Giant Food’s Post

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do this

When I think of David Goggins I think of myself at my very weakest. And a man I didn't know could even exist... appeared. And screamed at me with words on a page. To be better. Do better. Dream more. To drink his suffering and become a better person. The way he describes his upbringing made me tougher and more resilient. I am not a black American. But my God David Goggins screamed at me like I knew his pain. And the way he described his life? I was totally defenceless. Disarmed. How can anyone not be? Read Can't Hurt Me and try not to feel. It's not possible. That book breaks you down. Patience. Consistency. Discipline. When I think about what it takes to be great? At playing the violin, or studying until 5am at the library - or recording an album until everyone involved is falling asleep and one of us might crash the car on the way home. These are the three key ingredients. No mentor worth their salt is about breaking you down without building you right back up and turning you into an invincible war machine of a person. And that's what David Goggins does. I am glad to have met a few women who have learned David's message because I would like to think it's for everyone. The kind of patience David cultivates? Unbeatable. And, the very same patience all of my favourite artists have. From the Russian violinist David Oistrakh to Charlie Chaplin - to our era's reigning pop queen Taylor Alison Swift. Watch their patience. It is endless. Mine too. Consistency? Have you heard Larry David talk about his writing process for Seinfeld? He would literally RUN back to his office to make changes. Me too. After I heard that? Naturally. Why wouldn't I? He's my hero. Have you heard Jerry talk about how long it takes to craft his famously streamlined and perfectly conceived jokes? He is a social scientist; the most scientific comic of all time. His deconstructions of processes were the very basis for the inception of Seinfeld. At least, the very way he and Larry would deconstruct the ideas of items in a Korean supermarket in an amusing way. The nuts and bolts of things: amusing fact and theory and query by amusing fact and theory and query. How about Paul McCartney's recording process when he was in the Beatles? So gruelling it pissed off the other Beatles. Even John. No one in the Beatles cared as much as Paul about process. So? Incidentally, he was the first billionaire musician ever. Incidentally.... Discipline. Do you know who has energy for bullshit? Undisciplined people. Me when I'm undisciplined. You when you're undisciplined. Anyone. 'Idle hands' have the WORST reputation of any hands in all of human history. Why? Guess. Alcoholics need someone to scream and screech at. So do lazy people who expect wild and instant success. So do artists with no gumption. And accountants with no drive! But truly. You need discipline to practice, compose, record, release, tour, interview and repeat. Watch carefully. The most successful don't complain.

Over decades, army forces benefited from contributions from non-Europeans during wars. Men from Britain's Black communities joined the wars, time and time again. For example, did you know that Walter Tull was the first British soldier and served on World War I? #blackhistory #blackhistoryuk #blackhistorymonth2023 #blackhistorymonthuk #blackhistoryfacts #blackhistorymatters #blackhistoryisnow #blacksoldiers

Food for Thought: Got & Get To my fellow military 🪖 members of the United States of America, past present and future, I do hope this message finds you well. Gratitude can transform common days into thanks, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. However, in order to achieve these levels of gratitude, instead of looking at what we GOT to do, we must first realize what we GET to do. The word Get can be defined as receiving, attaining, achieving or experiencing something similar to a gift. More times than none when we GET something in life it’s typically a privilege to receive it. Like when a teenager finally has the privilege to GET there license; so they Got to now follow the rules of the road because a license is a privilege. We GET to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces; so we GOT to set the standard of honor for America. We just don’t give thanks on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of our lives. Appreciate what you GET to do and who you GET to be which is a motivated member of United States Armed Forces. What a privilege it is to serve. Motivate. Respectfully sent WLTJC

Here is my latest article found in the prestigious Army History Magazine. It is about diversity in the military studied through the history of the 9th USCT during the American Civil War: https://lnkd.in/eqGRW-J2

On my SoldierGirl Substack newsletter, I write about the US Military from my vantage as a kid who grew up in a military family, as an ROTC cadet and active-duty Army officer, and from 25 years of studying US war culture. Take a look at my recent post: The story of women in the US Military.

Today, if you see someone wearing a US Army, US Navy, United States Air Force, United States Marine Corps, or any other United States military uniform, on a plane, train, bus, or walking down the street…you move yourself as quickly as you possibly can to go shake their hand, look them straight in the eye and say, “thank you for your service and for your sacrifice.” I don’t care what your political views are, what your personal opinons are on war, national policy, foreign policy, conspiracy theories, pacifism, nationalism, racism, bigotry, or your views on any other topic that Mom and Dad scream at Fox News and MSNBC every night to divide our country. Today that is all irrelevant. Today is about recognition of one’s sacrifice on behalf of another. Servicemen and servicewomen do hard, tough, dirty work every single day so that the majority of us don’t have to suit up, the least we can do is say thank you to demonstrate a genuine understanding of who provides us with that privilege. You don’t need to be a patriot or a traitor to thank someone for that sacrifice. And, if you can’t do that or if you think you’re above it, you lack the most basic form of professionalism that every company in the world requires to obtain and retain employment: empathy. #HappyVeteransDay #ThankYou

President of the United States (and former General of the Army) Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term in his Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961: A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction... This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. ... we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

After a long line of incompetence, after a long chain of excuses, after a series of failures, the Union cause finally turned around when General Ulysses S. Grant took command.  (Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as U.S. Secretary of War.) Other generals had focused on pomp and circumstance. They had been anxious and defensive, claiming that they didn’t have the resources or troops they needed. Historians mention that when Grant showed up things began to happen. It didn’t matter if he was in charge of a small army or a big one, he was a leader and when leaders arrive, they make a difference.  A staff officer noted the same thing. “We began to see things move,” he noted of Grant’s rescue of a besieged army. “We felt that everything came from a plan. He came into the army quietly, no splendour, no airs, no staff. He used to go about alone. He began the campaign the moment he reached the field. Everything was done like music, everything was in harmony.” A leader isn’t a figurehead.  A leader is a doer.  A leader is a solver of problems.  They are in command of themselves, confident in themselves, and this feeling is contagious.  They make things happen, they help the people around them make things happen.  This is not random or a result of their authority, it’s because of their skill–they are playing their instrument, making music, creating harmony and progress. You can do this too, if you learn the art. Are you a leader? #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #makeithappen #makeadifference #harmony #progress #problemsolvers