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Writer's pictureBrian Page

Navy Seal Mental Toughness: How to be Strong for Your Family

A conversation with retired Navy Seal Jon Macaskill

Navy Seal Mental Toughness: How to be Strong for Your Family

We were honored to host Jon Macaskill on the Modern Husbands Podcast.


Jon Macaskill is a retired Navy SEAL Commander turned leadership and mindfulness coach. During his 24-year Navy career, he served in multiple highly dynamic leadership positions from the battlefield to the operations center and the board room.



Emotions in Marriage


When you have had a bad day


As you can imagine, a stressful day on the job for a NAVY Seal is beyond comprehension for many of us, at least for me.


We asked Jon how he communicates his state of mind to his family.


Transcript Excerpt


Jon Macaskill: Yeah, I'm not perfect at it by any stretch. Brené Brown had a great response to a question from Tim Ferriss:



And Brené Brown says,


"You know, it's a crock of, you know what? When people talk about marriage being 50/50, any type of relationship is not really 50/50."

A lot of the time, one person is going to have more energy, more wherewithal in that relationship and being able to communicate, that's coming home and saying, you know what?


I've had a rough day. This is on my mind. This is on my mind.


I'm not at 100%, I'm at 20%. And then the other person is saying,


"You know what? I'm at 80%. I will help pick up your slack."

Or if you're both at 20%, sitting down and saying,


"Okay, we're both at 20%. How do we work through this?"

I've tried using the strategy, and my wife works well with me.


She picks up my slack quite often. But yeah, I think just sitting down, even if it's just for a minute and expressing, look, this is what this, this is what's been going on today.


I think that's just a very quick, easy litmus test, if you will, just to check in with one another.


 


 

How to reduce the stress you're bringing in the home


Box breathing is a deep breathing technique that can reengage your "thinking mind" by distracting yourself from whatever is weighing heavily on you, triggering physiological responses that reduce anxiety or anger.


Below is a graphic that illustrates how to use the strategy when feeling overwhelmed or needing to stay focused.

Box breathing

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The Marriage Toolkit preview includes details of how to talk to your partner about money, which should be the first step in preparing to make one of the biggest purchasing decisions in your life. 


The toolkit is designed for couples who want to manage money and the home as a team to empower them with the knowledge and resources to start, strengthen, or rebuild their marriages.


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