encourage you to copy and download the SEAL grinder PT workouts (on the SGPT main webpage) and perform them daily to improve your cardio, body weight strength, running speed, overall balance, stretching and agility. Post up comments if you have specific questions about the exercises and I will post instructions as needed.
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