U.S. MILITARY H BOOK EXCERPT 5TH OF A SERIES

THE RESILIENT WARRIOR

WARRIOR CHANT

BY MASTER SERGEANT BRICE R SNYDER

Book Editor's Note: Featuring self-help, mental health, and mind and body tactics from a variety of sources — veterans, former and active U.S. Marines, Navy, Army Rangers, Green Berets, family members and caretakers — The Resilient Warrior is collaborative collection providing needed wisdom for complete well-being for all of us. The first step to thriving is surviving, and the first step to surviving is knowing how to get what you need, when you need it. The following excerpt of this essential self-help guide to living a healthy, resilient, fulfilled and better life is the fifth and final in a series of five that EP Magazine has featured over the last several months.

Create a Warrior mantra for your faith, family, health, well-being, and ultimate performance. "If everything becomes the priority, nothing is a priority!" I can still hear my Platoon Sergeant making me repeat that statement while gasping for air. My 70-inch, 160-pound frame hauling the 2nd Squad's 240 machine gun and 45-pound A.L.I.C.E. pack strapped tightly on my back through the never-ending, dusty trail-ridden mountains at Camp Pendleton, CA.

As with all newly minted Marines, practical phrases turned into warrior chants and would be forcefully drilled into the mind through the continuous "repeat after me" call and response at the highest volume one could muster, in every clime and place imaginable. (Our Platoon Sergeant's particular favorite location for reciting warrior chants happened to be outside of the Officer's quarters at 0500 during morning PT.)

It still amazes me that over 20 years later, I find myself still regurgitating that very same statement almost daily in some facet, only now the student has become the teacher. I spend my days passing this onto my SNCOs. Of course, the repetitive "warrior chant" style of teaching while climbing mountains with excessive gear and a slew of weaponry slung over their backs is a thing of the past, replaced now with PowerPoint presentations, scribbled notes recorded in little "green monster"

style notepads, and italicized statements captured in the signature line in all of my emails. Even still, the principal message remains the same: "If everything is the priority, nothing is a priority".

It is from this valuable lesson, carried with me throughout my career, that my "Warrior Life Hack" was hatched. As a Marine, I have been driven by the principal idea that I must always be striving for more, forever in the pursuit of higher success. There is an always-looming, "Never settle for what I am today, always do more, and always be pushing myself to a higher level" (insert any other cliché motivational slogan, here) expectation that comes with the title. An expectation of Peak Performance, always, commonly referred to as: "The Warrior Mentality."

Although, I agree that a healthy level of warrior mentality is necessary to keep that internal drive alive, I have also realized that operating at peak performance, or even attempting to, always has led to failure. Even warriors need to recover. Time and time again, through the continuous "pursuit of excellence," I have fallen short. More importantly, I have left in my path a neverending trail of disappointment, broken promises, and fractured relationships amongst the individuals and actual priorities surrounding me. I believe that it is fair to say that I am