Interview with Kaj Larsen

US Navy SEAL, Journalist, Leader

Mental toughness is a huge part of SEAL training—how do you cultivate mental resilience?

In the SEAL teams we have a saying that you have to earn your Trident everyday. We don't rest on what we have accomplished because "the only easy day was yesterday." What those two phrases suggest is that resilience is an iterative process of building toughness. Small gains, compounded over time, build strength and resilience. Just like in the gym. If you build lasting strength over time you are better positioned to weather the inevitable storms of life. This is true about mental toughness, by challenging yourself everyday, doing one thing that scares you everyday, pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, you are hardened to withstand the external forces. The other component to resilience is just the never ring the bell attitude. Setbacks happen, but you have to find a way through. One other SEAL idiom comes to mind here- "Failure is not an option." So if failing is off the table then you have no choice but to find a way around or through any obstacles.

What inspired your transition from military service to business and media?

I believe in Newtons first law of motion, objects in motion tend to stay in motion, objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Put another way, Im like a shark, I have to keep swimming or I die. After my active duty time, I continued to look for opportunities that were purpose driven. I seized on those opportunities by being in constant motion. That led me to two different careers, one in media, then ultimately, one in financial services. Media was motivated by a mission to inform, and my career in finance was motivated by money. Money though is what economists would call necessary but not sufficient. Even in a finance career I built a company motivated by my desire to help fellow veterans. The tie in is that in some ways it was all cumulative. My decade in the military built my foundation and my values. My decade in the media gave me a deep understanding of how to message to people, and my career in finance was the culmination of all my previous work.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to business leaders who want to develop a stronger mindset?

First and foremost is that you cannot separate mind health from physical health. Making your body strong, keeping it strong, helps you maintain mental strength. The same is true for rest and recovery. Business leaders have been told in the past that burning the midnight oil is the key to success, but that is actually a false narrative. Enter the era of the 6 pack CEO. The truth is that sharpening your body, makes your mind sharper as well. It also is body armor against, the externalities that can sometimes get baked into work culture. You are less likely to join the team for a Friday 5pm Happy Hour if you have a Saturday morning Hyrox workout. Or if you do, you are more likely to drink water than booze. Over time these choices add up. So forget a glass of wine to wind down at night, we are in the wellness human performance optimization era; activate Huberman sauna protocol instead. This healthy body, healthy mind lifestyle will benefit business leaders and entrepreneurs across the spectrum of business and life.

Spotlights by Melissa Westphal 4/21