Combat Veteran William Yeske on Storytelling, Resilience & The Mindset to Overcome Anything

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In this compelling episode of The Asset Mindset Podcast, host Daniel Fielding sits down with William Yeske, combat veteran, author, and passionate advocate for storytelling as a form of healing and growth.

William opens up about his experiences in combat and how writing became a powerful outlet to process trauma, honor those he served with, and inspire others. Together, they dive deep into the ripple effect of personal stories, the therapeutic value of writing, and how sharing difficult experiences builds connection and resilience.

This episode explores critical topics like navigating adversity, embracing criticism, and shifting your mindset from fear to purpose. William also shares insights on the connection between education, military discipline, and personal growth—along with the importance of building strong support systems and living a life of service beyond the battlefield.

Whether you're a veteran, a writer, or someone facing adversity, this episode will leave you empowered to own your story and live with intention.

Follow, share, like, and subscribe to The Asset Mindset on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. Don’t forget to leave a review and share this episode with someone who needs it.

Get your copy of The Asset Mindset TODAY! Click the link below!

The Asset Mindset

 

Chapters

 

00:00 The Importance of Capturing Conversations

02:57 Reflections on Combat and Sacrifice

05:56 The Ripple Effect of Storytelling

08:51 Building Community and Support Systems

12:01 Transforming Adversity into Positivity

14:50 Navigating Criticism and Haters

18:07 The Role of Hard Work and Ownership

20:55 Education and Personal Growth

23:49 Mindset Shifts and Overcoming Fear

40:58 Finding Direction and Discipline

42:24 The Importance of Growth and Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

46:56 The Journey of Improvement and Learning

49:50 The Therapeutic Power of Writing

52:07 The Ripple Effect of Sharing Stories

57:02 Reflecting on the Impact of Military Service

01:01:44 Embracing the Asset Mindset

 

Connect with Daniel on social media!

LinkedIn: Daniel Fielding

Instagram: the_asset_mindset

Facebook: The Asset Mindset

X: @asset_mindset

 

Learn more at:

theassetmindset.com

 

Follow William on Social media and grab a copy of his book today!

Instagram: veteransuccessstory

Podcast: Veteran Success Story

Book: Damn the Valley

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
great producer.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
See, he's all over it well, and this is that we
actually talked about this.
I talked about this with dennyand he yelled at me and he was
like you need to be hit andrecord as soon as you get into
any chat room.
You know any, anything likethat.
That recording because there is, there's usually.
You'll go through and thenbefore you realize that you've

(00:30):
talked 15 minutes and whatyou're talking about is so
relevant.
So a lot of the podcasters outthere and everything they'll try
to gain that rapport in thebeginning and you'll spend some
time 10, 15 minutes off camera.
But in there there's such,there's these great little, just

(00:51):
either nuggets of wisdom orthings that you guys talk about
in exploring to where you know.
I think it was I was on combatstory and we had stopped record
story and we had stopped recordand then I was like, oh, you
know, I forgot to mention thatthe you know the cover of the

(01:11):
book.
That was one of the biggestthings for me during the whole
thing, because the creating thebook, putting the book out there
you know I have it behind mehere, but the on the cover
there's a flag and it's theseguys pulling it out of the
rubble of.
It was cop Brunkhorst.
So combat outpost Brunkhorstout in the Argandab River Valley
.
And they had.
There was a.
The enemy had driven a V-Bid upto this thing.

(01:34):
I mean it was a.
If I remember right, it was adump truck, it was something
like that.
I mean it was a 2,000 poundbomb, it was huge, and they just
drove it as close as they couldto the ECP and detonated it.
And I mean, still to this daythere was also at Ground Zero.
Well, not at Ground Zero, buthe was headed over to Ground

(02:14):
Zero with the New JerseyFirefighter Department in order
to assist everybody during 9-11.
And here he is finding himself,you know, after those recovery
efforts years earlier, here hefinds himself digging his
buddies out of the ground inAfghanistan, which is the whole.
You know, it kind of inspiredhim to join up.
And somebody snapped thatpicture during the recovery,
because the guys are goingthrough afterwards after

(02:36):
everything was said and done andthey're starting to pull
everything out after the initial.
And somebody snapped thatpicture and I can't remember
where it ended up.
It ended up somewhere where theguys were just like.
That really embodies thisdeployment.
You know it was knock down,drag out, hit after hit after

(02:56):
hit.
Uh, you know, you don'texperience over a 50% casualty
rate somewhere and walk awayfrom it Um unscathed in one way
or another.
You know, I mean we had, youknow, just multiple Purple
Hearts.
Matter of fact, there was fouror five of them that were there,
that were just in the WhiteHouse this last week I don't

(03:18):
know if Denny filled you in onthat or you saw anything of that
on the.
So I've been running up socialmedia for the book it's at damn
the Valley book, but daily.
Just, the guys had sent out alot of these pictures and I post
that stuff up having to do withthat conflict.
But here they are, you know, 15years later, being recognized

(03:40):
finally.
You know, and it was thewounded heroes that were there,
um few of the guys that hadamputations and stuff, uh, so I
mean, I get it, um, on that end.
And it was a wounded heroes daycelebration and you know it's
just, it's good to see thoseguys being recognized at that
level to where it was adeployment, where there really
wasn't any medals given out.

(04:00):
You know it was just hey, youwere infantry, you did your job,
yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
Doing your job.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
You know, yeah, that whole well there was.
There was other controversyduring that deployment to where
they got overlooked, um andpassed over.
They didn't really want thepublic turning towards looking
at that deployment with a.
You know well what reallyhappened here, uh, and why, and

(04:24):
you know it's unfortunate thatit went that route.
But now you know I've got thatbook out and that kind of
started the ripple effect.
I know, let me finish the storyabout the I'm.
I'm on full ADHD mode CauseI've jumped all over.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
I love it, man, Cause it's genuine and real.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Keep going, it's you know it is these stories Like
they.
We've talked about it beforebecause you can, you can talk
about some of these stories andpeople do.
They gravitate towards itbecause it's life at these
extremes and it's with some ofthe best guys I ever served with
.
You know, you can't ignore thatfact towards those stories like

(05:06):
this, when we're talking aboutthe flag and pulling this flag
out of the rubble and gettingthat picture there but then
getting it onto a book, you know, 10 plus years later after that
to recognize the efforts there.
But then, furthermore, once I'mwriting it and we have this
picture and everything, and I'mtalking with the guys during the
building the book process anddoing the interviews and

(05:27):
everything, and that one that Iwas talking about with Ground
Zero is Brian Erickson.
He reached out to me and he'slike hey, yeski, I've still got
that flag.
Man, I'm like what do you mean,man?
And he's like, when we left, Ibrought it with us.
Like they put the other guysthat relieved us.

(05:49):
They put their own own flag upand I took this one home with me
cause I knew it was special tome, you know, and he had since
washed it a few times and um,but when he handed this thing
over to me cause he was like doyou think we can use it in any
way for the book tour?
You know, these guys are justincredible in the way that they
reached out, supplied pictures,videos, the content to kind of

(06:10):
build this thing and theinterviews.
I mean really just with a lotof them going back to the Valley
.
Some of them hadn't thoughtabout it in a really long time
and after that conversationthough, it was like man, I
haven't spoken with anybodyabout this for 10 years.
Uh, and it feels like a burdenhas been lifted in that way,

(06:33):
just because they they've neverbeen able to regurgitate or tell
it before because of how hardhitting and stuff that was.
And he entrust, handed me overthat flag and we worked together
on it and we actually contacted.
We contacted Fort Bragg, thePAO, and we contacted the unit
and we're like, hey, guys, likeour original thoughts were like,

(06:54):
do you want to put this in theunit display case?
Because a lot of units havethat with their history and
everything, and the guys werereally proud of that.
You know that deployment,matter of fact, I mean up and
down within division.
They still talk about 4thBrigade and they still talk
about the guys that were in theArgandab and since then there's
been kind of a resurgence ofthat history and there's been a

(07:17):
focus on the guys that we've hadthat have fallen to where now
they're teaching alongside of,you know, private DeGlapper and
some of the other stories thatare history within the 82nd.
They're now talking about theguys in the Argendab and
honoring the guys that we lostthere and they have them up on
the wall and they actually havethese kids that come in learn

(07:38):
the unit history.
And now they're they're readingthese books.
My old platoon sergeant, he justretired.
You know, uh, sergeant, he wasa Sergeant Major, retired as a
first Sergeant, and he's like,yes, you have no idea, man, like
I go into multiple offices, uh,high ranking individuals out
here, and I'm seeing your bookleft and right, um, and I'm

(08:02):
starting to see, you know, andthere's there's actually another
one and we were talking rippleeffect.
And you know, and there's,there's actually another one and
we were talking ripple effect.
And you know, your show here isthe asset mindset right, and
it's putting yourself in thatplace to be be an asset to
others around you.
You know, but attracting thatend, but being giving back,
giving back into the community,because this, that ripple effect
is real.
And you know we have thedevil's playground with Andrew

(08:25):
Bragg and that was something towhere again during the book
release, during the book tour,one of it wasn't even him who
had reached out.
He was just kind of like, ah,this guy's got to have his own
agenda.
And it was one of the guys,dale Nolinger.
He was kind of the de factoplatoon sergeant at one point

(08:45):
and since then has really beenthe team daddy to everybody.
That was within CharlieCompany's second platoon and he
reached out and he's like heyman, you know, this guy has been
writing this book, he's beentraveling around the country for
a year, he's living out of histruck doing these interviews but
he can't find a publisher.

(09:06):
Like can you help him out, man?
And like are you kidding me?
Like absolutely like two furyguys.
No question, let's do this.
And made the introductions.
You know I talked to to andrew,made some introductions over at
the the publisher, which wascasemate, which was another
thing about that focus onmilitary history because a lot

(09:26):
of the guys wanted thatestablished record.
And before you know it, twoweeks later he's giving me a
call and he's like dude, I got abook deal out of this.
What do I need to be careful of?
I've coached him through someof it and it's been incredible
to be there and still be therefor some of those guys in

(09:48):
getting these stories out.
But then also reconnecting andre.
You know the military has asupport system right Between
that's that's just built in, butwe kind of lose that when we
leave the military.
Why?
There's no need for that.
Really, you should be keepingthese relationships along the
way and keeping up with theseguys and we've kind of realized

(10:09):
that has been the whole thingthrough this project is we are
so much stronger together.
Why are we going the four waysof the wind instead of banding
together, using our strengths?
I was kind of a nerd in a way.
I was a radio guy.
I wanted to go be an 18 Echo,so you know that end.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Oh, yeah, yeah, and I heard a little bit about SOPSI.
We may get into that or not.
I listened, I did my research,I was up late, oh man.
So today on the Asset MindsetPodcast we have a special guest,
unbelievable man, amazingstories.
You got to check him out,william Yeske.
He's got the book Damn theValley and, man, let me tell you

(10:54):
you're going to learn a lotabout men that have been through
a lot and how they've takenadversity and he's changed it
into creating something positivenow in the world.
And it's so wonderful to seethese concepts that I talk about
in the asset mindset.
And you, william, or Will, I'llcall you, now that we've got a

(11:14):
relationship a little bit.
But you are doing it, man,you're living it.
And when I say it it's hard toexplain sometimes what it is,
but it is the changing of yourmind to take something that was
bad and I'm going to makesomething good of it.
You are taking something thatwas horrific, but during that

(11:37):
horrific time I'm sure you saw alot of acts of love, people
willing to sacrifice, doingamazing things.
And when people tell me youknow war is hell, you're
absolutely right.
But in hell I've seen some ofthe most loving things people,
relationships and I think it'sfantastic what you're doing.
Do you want to share a littlemore about what it is you're

(12:00):
doing with your book?
I know you've spoken a lotbefore on other podcasts, but
I'd love to hear from you whatyou're doing right now and also
how you've taken the adversitythat you've been through and
turned it into the positive.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Daniel, man, I got to say it's been an honor and
really to be introduced likethat.
Thank you, kind words.
This has just been.
I mean, it's something that'sbeen a progression along the way
.
You know, uh, really, before Icame on here, something just
kind of was going through mymind about it and it's um, I
think the first time I everheard it was on, uh was on Rogan

(12:38):
with Mike Tyson, but it's likeGod will give you everything you
want, just to see if you canhandle it, it's man because,
well, I mean, here we are.
you know we're, you're in thephases of building.
You know this, uh, this contentin this podcast and everything,
and you're realizing we weretalking beforehand.
You're realizing just how muchwork it is.

(13:00):
Um, you've been on some othersbefore as well and you got to
put in those reps.
You got to do that and I'm sureat one point because I know I
had mine to where it was finallylike okay, like I've done X
amount and I'm finally startingto get okay talking out there, I
felt like after 50, you know,but you do want to look at the

(13:24):
person, but you're staring at acamera.
Well, there's, I mean just allkinds.
There's been the, the zoom ones, and there's been you know the
little guy, and you go back andyou're like man, I was on a
podcast Like this is great.
And you go back and you lookand it's like seven views, wow.
I put a lot of work into liketalking about this and I know I

(13:46):
wasn't that great but dang so.
But no, I mean building reallythe whole intention through.
This, too was not about me, andI think that's what made it
special was the book from thevery beginning, and I know I
wrote it in a way, I wrote itfor speed and I wrote it in a
way to where it was kind of thehero's journey right off.

(14:08):
But there was a few reasons forthat, one of them being that we
wanted to be at something fromsomething different than
anything else out there, aperspective from somebody that
was lower enlisted to give thatpicture, and it's actually been
echoed across.
Like I know he was one of theguys that endorsed the book, but

(14:28):
Sayak John Troxell, so I meanthis is the most senior enlisted
guy out there.
I think he was oh man, I can'tremember, I think it was the
fourth, I can't remember I thinkit was the fourth, but this is
as high as you can go.
You know, 30 plus years in themilitary and saying to me, like

(14:49):
you know, thank you for writingthis because it shows a
perspective that we don'tnormally get to see and it
definitely is never seen inbooks.
So, like, thank you for puttingthis down.
I didn't really think of it inthat way.
But with coaching, with talkingwith the guys who are rebuilding
the support system along theway, the company's now talking
again and some of it is withthose stories, you know, and

(15:13):
I'll post something.
You know I try not to.
I talked about the guys in thebeginning, about it, but I try
not to like I'm not actuallytagging the guys who were
actually there in it, but justbecause some guys are like, hey,
I don't want that type ofattention, they're just so
humble about all of it, I'm likeyou've done such great things.
But I get it and I alsounderstand that some of them

(15:37):
will use that and fall into atrap.
You know, I've seen it outthere within the veteran
community of they're beatingtheir chest and look at me, look
at me, look what I've done.
So I've taken a lot of that andI took a lot from the guys and
I even charged them to.
If you ever see me going thatroute, pull me aside, call me

(15:57):
out, like, do not be afraid todo that.
But it's making those extremerelationships and those
relationships that we buildoverseas in these extreme
moments whether it's traumabonding, you know, or just the
fact that we did a hard thingand we did it together and we
got through it together, usingour different strengths and

(16:18):
realizing that we are strongertogether as a community, that we
are stronger together as acommunity.
But rebuilding that, rebuildingthat through this, getting the
guys talking again and I'll putsomething up, man, I remember
that and you just see the flurryof talk across there or you'll
see it posted across one oftheir socials and that, right
there to me, is special.
That's where I'm not trying tobe the barstool guy.

(16:43):
You know from high school, thehigh school football team.
You know I was a big guy backin, you know 30 years ago and
it's like OK, 30 years ago, whatare you doing now?
So that's not what any of thisever was and I hope it's never
taken that way.
I know there's going to bepeople out there.
They're going to see it thatway and already have.

(17:07):
If you look through, you gettold you know, don't look at the
reviews and you look throughand you're like, oh man, like,
but at the same time retoolingyour thinking as well and being
like you know that that bookwasn't for them, uh, in the way
to where I know who it was for,and really keeping that original
goal in mind.
It's like you were propping theguys up.
It's not anything having to dowith your writing of anything.

(17:30):
It's actually good that thepublisher put it out a little
prematurely.
I think that was also partiallyme.
There's still some errors andstuff in there which makes me
smile about it, though, in a way, because I I put them on the
airborne timeline.
They were sucking, um, butdoing that, and and seeing the

(17:52):
pride of those guys and seeingthese uh stories lifting them up
and you know we were talkingbefore about the, the guys at
the white house there, you know,seeing their recognition, um,
at a level like that for thoseguys, you know, I would love to
see, you know, the guys at BravoCompany, the guys at Charlie
Company, you know, or the,honestly, the sergeant's major

(18:17):
of Two Fury and what they guidedus through out there within a
valley, that was absolute hell.
And what they guided us throughout there, um, within a Valley,
that was absolute hell.
Um, both command star major uhpocket and Lieutenant Colonel
Genio were just amazing guys.
Um, and they ran a tight shipand it was disciplined to, but

(18:38):
in that way of after you getinto it, you're realizing why
they did that.
So, and really it's great stuff.
Yeah, I mean it's, it's steeledme for everything that's gone
ahead, you know, and that's thishas turned into something else
completely like from there,moving alongside that, that,

(19:00):
that other book, devil'splayground there, uh, with
Andrew Bragg, that's whatstarted my end of the podcast,
end running Veteran SuccessStory.
So I started a podcast fromthere and that was really the
very first one.
It's goofy as heck.
You still have me green as heckon there talking to him episode

(19:21):
one, but it was.
He was like, hey, man, I justdon't have enough content out
there.
I know you gave me the showsand everything else, but I
haven't talked to enough people,I haven't been able to reach
out far enough.
Like, all right, I got to makeit look legit.
So let's put some frameworktogether and in a week, like I
had gotten, like I think we didit on the free trial or
Riverside and uh, awesome, jankystuff, but we put it together

(19:46):
and I have the technicalknowledge.
So I put it out on RSS feedacross globally and it hit and I
was like huh all right.
You could actually see a visiblejump in book sales and stuff
for them and I was like, well,there's something there.
Should I lean into this thingnow and just instead of this
being like a one-off appearingto be episode, should I try

(20:08):
something Like why not?
You've always had it in theback of your head and if you
equate it to the same thing withthe book, it was always in the
back of my head.
You know, I even say it in theauthor's note at the beginning.
If you ever told me 10 plusyears ago that I would have
written this thing, I would havebeen like you're crazy.
But it was always, always thereand always that little voice

(20:29):
saying hey, man, you should putthese memories down.
When I finally did and finallyfaced it, look what it's come to
.
And it's been an incrediblejourney.
You know, here we are two yearsafter publishing and it's still
going strong.
And not only that, but we havea you know this one's here too
Sons of the Argandab.

(20:49):
So this is another one.
It's publishing in a month andit's the guys that relieved to
Charlie in their area.
They came in and they replacedthem within hell, and they had a
hell of experience as well.
You know it got so bad at onepoint to where they became
static out of their base andcouldn't even move 200 meters

(21:12):
past the, you know, past the ECPit was.
You know they got pinned in.
There were also a artillery.
You know they were 320 out ofthe 101st and that was when they
were trying to put people instatic positions within Kandahar
, in that region, for theKandahar surge, and they were
getting their butts handed tothem.
Was it their job as anartillery?

(21:35):
You know, I mean, he even saysit in there it wasn't.
We had guys that we handed offto and we just looked at each
other like you got to be kiddingme, like that's what they sent
to replace us, like these guysare going to have a rough go.
You know, in the small timethat we did have the chance to
pass some of that stuff along Ithink it was like really just

(21:55):
two weeks.
You know we got into them aboutit and we told them and they
did.
They had a heck of a deployment, as you'll see, when that one
comes around.
Um, it's just these, thesestories and the stuff that
happened within the global waron terror.
A lot of guys look at it as inlike we went through hell, but

(22:16):
it's it's some of us out thereand I hope I think it's a
growing number that arerealizing that that was kind of
that was kind of your forge.
You know, what are you going todo with that experience, like
in going forward, becausethrough a lot of this I mean
through the book, through thepodcast, through the people that
I've started to talk to andconnect with, through through

(22:38):
all of this without that none ofthis would have happened.
So I feel very fortunate,honestly, for having gone
through that, because mostpeople never have these type of
experiences, you know, or theyneed to shift their mindset.
They need to shift theirmindset into a way of life

(22:59):
happens to you, but it happensfor a reason.
You don't always know what'shappening here.
You don't see the full pictureand you're not meant to, but
it's up to you.
It's happening here.
You don't see the full pictureand you're not meant to, but
it's up to you, it's yourdecision and this all comes down
to kind of the enlightenment.
On that end really hit home.
I had kind of a psychedelicexperience to where I got to see

(23:25):
the major splits in my life andwhere those people ended up.
It was the craziest thing.
I mean meeting 100 plusversions of yourself, but being
able to look at every single oneof them and see where their
life paralleled with yours andthen where that decision-making
matrix hit and where they split,and then where that

(23:47):
decision-making matrix hit andwhere they split, and to see
that in that form and toexperience that was just, it was
mind blowing.
But it was also that there wasone of them that spoke for all
of them.
None of them spoke except forone.
And they were like now you see,you're on the right path, it's

(24:09):
okay, everything's led up tohere, but you found it, it's
going to be all right.
And in moving forward andtaking that knowledge and trying
to spread it among the otherguys and be like hey, retool
your thinking here, retool theway you're, like life isn't
happening to you, it's happeningfor you, you just don't see the

(24:30):
end yet.
Keep pushing, keep goingthrough.
You're going to be all right.
And especially, the more peopleyou surround yourself with in
that mindset or surroundyourself with you know that have
gone through those things withyou, the better off you're going
to be.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
Absolutely.
I love what you're saying and Iwant to get more into, you know
fear, because a lot of people,I think, get trapped by fear.
You know what the future isgoing to hold if they open up
and share their experiences,what people are going to say.
You even mentioned a little bitabout dealing with haters.
You know we all get them andthey I do love that saying like

(25:09):
if someone's hating on you it'sbecause they're below you.
Nobody above you will ever hateon you for working or trying.
So for all you listeners outthere, don't worry about the
haters, keep pushing forward andgo to what you want to go after
you know, chase your dreams.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
No, that is that right there.
Like, when you start to get thehate, there is and this was a
scientific uh, this guy broke itdown for me, um, gentleman by
the name of Paul Helinski, buthe put it down into a, like a
metric, and he was like and yousee the curve to where you're
have?
You're going to have, no matterwhat, you're going to have 20%

(25:48):
haters and you're going to have20% like hell, yeah, freaking,
you got this man and you have alot in the middle that are going
to be the silent majority.
But when those haters startshowing up, you have to retool
your thinking again and be likeman, why am I getting all this
hate?
Like, oh, wait a minute, holdon a second.
You're being noticed.
You just don't see the rest ofthem that are also listening to

(26:10):
you yet, like, they're out therebecause you wouldn't have
haters otherwise.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
No, absolutely, and I think that's that's so
important for people to realize.
And I'm glad we're able toshare that with others, because
you know haters are going tohate and we just got to push
forward.
And I'd like how you were alsotalking about focus, like, do
you want to focus on the hatersor do you want to focus on the
positive?
And I talk about the concept ofbeing a page master, like turn

(26:36):
the page, man, don't read thatnegative review.
You know, yeah, instinctuallywe all want to read it right and
check what are people saying,or oh, this is bullshit.
I'm not lame, you know.
But when we shift our focus andI think that's what you've done

(27:11):
a lot with your work and Itotally admire and respect that
learn from you so you can kindof like pave the way for them as
far as taking that mental shiftand changing their minds from a
negative or victim mentalityeven into something more
positive.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, I mean, that was one of the things right
there.
You were just talking about thereviews and or even like
leaning into it a little bit,like that was you go out and
there was one event inparticular I was thinking it was
a dedicated group of readers.
At the end or near the end ofthe event I actually asked him

(27:38):
I'm like what did you guys notlike about this book?
And they all kind of likenervously looked at each other
and I'm like, look, I knowthere's feedback, like, and I
just put something out there.
I put a self criticism.
You know.
I was like, hey, I didn't.
Honestly, the print version Ididn't like on how the typeset
felt a little cramped and therewas this and that about things

(28:00):
you know, and I've actuallyspoken to the publisher about
changing that.
But I want to hear from theother readers out there what
were the negatives you know?
And one of them you know wasbrave enough and they piped up
um, I can't remember what theexact oh, some of the
terminology and stuff.
They were like it needed to bea little.
You know, there's a lot ofacronyms in there and stuff and
I'm like okay, military jargonand things I thought I did.

(28:20):
Okay, but like, what exactlyabout it?
But lean into, if anything, andlook at those negatives as what
caused the problem.
And I'm not saying to read intoit too much.
There are some out there thatare just going to, like you said
, hate to hate.

(28:42):
But there was another book priormine.
There was a Wall Street Journalwriter.
It was under the title BravoCompany, good guy, ben Kessling.
He was actually a White Housecorrespondent for a little while
for the journal and covered alot of the military stuff in the
newsroom over there at thejournal and just fantastic

(29:05):
author Decided.
You know, he wrote an articleabout us and somebody approached
him about writing in book form.
He didn't want to do it, tossit around, toss it around.
Okay, I'm going to do it.
And I ended up being one of theguys that interviewed with him
and I showed up in it and therewas a lot of guys that had a lot
of issues with that book.

(29:25):
But on the historical sense, lotof guys that had a lot of
issues with that book.
But on the historical sense,you know they're like hey, he
didn't talk to these people that.
Honestly, that was not a faultof his own If you actually go
back.
He put it out there to a lot ofthem and it was.
He could only go off of whatinformation he had.
You know he wasn't there and Ithink that's one of the things

(29:47):
that with this one, I was therebut I was able to talk to those
guys and hear the negativecriticisms and be like, okay, so
make sure for this book, have adedication page to the guys
that we lost.
As possible, make sure on thisbook that you get what's

(30:10):
important to the other guys andbuild it into here somehow,
because if you don't, you knowthese problems are going to
perpetuate.
And even so, to the fact whereI leaned into my own faults in
there, I think within the book,save for one that was just
pointless to put in there, Italked about every failure that
I had on that deployment, up toone of them to where I really

(30:34):
probably should have been sentout of country.
We had a Mexican standoff.
We literally ended up.
I hit a truck full of Afghans.
We were coming back.
I had been up 72 hours on amission and it was super hot and
we were in this super longconvoy.
That was just go stop, go stop,had my window rolled down and

(30:54):
everything which is a big no-noon, especially on that route.
But it's like just stay awakeand I'm like, I'm good, I'm good
, ended up hitting this truck.
But like I dozed off and I wokeup to like that red brake
lights and then bowling pinafghans because there was a
truck of commandos in front ofus and these guys just poof and

(31:18):
we're in an up armored hub vcrushed the whole bed right up
and thankfully no one no oneactually got hurt.
One one guy uh broke his leg.
That was the only thing thathappened.
But everyone's adrenaline'spumping and everything else and
these guys literally line up infront of our Humvee and the

(31:41):
commander of that element comesup to my window and pulls his
pistol out and wraps it on theside of the glass and he's like
get out.
And I'm like, oh man, and it'sjust this tense moment.
And thankfully, matter of fact,our our terp that we had later
on in the Argon Dob, he stayedwith us a guy named well, his,

(32:04):
his interpreter name was Gucci,but he comes running up.
He had actually worked withODAs and stuff before.
So I mean he was just heavilyvetted, super good guy and you
know, he de-escalated reallyquickly.

(32:25):
And thankfully you know, justbecause we have you know, we're
about to go into this badsituation overall.
But yeah, no, no, just beingable to talk about those sort of
things and being able topresent that negative.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
but be you know, hey, these are my learning
experiences along the way.
No, that's amazing, thosemoments in time you're like, oh
shit, this is going to go bad.
I've had a couple of those.
I think we all do so for youlisteners out there.
See, going to go bad.
Had a couple of those.
I think we all do so for yourlisteners out there.
See, you're not alone.
The human struggle, you knowexperience.
It has all the things so manybelieve.

(32:58):
Success, like you and whatyou're doing now, becoming
successful, is just luck, and Idon't think luck.
I mean, I think luck is a smallfactor and takes place, but I
think taking ownership of yourlife will overcome, you know,
any bad luck.
Um, I think hard work, you knowthat's a concept I talk about

(33:23):
and that is so powerful.
Can you explain how hard work,luck and that relationship for
you and how you know takingownership has really helped you
kind of overcome obstacles andchallenges?

Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, so there was someone on the book tour
actually.
I was going around and I hadfinally talked to someone that
had a pretty decent followingand everything, and then, out of
all people, I actually wasreally surprised to hear this
come out of their mouth becausethey were like man, it's just,
it's really cool to see theinstant success that you're

(34:02):
having here.
And I looked at him and I'mlike, really Like you, like you
should know, of all people, thisis not instant.
Like the road here and we gotinto a little bit just about the
on how bumpy the road is andhow many times like it is it's a
lonely place when you aresearching that out and trying to

(34:22):
find your way and get alignedwith the right people.
It can be a lonely placebecause a lot of people aren't
willing to go through and do thework to get there.
I mean I literally thinking ayear before, when I'm still
writing this thing, was justthinking in my head hey, if

(34:43):
you're going to be showing up onappearances and everything else
, what are things that you cando?
What are things you can work onat least in this way?
And I mean I literally gotrealign my uh, realign my teeth
during the process.
You know, just going that farthough of like all right, so,
hey, here's the appearance andall right, now I got to work on

(35:03):
speaking.
So I think at that point when Italked to this person, I was
like maybe 35, 40 podcasts inand I still was like I need to
work on how I'm discussing thisstuff.
People.
It's either I don't feel likeit's at the right spot yet and
having that strive forexcellence.
You don't go and do 50, 60podcasts as a guest out there.

(35:27):
Um well, I mean, maybe there'ssome guys there was, uh, there
was one of them I actually hadon the podcast for me.
It was, uh, no longer the guythat I was talking about before.
He's well, he's a sales guy too, so but he got on there and we
talked.
We talked for two plus hours,you know, in an in-person

(35:48):
interview.
He got on there and we talked.
We talked for two plus hours,you know, in an in-person
interview.
And afterwards I was just likeyou know, it was like one of
those Will Ferrell moments.
I blacked out what happened,but he was just so well-spoken
during that and I'm like howmany of these have you done?
He is like I haven't doneanything like this and I'm like
really and I know it was just aconversation, but in that way of

(36:08):
it was a guided conversationbut in seeing that from him,
that's a standout and that'salso recognizing talent.
That doesn't come naturally.
You know, I am socially awkward.
I'm socially awkward due tosome of the stuff in my past and
I'm working through that.
That's one of my hurdles tojump over and work on.
But it's having thatsituational awareness of knowing

(36:29):
that Like, hey, this is goingto be a setback.
What are you going to do aboutit?
Are you going to just let thatbe that way?
Like, do you have a clearvision of where you want to be
on here, on Ryan or on, you know, talking, sitting down with

(36:50):
Anderson Cooper?
But would I, was I at that spotin the beginning?
Oh, absolutely not.
I would have made a fool out ofmyself at that point.
Am I at that point now?
Well, I'm still working towardsit.
You know who knows, but that'ssomething to strive for.
Like, have that vision.
It's like the planning in theODAs and stuff.
Like I think that's one of thethings that they do.

(37:12):
Hey, what do we want toaccomplish here?
Okay, let's backwards plan it.
You know where a lot of bigarmy does the opposite, you know
, and it's uh, I don't know, Inever understood that, but I
definitely.
When we went through thatportion of of planning and stuff
, uh, I think that was in thecivil affairs course for me,

(37:34):
that and it really resonatedwith me and I saw that and it
was like yes, you're focusing onthe goal and you're working
backwards.
Hey, what milestones do I needto accomplish on the way to that
?
And that's all it is ishonestly just be like hey, this
is where I want to go and setyour goal high.
You know cause, even if youfail or fall short of it, it's
still way the hell higher thanmost people are ever going to

(37:55):
get.
That was one of the things toois retool your mind.
Education-wise is where I'mgoing with this GI Bill.
A lot of guys out there they'llget out and they'll go to a
community college or somethinglike that.
Really, if you retool yourthinking in there and a lot of

(38:17):
people don't know this, but theschools out there, the way they
work for federal Pell Grantfunding or at least the way they
did when I figured this out wasthat for every one veteran that
they are having at that school.
Through the GI Bill and throughsome of the different things,
they actually unlock federalfunding for X amount more Pell

(38:38):
Grants within their side.
So you are an asset to thatschool.
So start thinking that way.
And that's how I, you know.
I mean I went to a decentschool for my undergrad.
But when I turned and I waslike, let me, you know who's the
best out there, like let me,let me see Ivy league.
Right, okay, let me just throwsome stuff out there.

(38:59):
Let me see about some of theones to where, maybe hone my
skill on a certificate program.
And I threw a few out there andCornell gets back to me and I
was like, oh okay, like neverexpected that, but sure.
So I went through a programwith Cornell and then after that
I was like, all right, that wasfun, I feel like I could do

(39:20):
better here, like I need to honedown the business end of
marketing.
But where do I want to be?
I want to be at the executivelevel.
So what do I have to workthrough?
And then I applied for aprogram with Columbia business
and when they got back to me Iwas freaking floored, like I'm
like you gotta be kidding me.
So now I'm a Columbia alumni.

(39:40):
You know Ivy league to where?
Before?
You know, I flunked out of umUConn.
Uh, not in the way of, I justnever finished.
You know, I did three years uhprior service and then my life,
I was just all over the place.
I was floating, I neededdiscipline.
Uh, I didn't see it at the timeExactly.
Um, I will say that when I was18, I wanted to join the Marine

(40:04):
Corps and I never saw it in theway to where.
Now, uh, and I look back and Igo, I think it was one of the
people during the podcast tourthat asked about this was what
drew you to the Marine Corps andit started to get me thinking.
You know it probably was mycousin and seeing the difference
in discipline with him, he waskind of a rebel, you know, just

(40:29):
a scrawny beanpole rebel kid outthere skateboarding and you
know that whole the 90s we hadthat mentality with the
skateboard that you know,anti-establishment, buck the man
kind of thing, and see that.
And then seeing him join theMarines and after Parris Island

(40:49):
he just he ended up.
I think it was like a yearafter that.
This was before he went to SanDiego, seeing the difference in
him.
You know the discipline, thefocus.
You know that he knew what hewanted and he was going for it.

(41:14):
A kid and then kind of, I guess,wanting that for myself to
where I was like, can you standon your own right now You're
just sort of, you're sort ofjust partying it up.
You're sort of a turd, youdon't really have direction.
So really, the Marine Corpsprobably would have been the
best thing for me because youlook at it, I joined up at 26.
So there's eight years therewhere I was just floundering

(41:36):
because I didn't make that jump,I didn't do anything hard that
required that discipline to doit.
And that's also why I think Ikind of took to the military
there, because it was somethingthat I needed.
It was something that I needed.
You know it was a shortcomingthat I had and I needed to get
it figured out.
And well, you know how do welearn in the military?

(41:56):
There's two ways repetition andblunt force, trauma.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
So yeah, the hard way or the easy way, you know if
you're going to be dumb youbetter be really strong, right,
exactly, or hard.
So I love this and you'retalking and I think right now,
the concept we're discussing hasa lot to do with growth and I
think people following you,people following me, they're

(42:21):
trying to grow.
So we all know you need to findyour.
Why Can you share any tips ongrowth, or someone maybe already
has their?
Why, like you went back toschool, you did these things to
keep pushing forward, to changeyour life, you know, to not
settling.
So let's hit on that growth soour listeners can get motivated

(42:43):
and fired up and they can starthaving their own asset mindset
and getting out there and makingchange and doing amazing things
, like you are.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
I well, that's one thing, right, okay.
So, like, those amazing thingsand stuff would have never been
possible without the peoplearound me.
So that that's one thing is,surround yourself with, with
good people, like if you are.
That's one of the things when,when guys leave the military,
they go right back to theirhometown or something and they
kind of put themselves back intothat environment, to where they
were before and it's likeyou're, you're different.

(43:18):
Now.
You definitely changed, likeyou don't want to go backwards
in your steps, you want to goforwards, forge forward.
Don't be afraid to um that fearthat you're experiencing in,
not maybe the hesitation of notwanting to do that.
Lean into it.
Surround yourself with peoplethat have that same mindset of
growth and honestly, take a good, honest assessment of yourself.

(43:40):
If you look at yourself, youhave flaws.
Everyone's got them.
You're like all right with mywhy, this is why I'm doing it,
or this is where I want to go,just small steps of improvement.
It doesn't happen overnight.
You're not going to be instantsuccess, as they say.
You know it's well.
I mean, like we talked about itbefore, the podcast thing that

(44:03):
I'm running now, episode one.
I look back and I go man, Ilook like an idiot in that
jacket that I was wearing, atleast on camera.
So let me go back and lookthrough the 50 plus episodes
that I've done as a guest and belike all right, where did that

(44:24):
look?
Kind of click, all right, hey,I'm wearing it right now.
So when I get onto a remotepodcast, this is where I'm at.
This is okay.
I brought a bookshelf in, I puta black curtain back here
instead of a green screen andstopped using virtual background
.
I went out.
Or, instead of a GoPro or alaptop camera, I went out and I

(44:44):
went to a camera shop and I waslike, look, I begged and pleaded
with the guy Like what do wegot that can just stream 1080?
And you know it's just a under$200 cheapy Sony 5100, but it
works perfectly once you haveyour lighting in a studio and
it's everything that I needthere.
But just one small thing at atime, you'll get there.

(45:07):
Just focus on that tiny thing,because if you go back and you
can see the progression, I'mactually about to go back and do
I ended season one, if you will.
I think it was after eightepisodes uh, to where I was like
, hey, I'm going to make a majorimprovement in lighting, you
know.
So that's where I'm gonna havemy AAR and I did.

(45:27):
I did an episode where I justsat down and that was weird.
Have you ever done an episodeto where you just sit there and
talk?

Speaker 1 (45:35):
I haven't done a full one where it's just me talking.
No, I've always been on theinterviewee side and been
interviewed several times.
I've been blessed myself and Ithink a lot of it is like you
said the small little thingsthat add up and then people
notice and you get invited ondifferent things and you know I

(45:56):
was blessed to be on Fox andFriends morning show one time
and that was incredible and it's.
You never know where it's goingto lead, just like you said.
And surrounding yourself withpeople that are doers.
You know I talk about concepts.
You know I talk about concepts.
You know the three main keys ofthe asset mindset, you know, is
taking ownership of your life,surrounding yourself with good

(46:16):
people and positive environmentsand then being an asset to
others.
You do these three things, youlearn these concepts and it's
life changing, it's gamechanging, like your lifestyle,
the things that happen.
It's just incredible and peopledon't realize those little
things.
Like you said and we'rediscussing now.
They add up.
You write one page, somebodywrites a page on a piece of

(46:41):
paper.
You're like, oh, big deal, youwrote a page in one day.
Well, guess what?
In a year you have a 365 pagebook.
You know what I mean.
So those little things and usetime as an asset can be totally
game changing and I love it andI want you also.
You mentioned your podcastseveral times.
Let's give it a plug.
What's the name?
Where can people find you?

Speaker 2 (46:59):
Oh man, veteran Success Story.
I mean, it is just and I knowit's a long tag, but it is at
Veteran Success Story, whetherit's on Instagram, facebook,
tiktok, linkedin I stoppedposting on X there's a lot of
Surrounding yourself with goodpeople and it just seems to be.
Anytime I go on there it's atoilet bowl and I'm like, ah,

(47:22):
it's getting worse.
I think I'm done supportingthis platform, but those are the
four that I majorly hit and,honestly, okay, so it's tooled
veteran success story, but it isnot my success.
Matter of fact, I still don'tsee myself as a success, which,
to some, might be like, well,you've done this other stuff.

(47:42):
That is honestly due to what wewere just saying the people
that have been around, or thestories, those opportunities and
stuff.
I'm still searching on that end, and it's other people that I
see out there that aresuccessful, as in what they do,
that I'm hoping to inspireothers to take that mantle up

(48:03):
and say, hey, you know what.
I want to move forward too inthis.
Like, how can I start doingthat?
I resonate with you know, oneof them I had on there more
recently, russell Worth Parker,and he was talking about using
writing as a therapy.
You know, and I saw that gainthrough the bookend.
You know, people don't realizethat when you put this stuff

(48:25):
down, but when you put itactually down on paper, not
talking about it, because oneguy came back and he he tried
doing it this way, he tried todictate it and then go back and
he's like it's a mess and I'mlike, yeah, well, the reason is
is when you are bringing thestiff back up, it's bubbling up

(48:45):
inside of you.
I experienced this especiallywith some of the more traumatic
episodes or not episodes, butthe traumatic instances within
the book, to where some of thosechapters were written just with
tears flowing down my face andI, you know you were back in
that valley experiencing that,but it's, your brain is slowing

(49:07):
down enough to process this andsaying, hey, what actually
happened out there?
Can you put yourself at thatvisceral level?
And when you do that, there'sparts of that book that I have
literally forgotten.
Not forgotten, forgotten, butit's not in the back of my head

(49:27):
all the time, to where it's likeI don't think about it unless
I'm around some of the guys andthat story comes up.
Or you know, I started goingthrough some of the chapters of
the book to be like hey, what dowe got to pull apart and
everything for a second edition,so there's something else in
the works down the road.
But yeah, exactly yeah.

(49:48):
So I mean and that's anotherthing too is it's like, hey,
this book did pretty good, butguess what?
I don't think it's perfect.
And you know, I'm getting readyfor print too.
Uh, and I'm going to make thenext one better than the last.
Um, but going back and and goingback there in your head,
letting your brain process thatit's therapeutic.

(50:09):
You know it really is.
It allows you to process it,and then it's not there anymore.
That's one of the things withtelling these stories, and these
stories do need to be toldabout those guys out there, but
it's not something I want todwell on in that way.
Things that happen for you, butdon't get caught up in the

(50:37):
minutiae of it, of like, don'tjust let it constantly loop in
your head there.
That's not the place to be.
That's.
That's not positive.
The positive end is taking itand learning from it.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
No, absolutely.
And I love how you.
You're talking about beingdriven and I think it's so funny
.
You know I've dealt with somany successful people through
my career, whether it's military, whether it's, you know, doing
celebrity bodyguard work andmeeting famous people.
It's so funny and you just didit because I just I love it
because you're like, oh, I'm nota success because you're driven

(51:08):
.
You know you can always dobetter.
It's like you know any infantryguy or combat guy that's built
a fighting position, what do you?
You never stop improving yourfighting position.
You know you're gonna add this,you're gonna add that.
Oh, I put some tree limbs.
Those leaves wilted the nextday.
I gotta replace that.
You know like you're alwaystrying to get better.
Try and that's drive and yougotta have drive and I love that

(51:31):
.
I see that in you, I see that inyour work and for all the
listeners out there get drivenbecause you can change and you
can make your life better andyou will make other people's
lives better in doing so.
I know Will you were talkingabout.
You know you were writing thebook.
It helped you in process, butlook how many other people
you've helped.
I've experienced that samething.

(51:52):
I'm like oh my God, you don'trealize the work that you do
when you're driven and you keeppushing forward and pushing
forward, how that can belife-changing for not only you,
your family, but pretty much therest of the world.
You don't know where thoseripples, or the butterfly effect
, as they say, you know goes outthere.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
That right there, that ripple effect is insane.
Like so the book website.
If you go to Damn the Valleybook, I have something on there
called the Wall of Stories, allright, and the amount of people
and the reach I mean we'retalking there was.
So there was an instance whereLieutenant Mayfield was hit and

(52:33):
he was bleeding from his head.
It was a head wound and we haveKiowa pilots circling, all
right, and they're on stationand this guy is losing blood and
they're like the medevac's onthe way.
But can we use one of theKiowas maybe?
Because this guy he needs toget to roll three fast.

(52:54):
They landed a Kiowa andactually tried loading them into
it at the point, but the guyfrom that day reached out, you
know, and was like this is myjournal from the day, this is
what happened from myperspective and actually took
pictures of them in the positionrendering first aid on

(53:14):
Lieutenant Mayfield on theground, like from the helicopter
position.
I've had other Kiowa pilotsreach out that have flown over
the Argon Dob.
Matter of fact, this week Ithink it's well, this is the
first week of May, so if you'llgo back in it, because I don't
know when these air, but thisweek is there's one of them to
where the guy actually is doinga gun run from the Kiowa uh

(53:36):
cockpit.
There's those, um, one of theEOD team had reached out and he
was actually on the incident towhere specialist Johnson was
killed.
He was alongside with us and hewas actually in Barnes and
Noble.
That story is nuts because hewas in Barnes Noble and he's
going through and he sees on thespine he sees the 82nd logo and

(54:00):
he sees Damn the Valley.
And we had a plaque in front ofCop Johnston that we turned the
symbol anyway into a hat andother stuff that we wore on
deployment.
It's in the museum so it saiddamn the Valley.
You know that was the sayingout there and he was just like
kind of approached it withhesitation but he pulled it out

(54:21):
and he opened it up and healmost freaked out in the store.
But he reached out and told meabout it and he had done a blog
post about that day, about hisown personal, and then he was
like dude, after hearing it fromyour perspective, it changed
everything for me, um, withinthat and it was interesting to

(54:41):
hear that end on how, uh, youknow that pulled apart the
incident for him.
You know other guys that haveread the book have reached out.
I'm getting the smells from theValley, you know.
I'm reading through these pagesand all of a sudden I'm
starting to smell the shit riverand stop.
And that's how descriptive isand confirmed in one of the
reviews on Amazon more recently.

(55:02):
Actually, they were like hey,man, if you got PTSD, like just
beware.
But the book was designed inthat way.
It was designed to have youface it, because if you look at
the ebb and flow, there's timeswhen it gets intense and then
all of a sudden there's either afunny moment or a lull and the
general public doesn'tunderstand those.
I've had people you knowthere's some of the bad reviews

(55:24):
are like man, this book's allover the place.
They're like this is weird,like it's, you know, but anyone
who's been there, welcome to adeployment.
Right, yeah, right, yeah.
And anyone who was in therelike is like, dude this book is.
Is that deployment?
Like thank you for writing this?
And it's even gone so far as um, afghans from out there there
was a, uh, he was 10 years oldat the time and he's now living

(55:46):
in the states.
He went stateside, his familyevacuated in 2012, but he
reached out and said thank,thank you, and I'm like that's
nuts.
Um, you know as well as uh,there's, there's, there's,
there's fanboys out there in theArgonaut river Valley.
Uh, one of them sent insomething he did a motorcycle
drive by the previous position,a cop, where he recognized the

(56:09):
triwalls, uh, and thesurrounding landscape, and he
was like you gotta be kidding me.
And he sent in on social media,sent me the Facebook message of
hey, is this where this was?
And I'm like whoa, that's crazy, because these were all kids
back then and they remember us.
It's nuts to think that waythat lasting effect of the US

(56:33):
presence within that valley andI know the situation over in
Afghanistan is horrible whereit's gone and where it is right
now, but we did leave an effectout there.
It wasn't all for vain, andthose guys need to know that too
, because sometimes they can getdown about that end.
What was all this for?
And everything was like youdon't.

(56:54):
You don't know those effects.
You don't know how far reachingthose effects were.
You did something great, youknow, and and some of those guys
are continuing to do greatthings.

Speaker 1 (57:03):
It's amazing, yeah no , and I like how you hit on that
Cause I struggled to like.
You know that pullout washorrible with Afghanistan.
I mean you couldn't do it anyworse?
I don't think.
But we've given so much blood,treasure, sacrifice, so much
people that have been over there.
You know, losing friends andbuddy, it's just well, what the

(57:27):
heck?
And we're just going to abandon.
But when you step back andremove yourself a little bit,
you have to do that.
Don't don't look at the smallmicro picture of like what's
happened in that moment is wherewe get to step back and look
bigger, and I've been able to belike.
You know what those people sawhope.
They saw what things can belike.

(57:47):
If anybody's following Legend,he's been on Sean Ryan.
I've had the pleasure to meetLegend and talk to him and you
know I've actually been in areaswhere his family's from and
whatnot, and to hear what'sstill going on in the Afghan
resistance and that belief andthat hope and that freedom
that's still out there.
Yeah, we did a lot.

(58:08):
So anyone that's struggling andI know it sucks with you 100
percent.
You know we, to be blunt, wefucked that up bad, and I want
you to know, though it's not fornothing.
We have lasting effects, justlike Will's talking about.
There are things that we'vedone that are going to go down

(58:29):
and change the world and havechanged the world and will
continue to change the world.
With it be stories from menwho've been over there, with it
being experiences, with itactually being infrastructure
that was changed.
You know, while we were there,that made the place better.
You know all the buildings andthings that we did.
Yeah, it sucks.
You know we spent a lot ofmoney there, but people will

(58:52):
eventually use them for goodthings, hopefully.
Think positive.
There's a lot of good workthat's been done.
Downrange the US Army we get alot of crap sometimes the
Marines or the military, forthat matter that we just go over
there and destroy and wreckthings.
And let me tell you it's notthat way.
I used to try and tell peoplewhen I got back from Afghanistan

(59:14):
.
It was like, yeah, we're apeace corps with guns.
I mean we were doing med caps.
You know I'm helping dewormlittle kids as a fucking green
beret.
You know what I mean, yeah, andthen I was blowing in doors and
pulling people out of their bedtoo, but that's the whole
gambit of life.
You know, some days it's sunny,some days it rains.
You know, sometimes it's ablizzard, sometimes it's a

(59:35):
tornado, sometimes the ocean iscalm, like that's.
It's all part of life.
So don't let any moment in timeget you stuck and think that
it's always going to be that way.
Stay driven, keep moving forwardand Will.
You are amazing.
I love the work you're doing.
I love the work you're doing.
I love the stories you'resharing.
I love how you inspire people,and I know you were saying

(59:57):
you're not a success.
Well, you are a success, butI'm looking forward to see you
be a bigger success because, man, you got it.
You got the asset mindset, andthat's why I try and tell people
you don't have to be specialforces to have the asset mindset
.
You're taking ownership of yourlife.
You're growing, you're movingforward.
You're surrounding yourselfwith good people, and I've heard

(01:00:18):
you say that repeatedly andthat's for anybody listening.
That's what you need to realize.
That is one of the greatestthings that you can do is
surround yourself with goodpeople, positive people, people
that are doing things and thathave goals just like you do.
Or find a mentor.
I tell you right now, will, youwere talking about helping

(01:00:40):
someone with their book, likethat's incredible and we're
happy to do it.
And people that are above youwell, they'll see your passion
or your desire to improve inthat drive and they're going to
want to help you.
They're going to want to sharewith you.
They will gladly teach you.
And if they don't, well thenguess what?
You probably didn't want tolearn from them anyways, but

(01:01:00):
anybody who's doing somethingworthwhile, they want to share
that knowledge.
They want to help lift otherpeople up, and that's having the
asset mindset.
So if you liked what you heardtoday, please take a moment.
So if you liked what you heardtoday, please take a moment

(01:01:33):
pause and subscribe to the AssetMindset podcast.
Follow me on Instagram.
You can follow and find thepodcast on Spotify.
We're out there.
Do a Google search, go to theAssetMindsetcom, check out my
book, check out Will's book andfollow him so you can get his
new book that's going to bereleased.
So, will, with that, I wouldlike to give you another
opportunity to close out andmaybe share one principle that
you've learned in your life withmindset that you can share with
our audience and help them grow.

Speaker 2 (01:01:49):
I mean, I'm just going to go back and regurgitate
the one that is about.
You know, stop thinking aboutwhy is this happening to me?
It's, why is this happening?
Like life happens for you.
It really does.
Like you have to change yourthinking in that way of like,
what do you have to overcome?
Where where's the break in it?
You can't give up.

(01:02:10):
You got to use that resiliencethat you have built in, you know
, but stay on that path.
I don't know the other ones thathave heard this, but I know my,
my command always used to sayhard right over easy wrong and
stay on that right path.
Don't, don't take the shortcut.
Go the long way.
You know, in building thisstuff, I reached out.

(01:02:30):
You would be surprised who Ireached out to.
I was also surprised, though,with who came back with stuff,
but there was things to whereI'm like I cannot break through
here.
What's going on with this?
And I really had to learn how todo it myself.
I didn't get the shortcut.
I didn't get someone who waslike, oh yeah, talk to this
person or make that introduction.
I had to learn how to do it andthen, through that, change your

(01:02:55):
mindset of become so dang goodat what you're doing, that you
can help other people out.
You know that it won't beignored anymore and people will
start coming to you and saying,man, this guy made it through
this.
Like how did he do it?
Because they will.
They'll start coming out Onceyou have the knowledge of how to
do something like this.
They'll start coming out andasking you questions and you

(01:03:18):
really have to look back and sayyou know, look at how, what you
went through during it.
Like now, how can you pass thatknowledge along and coach them?
Because you know how you feltduring it.
Like don't do it for them, butshow them the framework, show
them how it was done.
You know and be again you know.
This is the name of yourpodcast.

(01:03:38):
Be that asset out there,instead of the person tearing
other people down.

Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
Absolutely, and find asset mindset teammates.
They're out there, build them.
Build your team Like I use thewhole Special Forces ODA, you
know example.
When you're in, you have thisteam with all these subject
matter experts.
Well, guess what?
Build that for your life.
Build your own ODA.
Build your team with subjectmatter experts of things that

(01:04:05):
you need so you can do it.
I'm so honored and glad to haveyou on the show.
I love dealing with people thathave the asset mindset.
Sometimes they don't even knowthey have it and they have it.
It's a fantastic thing.
And, man, I wish this could goon even longer because I still
want to pick your brain aboutsome of the SOPSI stuff and when

(01:04:25):
you came in and what your timeframe, because I'm an 18 X-ray
also Nice.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
And.

Speaker 1 (01:04:30):
I went through SOPSI, yeah, and I lived in Delta 2105
.
Oh yeah, the old World WarSchool buildings.
And I also came in late.
I enlisted at 27 and turned 28in basic training.
One of my drill sergeantspulled me in and he's like what

(01:04:50):
the fuck are you doing here?
I'm like what do you mean,drill sergeant?
He's like you're 28 years old,you have a four-year college
degree, you have a real estatelicense, because you know they
got a file on us.
And he's like you're joining,going 11, bravo, to then try and
be a green beret.

(01:05:10):
And you know it was after 9 11.
I was like I'm being patrioticand I should serve.
And he's like all right, that'syour answer.
You know like why didn't you gointo ocs?
You get a four, four yeardegree.
I'm like because if I went toOCS then I'd be going to the
regular army and I wouldn't beable to go to selection for a
couple of years and whatnot.

(01:05:32):
And I'm like I wanted to go Ithink you've said this in the
past as well Like I want toserve with the best, because
guys at our time frame knew whenyou enlisted you're going down
range.
Oh yeah, you know, oef, oif,gwat was fucking raging and I'm
like I want to go with guys thatare going to really fight with

(01:05:53):
me and be badass, like that'swho I want to go with.
And luckily I was able to makeit.
I actually got held up in medhole too at SOPSI.
I tore my rectus femoris headduring SOPSI and luckily, you
know, I didn't quit.
I was popping motion like crazydid the last PT test.
They were getting ready to goto send us to selection and I'm

(01:06:15):
like I can't go to selectionwith the freaking torn muscle in
my you know right leg and so Iraised my hand.
I'm like, hey, I got to go tothe sick call and mention so
luckily I was able to um, stayand work there as um a corporal
for a little while.
So I don't know, maybe wecrossed paths.
So when were you going throughSOPSI?

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
So, uh, sopsi, let's see that's 2008.
Um, the cadre there the names Iget Pickney and Cyber, so if
you know those two, and Holstwas out at Sopsy, he was out, I
guess they kind of broke theteam up.
The three of those guys were onODA all together in seventh and

(01:06:57):
I don't know how they all endedup as cadre.
But if you recognize thosenames, then we were definitely
there about the same time I wasthere um oh four, so I was early
, sopsy way early early.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
So, yeah, you didn't have to shave your head back
then oh yeah, you did no, Ididn't.
I didn't, it was while I I wasin call and I was, uh, I just
gone to selection and come backbecause I was still staying
there, because I was helpingduring medical, because I was
older, like I said, yeah, and soI was like helping with

(01:07:32):
formations and being a runner orwhatever was needed by the
cadre, yeah, and so you know, Igot to stay and see a lot of the
changes.
Like we had a big gong that youknow, like the seals have the
bell.
There was a gong that you hadto go in front of everybody and
like hit this big gong and saywhy you're quitting and all that

(01:07:53):
.
And just, yeah, people don'tknow.
I mean, sopsy, it's probablythe best thing to prepare you
for combat.
I don't know as far as thestress and whatnot.
I mean it's probably the bestthing to prepare you for combat.
I don't know as far as thestress and whatnot.
I mean it's not the same, it'sa totally different animal, but
there's no way to reallyduplicate the stress of combat.

Speaker 2 (01:08:12):
We all know that, you know, you just can't Boy those
guys, they'll.

Speaker 1 (01:08:16):
They put you through the ringer.
It actually made selection easy.
Yes, yeah, you made selectioneasy.

Speaker 2 (01:08:21):
Yes, yeah, yeah, I know afterwards like so, after I
got back from the Argon Dob andwent back to selection and, you
know, pass through that phase,selection was simple after the
Argon Dob.
But also, like it made me thinktoo, I'm like man, I could have
done this, like why did I go toMeta Hold after that?
Like I could have just toughedit out?
I mean, maybe so, maybe not, Idon't know.

(01:08:44):
But whatever the case, honestly, looking back on it and
everything, I'm glad thatportion happened the way that it
did, just because, number one,I met some of the best people
that I'll ever know.
You know, through thatparticular deployment I don't
think you could ever recreate it.
But then seeing thatprogression and then going back

(01:09:06):
through selection and going, ohokay, I got it.
Now I was told by one of thecadre on the way out the door
they're like we're doing you afavor in this way.
I didn't see it at the time,but in a way now I do see it as
that way, to where it was, likeyou had a hellacious experience,
but it's really shaped andmolded a lot of what you've done
going on.

(01:09:26):
So thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Yeah, the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Speaker 2 (01:09:30):
God's got a plan.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
It's his plan, not our plan.
We try and work it.
I never thought I'd be anauthor.
Did you think you'd be anauthor?
Oh heck, no, you know, like itjust happens.

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
That's the other thing.
That was and this is somethingthat Denny's going to want to
mark if he's in the backgrounddoing this producing end of
things.
But that flag and a bunch ofartifacts from the stories in
the book.
You can actually go down to theSpecial Airborne and Special
Operations Museum in downtownFayetteville and we had the book

(01:10:02):
launch there.
Operations museum in downtownFayetteville and we had the book
launch there.
But all that stuff is now inthe DOD historical archives as a
piece of history to bepreserved for perpetuity.
So I mean, as long as theUnited States is around and the
DOD museums are there.
There it is just like IndianaJones.
This belongs in a museum.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Well, there it is.
That's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
And I would have never, ever thought that this
would have been, you know,brought and I would have had
this piece be part of it, ofgetting this story, you know, to
that level out there.
That to me is just it's special.
I'm glad that.
I'm glad I've kind of listenedalong the way, and I'm glad I
took that plunge and listened tothat voice in the background

(01:10:44):
that said, hey, man, you reallyshould put these stories down,
because I could have justdiscounted it and I didn't lean
into it.
And here we are.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
That's another great point for all you listeners out
there Listen to your gut, listento spirit, listen to guidance.
You know that little voice inyour head.
It's there for a reason, andwhen it's there for a reason,
you know, and when it's tellingyou doubt, eh, that's the other
side.
You know there's the positiveand the negative, but if you
have something that's itching inthere, that little voice or
that gut feeling where you needto be doing something and I know

(01:11:13):
anyone who's listening outthere you know there's something
you could be doing.
There's something in therethat's eating at you, so get out
there and do it.
There's something in therethat's eating at you, so get out
there and do it.
You know, figure it out.
Don't be the.
I can't figure.
How do I Get that?
How do I mentality, because youcan do it Might take a little

(01:11:35):
time, but you can do it.

Speaker 2 (01:11:36):
Daniel man, 100% right there.

Speaker 1 (01:11:37):
Hey, will, I got to thank you for being here today
and for all the listeners outthere.
Take a moment, follow Will.
Go into our description.
There's links in thedescription where you can follow
and find Will.
Please go in there and give mea follow and subscription as
well.
If you like the content thatyou heard today and you believe
in the asset mindset andpositivity and good mental

(01:11:58):
health, give us a follow.
It really helps and let's helpget this algorithm going so we
can get out there and help morepeople, because Will and I are
trying to make the world abetter place and you can help us
do it.
Thank you, thank you, will,thank you listeners.
God bless you all and see younext time.