February 23, 2025 • 10 mins
Are you tired of guessing your way through workouts, life goals, or personal growth?
Do you feel like you’re working hard but not seeing real progress?
Here’s the truth: If you’re not measuring your performance, you’re not growing.
You can’t conquer what you don’t track.
In this powerful episode of The Highly Effective Man Podcast, we’re diving deep into the game-changer that separates the average from the elite: Benchmarks.
Hosted by JP Bolwahnn—13-year Navy SEAL veteran, life and fitness coach, and the man who knows what it takes to break through limits—this episode will challenge you to stop guessing and start growing.
What You’ll Discover:
- Why Benchmarks Are Non-Negotiable: The brutal truth about why most men fail to see progress—and how setting the right benchmarks changes everything.
- How to Measure What Matters: The 3 key areas every Highly Effective Man must track—Strength, Endurance, and Mental Grit.
- The Power of Facing the Truth: How benchmarks force you to confront your weaknesses so you can turn them into strengths.
- A SEAL Success Story: JP shares a powerful story about coaching a future Navy SEAL who went from struggling with push-ups to crushing the SEAL PST—all because of strategic benchmarking.
- The SEAL PST Challenge: Ready to test your limits? Learn how this brutal test can push you to new levels of strength, resilience, and discipline.
This Episode Isn’t for the Faint of Heart.
It’s for men who refuse to be average. Men who are ready to face the truth, adapt, and conquer.
If you’re tired of settling, if you’re ready to break through your limits and become the man you were meant to be—hit play now.
No more guessing. No more excuses.
It’s time to Test, Adapt, and Conquer.
Listen, subscribe, and share with another man who refuses to settle for mediocrity.
New episodes every week.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
Get after it.
Join the brotherhood today:
https://www.skool.com/thehighlyeffectiveman/about
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast, hosted
by former Navy SEAL turned lifeand fitness coach.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan.
This podcast is your resourcefor unlocking the healthiest,
most productive and highlyeffective man within you.
Let's go what's up, guys.
(00:35):
Welcome back to the HighlyEffective man podcast.
This is the show where we breakbarriers, build elite fitness
and master the mindset needed tolead with purpose.
I'm JP Bolwan, 13-year NavySEAL, veteran life and fitness
coach, and a guy who believesthat being highly effective
isn't about just talk.
It's about action.
So today we're talking aboutsomething that separates men who
achieve greatness from the oneswho just coast by.
(00:57):
We're talking about benchmarks,right, getting data of where we
are at physically, not just,you know, having an idea.
Right, it's cold, hard numbers.
So if you're guessing your waythrough workouts or hoping that
you're getting better, you'rejust fooling yourself, okay?
Because if you don't have thosehard numbers staring back at
(01:18):
you, showing you exactly whereyou are, then you're just
leaving progress up to chance.
Right?
You can't grow what you don'tmeasure.
And the great thing aboutbenchmarks is that they don't
lie.
They don't care about how youfeel, they don't care about how
busy you are or what excuses youhave.
They're a mirror showing youexactly where you stand.
(01:42):
Right?
If you want to break through tothat next level, you need that
truth.
There's no sugarcoating, noguessing, just cold, hard
numbers, right?
So let's get after it Now.
Most men avoid benchmarksbecause they're afraid of what
they might see.
Right, they don't want to facethe reality that they're not as
(02:05):
strong as they think, or they'renot as fast, or maybe they're
not as disciplined as they tellthemselves.
Right, that's like somebody whodoesn't want to step on the
scale because they don't reallywant to know how much they weigh
.
Right, but if you're willing toface the truth, then you're
willing to grow, okay.
And if you're not willing toface the truth, you you're
willing to grow, okay.
And if you're not willing toface the truth, you're not
(02:28):
willing to grow.
It's simple as that.
Right?
And benchmarks are great datapoints that will provide a
roadmap for you to pursue thosegoals.
Right, they show you whereyou're at so you can create a
plan of where you want to go.
They tell you what's workingand what's not, and without them
(02:49):
, you're just spinning yourwheels.
You don't really know.
You might have an idea, but youdon't really know, Like if you
don't ever take the time tomeasure your waist, you might
say, okay, yeah, I'm probablyabout a 32 or 33.
But, like, how do you knowunless you actually measure it
right?
And then you measure it againin three months and see are you
(03:09):
actually progressing, right?
If you don't know how manypushups you can do in a minute
or two minutes?
How do you know if you'regetting stronger If you don't
know your mile time or mile anda half time?
How do you know if yourendurance is improving?
Okay, if you don't know yourdeadlift max or your squat max?
How do you know if you'reactually building strength?
(03:30):
Right, you don't.
And benchmarks will give youthat clarity.
They give you direction, theygive you purpose and if you're
serious about becoming a highlyeffective man, you need all
three.
And it's funny because yesterdayI met with a friend right and
you know, talking aboutbenchmarks, one of the first
(03:53):
things that we did when we metwas basically this guy.
He wanted to become a Navy SEAL, right, and he reached out to
me about eight years ago.
And this guy right now he'sthriving, he's crushing it, he's
on his way to a stellar careerin one of the world's most
demanding environments.
But I'll take you back to howit all started.
(04:14):
So you know, about eight ornine years ago he came to me and
said like you know, jp, I heardyou were a SEAL, can you help
me become one?
And now there's.
You know, obviously there's alot of guys that say that or
they think it'd be cool tobecome a Navy SEAL, but very few
people have what it takes tomake it.
We sat down, asked him a fewquestions just to see where his
(04:38):
mind was at and see if this wassomebody that I wanted to put
effort into training as a coach,then spending your time putting
in a lot of effort to hopefullyhelp somebody reach their goals
, but then they don'treciprocate that same amount of
effort, right?
Well, he didn't come across asthat way.
(04:59):
So obviously I took him onboard and you know we started
training right.
But one of the things I wantedto know was what his numbers
were on the seal, on the seal,pst, and that's the?
Uh, the PST stands for physicalscreening test.
Okay, and for those of you guysthat don't know what the, the
physical screening test is, it's.
It's basically a benchmark testthat measures your swim time,
(05:23):
your pushups, your pull-ups,sit-ups and a run, and it's the
very first barrier to entry andit's no joke, okay, I mean, if
you've never done it and it'slike something that you know is
new to you, it can be somewhatchallenging, right, but he was a
swimmer, so his swim was solid,his pull-ups were okay, his
(05:45):
push-ups were terrible, hissit-ups were average and his run
was decent, but not great,right, but we had a benchmark,
we had a baseline.
We knew exactly where he wasand where he needed to go and
what numbers he needed to get ifhe wanted to have a chance to
show up to buds, or what's alsoknown as just sealed training.
(06:09):
Okay, but with those initialnumbers, we created a plan and a
targeted strategy to attacksome of his weaknesses, like the
pushups and, uh, you know,maximize his strengths, right,
just get his swim time better,get his runtime better.
But we hammered pushups likecrazy.
We did all kinds of things toimprove his pushups, uh, but we
(06:30):
also improved his runtime.
We turned his okay pull-upsinto a strength and he didn't
just pass the PST, he crushed it, right, and the rest is history
.
Now he's, you know, nine yearsin the SEAL teams and you know
he's thriving, right, he'sfacing some challenges that most
men can't even imagine.
And it all started with justgetting some benchmarks Right.
(06:53):
Without those numbers, wewouldn't have known where to
focus, how to train or how tomeasure progress Right.
And that's the power thatbenchmarks have they give you
the data to make real progressRight.
They allow you to see if whatyou're doing is actually working
(07:14):
right.
And this isn't for just SEALtraining, it goes for everything
your fitness, your health, yourmindset, you know it can be
even like your blood work.
You're looking at, you know, ismy blood work getting better?
Right, every time you get yourblood work taken, that's a data
point right.
Body composition or performancemetrics.
Benchmarks give you the datathat you need to grow right.
(07:39):
So, right now, this week, uh,we're doing some benchmarks in
the highly effective mancommunity, right, and I've sent,
I've, I've set out somebenchmarks for the guys, uh, but
we're testing, you know,endurance and work capacity.
We're looking at a strength, abenchmark.
And then I threw in the CLPSTin there, right, and for a lot
(07:59):
of those guys it'll be the firsttime they've ever done the
COPSD, and I'm sure some ofthose guys, when they signed up
on the program or to be in thecommunity.
They're like I didn't sign upfor this, but guess what it's?
It's something that's going topush you and it's going to, you
know, show you where your limitsare.
Right.
But it's also just going togive them a benchmark that they
(08:21):
can compare against in thefuture.
Right, and if you're not in thecommunity and you still want to
test yourself this week, justset benchmarks in three areas.
Right, look at what's a goodstrength benchmark for me,
what's a good endurancebenchmark, what's a good mental
grit benchmark?
And then track the numbers,write them down and face the
(08:42):
truth.
Right.
If you don't like what you see,just adapt to it.
Right, start creating a planand that's going to take you in
the direction that you want togo.
Right, If you hit new personalrecords, don't get comfortable.
Push harder, see if you can,you know, break a record on the
next one, you know.
And if you fell short, don'tbeat yourself up, just adjust
(09:04):
and then attack again.
Okay, because that's how highlyeffective men operate.
We test, we adapt, we conquer.
Right, and I'm gonna leave youwith this the man who tests his
limits becomes limitless, right?
So if you're ready, then let'sget after it.
(09:24):
Okay, and if this episode firedyou up.
Do me a favor subscribe, shareit with somebody who needs to
hear this and leave a review,and your feedback means the
world to me and it helps getthis message out to more men who
need it.
All right, and if you're readyto take it to the next level,
join us in the Highly Effectiveman community, because that's
where we're putting thesebenchmarks to the test, building
(09:46):
elite fitness and mastering themindset to lead with purpose.
So until next time, stay strong, stay disciplined, stay highly
effective.
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in to theHighly Effective man podcast.
If you found value today, hitthat subscribe button and stay
(10:09):
connected.
I want to invite you to join myincredible community, the
Highly Effective man.
The link is in the show notesbelow.
It's a powerful space whereyou'll find support,
accountability and camaraderiewith men who are committed to
growth and living purposely, andyour voice matters.
So leave a review and shareyour thoughts and help us reach
more men just like you.
Together, let's elevate ourlives and become the best
versions of ourselves.
Stay highly effective.
(10:30):
See you next time.
Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast, hosted
by former Navy SEAL turned lifeand fitness coach.
I'm your host, jp Bolwan.
This podcast is your resourcefor unlocking the healthiest,
most productive and highlyeffective man within you.
Let's go what's up, guys.
(00:35):
Welcome back to the HighlyEffective man podcast.
This is the show where we breakbarriers, build elite fitness
and master the mindset needed tolead with purpose.
I'm JP Bolwan, 13-year NavySEAL, veteran life and fitness
coach, and a guy who believesthat being highly effective
isn't about just talk.
It's about action.
So today we're talking aboutsomething that separates men who
achieve greatness from the oneswho just coast by.
(00:57):
We're talking about benchmarks,right, getting data of where we
are at physically, not just,you know, having an idea.
Right, it's cold, hard numbers.
So if you're guessing your waythrough workouts or hoping that
you're getting better, you'rejust fooling yourself, okay?
Because if you don't have thosehard numbers staring back at
(01:18):
you, showing you exactly whereyou are, then you're just
leaving progress up to chance.
Right?
You can't grow what you don'tmeasure.
And the great thing aboutbenchmarks is that they don't
lie.
They don't care about how youfeel, they don't care about how
busy you are or what excuses youhave.
They're a mirror showing youexactly where you stand.
(01:42):
Right?
If you want to break through tothat next level, you need that
truth.
There's no sugarcoating, noguessing, just cold, hard
numbers, right?
So let's get after it Now.
Most men avoid benchmarksbecause they're afraid of what
they might see.
Right, they don't want to facethe reality that they're not as
(02:05):
strong as they think, or they'renot as fast, or maybe they're
not as disciplined as they tellthemselves.
Right, that's like somebody whodoesn't want to step on the
scale because they don't reallywant to know how much they weigh
.
Right, but if you're willing toface the truth, then you're
willing to grow, okay.
And if you're not willing toface the truth, you you're
willing to grow, okay.
And if you're not willing toface the truth, you're not
(02:28):
willing to grow.
It's simple as that.
Right?
And benchmarks are great datapoints that will provide a
roadmap for you to pursue thosegoals.
Right, they show you whereyou're at so you can create a
plan of where you want to go.
They tell you what's workingand what's not, and without them
(02:49):
, you're just spinning yourwheels.
You don't really know.
You might have an idea, but youdon't really know, Like if you
don't ever take the time tomeasure your waist, you might
say, okay, yeah, I'm probablyabout a 32 or 33.
But, like, how do you knowunless you actually measure it
right?
And then you measure it againin three months and see are you
(03:09):
actually progressing, right?
If you don't know how manypushups you can do in a minute
or two minutes?
How do you know if you'regetting stronger If you don't
know your mile time or mile anda half time?
How do you know if yourendurance is improving?
Okay, if you don't know yourdeadlift max or your squat max?
How do you know if you'reactually building strength?
(03:30):
Right, you don't.
And benchmarks will give youthat clarity.
They give you direction, theygive you purpose and if you're
serious about becoming a highlyeffective man, you need all
three.
And it's funny because yesterdayI met with a friend right and
you know, talking aboutbenchmarks, one of the first
(03:53):
things that we did when we metwas basically this guy.
He wanted to become a Navy SEAL, right, and he reached out to
me about eight years ago.
And this guy right now he'sthriving, he's crushing it, he's
on his way to a stellar careerin one of the world's most
demanding environments.
But I'll take you back to howit all started.
(04:14):
So you know, about eight ornine years ago he came to me and
said like you know, jp, I heardyou were a SEAL, can you help
me become one?
And now there's.
You know, obviously there's alot of guys that say that or
they think it'd be cool tobecome a Navy SEAL, but very few
people have what it takes tomake it.
We sat down, asked him a fewquestions just to see where his
(04:38):
mind was at and see if this wassomebody that I wanted to put
effort into training as a coach,then spending your time putting
in a lot of effort to hopefullyhelp somebody reach their goals
, but then they don'treciprocate that same amount of
effort, right?
Well, he didn't come across asthat way.
(04:59):
So obviously I took him onboard and you know we started
training right.
But one of the things I wantedto know was what his numbers
were on the seal, on the seal,pst, and that's the?
Uh, the PST stands for physicalscreening test.
Okay, and for those of you guysthat don't know what the, the
physical screening test is, it's.
It's basically a benchmark testthat measures your swim time,
(05:23):
your pushups, your pull-ups,sit-ups and a run, and it's the
very first barrier to entry andit's no joke, okay, I mean, if
you've never done it and it'slike something that you know is
new to you, it can be somewhatchallenging, right, but he was a
swimmer, so his swim was solid,his pull-ups were okay, his
(05:45):
push-ups were terrible, hissit-ups were average and his run
was decent, but not great,right, but we had a benchmark,
we had a baseline.
We knew exactly where he wasand where he needed to go and
what numbers he needed to get ifhe wanted to have a chance to
show up to buds, or what's alsoknown as just sealed training.
(06:09):
Okay, but with those initialnumbers, we created a plan and a
targeted strategy to attacksome of his weaknesses, like the
pushups and, uh, you know,maximize his strengths, right,
just get his swim time better,get his runtime better.
But we hammered pushups likecrazy.
We did all kinds of things toimprove his pushups, uh, but we
(06:30):
also improved his runtime.
We turned his okay pull-upsinto a strength and he didn't
just pass the PST, he crushed it, right, and the rest is history
.
Now he's, you know, nine yearsin the SEAL teams and you know
he's thriving, right, he'sfacing some challenges that most
men can't even imagine.
And it all started with justgetting some benchmarks Right.
(06:53):
Without those numbers, wewouldn't have known where to
focus, how to train or how tomeasure progress Right.
And that's the power thatbenchmarks have they give you
the data to make real progressRight.
They allow you to see if whatyou're doing is actually working
(07:14):
right.
And this isn't for just SEALtraining, it goes for everything
your fitness, your health, yourmindset, you know it can be
even like your blood work.
You're looking at, you know, ismy blood work getting better?
Right, every time you get yourblood work taken, that's a data
point right.
Body composition or performancemetrics.
Benchmarks give you the datathat you need to grow right.
(07:39):
So, right now, this week, uh,we're doing some benchmarks in
the highly effective mancommunity, right, and I've sent,
I've, I've set out somebenchmarks for the guys, uh, but
we're testing, you know,endurance and work capacity.
We're looking at a strength, abenchmark.
And then I threw in the CLPSTin there, right, and for a lot
(07:59):
of those guys it'll be the firsttime they've ever done the
COPSD, and I'm sure some ofthose guys, when they signed up
on the program or to be in thecommunity.
They're like I didn't sign upfor this, but guess what it's?
It's something that's going topush you and it's going to, you
know, show you where your limitsare.
Right.
But it's also just going togive them a benchmark that they
(08:21):
can compare against in thefuture.
Right, and if you're not in thecommunity and you still want to
test yourself this week, justset benchmarks in three areas.
Right, look at what's a goodstrength benchmark for me,
what's a good endurancebenchmark, what's a good mental
grit benchmark?
And then track the numbers,write them down and face the
(08:42):
truth.
Right.
If you don't like what you see,just adapt to it.
Right, start creating a planand that's going to take you in
the direction that you want togo.
Right, If you hit new personalrecords, don't get comfortable.
Push harder, see if you can,you know, break a record on the
next one, you know.
And if you fell short, don'tbeat yourself up, just adjust
(09:04):
and then attack again.
Okay, because that's how highlyeffective men operate.
We test, we adapt, we conquer.
Right, and I'm gonna leave youwith this the man who tests his
limits becomes limitless, right?
So if you're ready, then let'sget after it.
(09:24):
Okay, and if this episode firedyou up.
Do me a favor subscribe, shareit with somebody who needs to
hear this and leave a review,and your feedback means the
world to me and it helps getthis message out to more men who
need it.
All right, and if you're readyto take it to the next level,
join us in the Highly Effectiveman community, because that's
where we're putting thesebenchmarks to the test, building
(09:46):
elite fitness and mastering themindset to lead with purpose.
So until next time, stay strong, stay disciplined, stay highly
effective.
Let's go.
Thanks for tuning in to theHighly Effective man podcast.
If you found value today, hitthat subscribe button and stay
(10:09):
connected.
I want to invite you to join myincredible community, the
Highly Effective man.
The link is in the show notesbelow.
It's a powerful space whereyou'll find support,
accountability and camaraderiewith men who are committed to
growth and living purposely, andyour voice matters.
So leave a review and shareyour thoughts and help us reach
more men just like you.
Together, let's elevate ourlives and become the best
versions of ourselves.
Stay highly effective.
(10:30):
See you next time.
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