L E S S O N

UNBEATABLE
MIND
Secrets for developing
Mental Toughness and
an Unbeatable Mind!
By Mark Divine

1
L E S S O N

UNBEATABLE
MIND
Secrets for developing
Mental Toughness and
an Unbeatable Mind!
By Mark Divine

1
 Unbeatable Mind Copyright
© 2014-2015
by Mark Divine

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage
and retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from Mark Divine, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

WIN IN YOUR MIND BEFORE STEPPING INTO THE ARENA /p6

WHERE DO WE START /p8
The Foundation Framework
Connect With Your Witness
Um Drill: Sacred Silence

CULTIVATING AN UNFETTERED MIND /p12

The Jingle/Mantra

THE BIG FOUR OF MENTAL TOUGHNESS /p13

Tips On Visualization
Fish Bowl Guided Visualization
Still Water Runs Deep Guided Visualization
Live An Examined Life

ONE THING AND 3P’S /p20

Working Space For One Thing And 3P Exercises

THE MORNING PRACTICE /p25

UNBEATABLE YOGA /p27
LESSON ONE EXERCISES /p31
LESSON ONE CONTEMPLATION JOURNAL /p32
FOCUS PLAN /p34

LESSON 1 4
LESSON 1

Win in Your Mind

before Stepping into
the Arena

LESSON 1 5
WELCOME TO THE first lesson of the Foundation Course. In this lesson I will discuss
the following topics:

1. The Framework of the Unbeatable Mind training system

2. The Witness Process for developing mental control
3. The Jingle/Mantra for maintaining your concentration
4. A short introduction to “The Big Four of Mental Toughness”
5. An introduction to Visualization and the Fish Bowl and Still Water Runs
Deep Guided Visualization practices
6. The Self-Awareness process: Aligning and clarifying your 3P’s of Passion,
Purpose, and Principles

Additionally, I will introduce the following training tools that we will be working
on throughout the Foundation Course:

7. The Morning Practice Ritual

8. Unbeatable Yoga
9. Lesson One Exercises, Journal Questions and Focus Plan Documents

So, there is a lot to cover. If you have read the book Unbeatable Mind, then
you already have a baseline understanding of where we are going with the first three
lessons. The lesson title is Win in Your Mind Before Stepping into the Arena, which
accurately describes the intent of this lesson. It is the beginning point, our “first
premise” which underlies the rest of the training. The first premise is inspired by this
quote from Sun Tzu, author of the perennial work The Art of War:

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,

while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

As a warrior and leader, your first premise is to cultivate control over your mind
and establish the conditions for the win before you set off for battle. If you are a soldier,
then your battle will be your mission; if you are an entrepreneur or business executive,
it will be new business or product launch, a proxy fight or dealing with an accelerating
and chaotic business climate. If you are an athlete, it will be your competition, and if
you are a student, your education. Whatever your pursuits or passion, you will learn to

LESSON 1 6
win it first in your mind, and then play full out in the arena to actualize that win. But
where do we start? And isn’t there more involved in peak performance and success
than just thinking your way to success? Yes, of course! Unbeatable Mind is designed
to train you as a “whole person,” in an integrated manner, and our concept of mind is
much broader than the typical Western view. Our premise is that we have many intel-
ligences that express themselves in different ways, including cognitive, intuitional,
emotional, physical and spiritual intelligences, among others. These are not typically
considered “your mind,” but I believe that in a sense, they are. You see, your mind
infuses your entire being, and those aspects of it, or intelligences, are simply ways
that we express it in the world. Thus, when I talk about forging an Unbeatable Mind,
I am really saying that it is time to step up to your full potential as a human being!
Many warrior traditions, from the Spartans to the SEALs, have an approach to
training that can be compared to Unbeatable Mind in that they combine physical,
mental, emotional and spiritual training to cultivate the complete warrior. I believe
strongly that this approach is crucial for all of you now to unlock your accelerated
learning and to grow to the highest levels possible as a human. You will need it in the
coming years as the massive changes wrought on by the collision of the technological
revolution with the outdated governmental and corporate systems leads to unprec-
edented abundance and utter chaos.
How did I develop Unbeatable Mind? Through my twenty years as a SEAL, nearly
thirty years of martial arts training and fifteen years of yoga practice, and teaching
these principles for close to ten years, I have been exposed to a plethora of incredibly
advanced thinking, tools and methods from esoteric and uncommon sources including
training in Zen, Yoga, Pranayama, Healing, Remote Viewing, Visualization, Sacred
Silence, Tibetan Mantras, Ninjutsu, and San Soo Offensive Mind Training. All of these
have incredibly valuable training methods that are all but inaccessible or even unap-
pealing to the busy Westerner. But they had a profound impact on my thinking and
performance. So I was compelled to develop simple-to-understand tools from the best
practices of these great traditions, and to use them to train SEAL candidates. Since
2006, I have trained thousands and have validated the effectiveness of these tools.
Now, with Unbeatable Mind, I can teach them in a context that is understandable
and appealing to the Western mind…yours.
This program can be described as integrated human performance training. And it
has led to massive breakthroughs and accelerated growth for those who have committed
to the training. My students have all experienced improved awareness, functional fit-

LESSON 1 7
ness, health, concentration, presence, mental toughness, performance, and leadership
authenticity. In addition, they express a greater sense of purpose and contribution to
society and are generally happier and more content. Those are amazing results that
I am excited to have you experience!

Where do we start?
The UM process starts with learning to connect with your witness, and then to
witness your mind in action. Eventually you will bring it under your total control and
use your cognitive mind more powerfully. As you accomplish this, you will also learn
how to tap into your greater mind, the source of wisdom and intuition. Once you can
clearly observe your mind in action and note how both positive and negative thought
patterns arise and fall, you can proactively interdict negative and weak thoughts, re-
direct the mind to positive and powerful thoughts, and maintain a stream of powerful
consciousness focused on achieving lofty goals tied to a unique purpose.
However, developing mental control and connecting with your witness takes a
little practice. That is why we call the exercises “practices.” In Lesson One I introduce
you to two guided visualization practices and the morning practice to get you started
on your journey. But let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture before we
get into the details.

THE FOUNDATION FRAMEWORK

The first three lessons focus on developing mental control, cultivating self-aware-
ness, learning the Big Four of Mental Toughness, and introducing the two disciplines
of the warrior-leader as well as the 5 Mountains of Development. These three lessons
alone are enough to tap into your “20X Factor” potential and accelerate your growth.
Then we will look into three sphere integral awareness and sheepdog strong tools in
Lesson Four. Lessons Five through Nine penetrate each of the 5 Mountains in detail.
Lessons Ten to Twelve are about moving into the practical realm of leadership and
building elite teams, and operating with a Kokoro approach to life.
In the chart below, I want you to see the foundational importance of the self-
awareness principles and gaining control of your body, mind and emotions. Every-

LESSON 1 8
thing else is built upon this work; work that most people never do in their lives. This
foundation will be strong and deep, allowing you to build an amazing fortress of a life
upon it. The integral accelerator is your 5 Mountain training, which takes place in a
daily, weekly, monthly and annual format (a great look at how that works is found in
my book The Way of the SEAL). As your training unfolds new insights and plateaus of
consciousness, you will naturally turn your attention more toward service and toward
aligning your life for massive 20X performance. At the peak of the pyramid is the
target, which you are shooting for. The target is connected to your ONE Thing, and
you use KISS planning to identify and ensure you have a target that FITS. Finally,
you will use the feedback process of the OODA loop and debrief to ensure you are
constantly learning and failing forward fast, gaining momentum toward massive suc-
cess. Note that over 80% of the work is done “inside” – or is intentional. Only 20%
is attentional action. Hence the importance of winning in your mind, before you step
foot into the arena! Next, we will begin the process of discovering your witness and
developing mental control.

LESSON 1 9
LESSON 1 10
CONNECT WITH YOUR WITNESS

Have you ever been knee-deep in an argument when you suddenly had the ex-
perience of separating from the dialogue and watching the absurdity of what you and
the other person are doing? You may break out laughing as you instantaneously shift
from identifying with the thoughts and words spewing out of your mouth to what I
call your witness. Your witness is not attached to the thoughts and knows it was all
B.S. anyhow. This is a very liberating moment! The more often you surrender to your
witness, the wiser you become. You will eventually allow your witness an equal posi-
tion with your rational mind. The witness process is a four-step process that you will
learn to go through in an instant. Here it is:

1. Witness your mind in action. If the thoughts are negative, unfocused or

not moving you toward your target, then…
2. Interdict the thoughts with a Power Statement, such as Stop! Or Not this!
Then…
3. Redirect your mind with positive, purposeful self-talk and imagery and
move it toward producing a tangible result tied to getting you closer to
your target (your current goal), then…
4. Maintain your new mental state with a personal Jingle / Mantra.

In order to connect with your witness, you will need to take time to be completely
silent. The silence does not have to be with any special form of meditation – it can
be deep concentration or contemplation. In those moments you will bring awareness
to the content of your mind, rather than taking it for granted. This creates a second
person perspective on your inner self. Meditation achieves a similar result, along with
being great for stress release, for growing your synaptic connections, and increasing
your intelligence. However, most meditation practices (such as Transcendental Medi-
tation or Zen) come from a culture we are not familiar with and are difficult for the
contemporary Westerner to wrap their heads around. Therefore, I recommend simple
drills and guided visualizations that will focus and clear your mind quickly. The sim-
plest drill is called Sacred Silence and it is described below. The others are guided
or self-directed visualization exercised titled The Fish Bowl and Still Water Runs
Deep, all of which can be used as a jumping off point for developing mental control.
I describe the Sacred Silence next and the guided visualization drills in the section

LESSON 1 11
on visualization. These latter two have the added benefit of training your visualization
skills, so they serve two purposes. Finally, you will find audio and/or video files for the
guided visualization drills in the Lesson One member area online.

UM DRILL: SACRED SILENCE

Find a place to sit in a chair in silence, where you will not be interrupted. Set
your phone timer to three minutes. Then just sit in silence and pay attention to what
happens in your mind. When you find yourself thinking a thought, non-verbally say
“thinking, thinking.” When you hear something, say “hearing, hearing,” and when
you feel something, say “feeling, feeling.” This simple technique is a great way to
get comfortable with sacred silence and to learn to observe (aka witness) your mind
in action. This can also be done as a spot drill during the day to settle down, relax
and clear your head.

Cultivating an Unfettered Mind

This is a good time to remind you that our culture has a multitude of negative
and intrusive triggers pounding our brains at all times. An hour of television news
and a barrage of negative people do untold damage to your fertile mind’s attempt
to perform. Negative people and negative interpretations of everyday events destroy
confidence and literally “bring you down.” Further, negative subconscious program-
ming is ready to strike when you aren’t paying attention. The witness process will
allow you to take control back and block the entrance and impact of this constant
negative chatter. Your mind can then be rebooted into an upgraded, more positive and
unfettered mental program – where you will have room for spontaneous intelligence,
creativity and acceptance of new ideas.

LESSON 1 12
THE JINGLE/MANTRA FOR MAINTAINING YOUR CONCENTRATION

The jingle (or mantra) is a song, rhyme, or saying that is positively charged and
has a strong meaning to you. The jingle is like background music that keeps negativity
at bay by engaging your conscious mind in its positive words, images, feelings, and
meaning. These coded messages must be charged with meaning beyond their simple
words. For example, the jingle, “[e]very day, in every way, I’m getting better and better,”
coined by the French doctor, Emile Coue, is one I use daily. When I say the jingle, it
evokes the meaning and imagery I have attached to it. When doing physical training
or when in an “embrace the suck” moment, I use, “feeling good, looking good, ought
to be in Hollywood.” To this day, that jingle kicks in the moment I start suffering in a
workout or when any serious challenge crops up in my life, and it works like a charm
to starve fear and feed courage. With practice your jingle will run in the background
of your mind with little or no prodding. It won’t prevent you from using your mind
for problem solving; rather, it is like the gatekeeper for your witness, ever present to
ward off negativity. Your mind remains under control and unfettered by thoughts or
beliefs that sap your energy and degrade your performance.
You should experience immediate results with this four-step mental control
process. However, please don’t be discouraged if you feel like it is taking too much
time. Like the practice of silence, you are making progress just by paying attention to
this vital skill. My recommendation is to settle into your silence practice (Fish Bowl
or Still Water, whichever appeals to you more) for a few weeks and then implement
the four-step process of Witness, Interdict, Redirect and Maintain to starve fear and
feed courage in your life.

The Big Four of Mental Toughness

The SEALs teach the Big Four of Mental Toughness. In fact the Power Point
slide with that title in the bonus section of the UM membership site is the actual
presentation the SEALs use at BUDs training (Basic Underwater Demolition, SEAL
school). Here are the Big Four for review:

LESSON 1 13
LESSON 1 14
 We have already touched on mental control. In Lesson Two we will discuss breath
control and goal setting and go into more detail on mental control. Now, though, let’s
discuss visualization in greater detail and get into the two guided practices.
I first began to take visualization seriously when I decided to get out of the cor-
porate world and join the SEALs. I still hadn’t been accepted to OCS when I began a
rigorous mental regimen I call a “Future Me” visualization. I needed a visual baseline,
so armed with the SEAL recruiting video “Be Someone Special,” I inserted myself
into a mental version of the video. There I was—running, diving, shooting, rappelling,
and paddling small boats through the surf zone. Each time I did this, I saw myself
succeeding at a high level in each activity. I went so far as to have dialogues with
other SEALs and instructors in my mind. The story became more real every time I
practiced. I even visualized the moment I received my trident, down to the time of
day, the warmth of the sun shining down, the sound of the crowd, and how it would
all feel.
After about six months of daily practice, I felt a shift; subtle at first, it grew more
intense as I poured more energy into my mental practice. Gone was any uncertainty
about my chances of becoming a SEAL. It no longer felt like hope, but more like my
destiny and that fueled my efforts to get even better prepared physically than other
candidates and to convince the recruiter I was SEAL material. Soon my stats put me
at the top of the heap and I earned my recruiter’s endorsement.
Even though you may not feel or look the part now, you must envision yourself in
your ideal state, activating your personal power, and living in alignment with your 3Ps
(introduced in a bit). I learned in the SEALs that there’s no such thing as perfection,
only perfect effort. Through practicing a “perfect” version of ourselves mentally, we’ll
slowly become that person in “real life.”
Visualization can be used to practice a skill or to practice becoming a new version
of yourself, as described above. Later on we will build your personal mental training
space called your “Mind Gym.” To get you started on your new visualization journey,
why don’t you try doing both the Fish Bowl and Still Water Runs Deep guided visual-
izations today. You can approach them a couple of ways. You can watch or listen to
the guided meditation each time you do the practice, or, you can watch it a few times
then ditch the video and do it by following the instructions below and watching your
thoughts. Here is their description, and you can find the audio in Lesson One area of
the UM member site.

LESSON 1 15
TIPS ON VISUALIZATION

Visualization can take the form of a mental projection, or a mental rehearsal.

With mental projection you will concentrate on and visualize your personal goal from
the perspective of having achieved victory already. This process is done daily as you
progress toward achieving a process or goal. You will create the mental capacity to
become the person you need to be to achieve your goal in your mind first – thereby
winning in your mind. A mental rehearsal is essentially to practice a skill in your
mind’s eye. Both types of visualization can be Internal View, from your subjective
vantage point; or External View, seen as if from a third person perspective. The uses
for these two types of visualization skills include: improving your concentration, build-
ing confidence, developing emotional control, practicing a technical skill or strategy
and coping with cold or pain.
Why does visualization work? In a nutshell, visualized events, if vivid and em-
powered with emotion, stimulate your nervous and muscular systems in the same
way as experiencing the event in real time. Many studies have proven this, and elite
athletes around the world have been using the techniques for years now. The time
is ripe to bridge these skills from elite athletes into other domains such as business
and education. They have worked very well for me in all situations and have helped
me succeed at my business and life goals. We will address visualization a few times
at deeper levels in the Unbeatable Mind course.

FISH BOWL GUIDED VISUALIZATION

Find a comfortable place to sit in a chair, on a cushion or stool. The key is to

keep your spine straight and to avoid discomfort that will capture your mind. Begin
the practice by closing your eyes and scanning your body from toes to head. This is a
sensitivity awareness drill that can also be done as a stand-alone awareness deepen-
ing exercise. It will bring your mental attention to parts of your body one at a time. As
you move up your body, linger for a breath at the 6 energy centers (known as Chakras
from Yoga) and imagine a glowing white light at each. They are, in order:

LESSON 1 16
 1. Root: located at the base of your spine.
2. Sacral: located about three inches above the root in your lower abdomen,
below the naval near the spine.
3. Solar Plexus: located just below the rib cage, near the spine.
4. Heart: located behind the heart in the center of the chest, near the spine.
5. Throat: located in the throat behind the Adams apple.
6. Brow: in the center of your brow but a couple of inches behind (also
called “third eye”).

When you get done with that scan, expand your awareness all around you for
a few moments. Try to sense the energy around you and inside of you and to feel
connected to it. If your mind wanders during this phase don’t sweat it…just bring it
back to feel the body and the space around you. Okay, now you are ready to clear your
mind completely using the Fish Bowl technique. In your mind, imagine your skull
as a fish bowl and your thoughts are the cloudy, murky water—not too far from the
truth, I might add! Your breathing is the filter. Each deep breath you take in and out
is a cleansing breath that begins to clear the murky water of your mind. You begin
to sense the water of your mind getting cleaner and clearer as you breathe. After ten
breaths, it is mostly clean…after twenty it is as pure as a natural spring on a sunny
day. As you imagine the clarity of your mind you realize that what you are witnessing
is a “no mind” state. In this state, your mind is unspoiled by thinking. You maintain
that state as long as you can…if you start thinking again, your fishbowl gets dirty and
you can re-commit to cleaning it.

STILL WATER RUNS DEEP GUIDED VISUALIZATION

Sit quietly and let your thoughts settle. Imagine your mind as the deep section
of a river. This section is still and clear. The water is illuminated from the sunlight
and it filters down to the riverbed, which is clear of debris. Your mind is calm and
pure…reflecting this depth. Now imagine the turbulent water of the rapids represent-
ing your everyday thought processes – also known as your “monkey mind.” This water
enters the deep section of the river and is stilled as it merges with the cold, pure,
deep waters of your subconscious, quiet mind. Rest in the depth of the still water for
a few minutes and let it cleanse your thoughts. Listen to your breath, and if/when a

LESSON 1 17
thought arises, witness it, interdict it, and then gently let it float to the surface like a
bubble, popping to dissipate. If you desire, you can use the mantra Still Water Runs
Deep to keep your mind focused. When ready, just float back to the imaginary surface
and open your eyes. Notice the difference in your state of mind, your ability to focus
and feeling of being grounded and in control. Hooyah!
Fish Bowl and Still Water are super effective because you are combining con-
centration, awareness and guided visualization into one powerful practice. There are
other tools you can use – such as just sitting to observe your breath going in and out.
Don’t force things; just observe the breath and any thoughts that arise. Another is a
concentration practice where you count each breath cycle, trying to get to ten, while
watching for any errant thoughts. If they arise, you note them, release them, and
go back to zero to count the breath again. Spending more time in nature is another
great way to still your mind. If you are an athlete you can practice no mind on long
endurance runs, swims or hikes. A final tool I will discuss here is the elegant practice
of mindfulness. Mindfully savoring every morsel of a meal, or mindfully noting every
detail on a walk, are also great ways to train your mind while participating in every-
day activities. A favorite of mine is mindful dishwashing. Washing dishes was such
a distasteful chore as a kid that I decided to turn it into a meditation practice as an
adult. Soap on, soap off. In fact, any routine chore or task that doesn’t require higher
order thinking is a great opportunity to practice the art of mindful witnessing. Next,
lets dig into the foundational work of developing deeper self-awareness, starting with
our beliefs, then deepening insight into our 3P’s – Passion, Purpose and Principles,
that guide our broader actions in life.

LIVE AN EXAMINED LIFE

“The outer conditions of a person’s life

will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.” –James Allen

Socrates made this off-hand comment long ago: “[t]he unexamined life is not
worth living.” But what does it mean to examine a life? Practically speaking, it means
to dig deep into your inner self and learn what you are made of, what drives your
decisions and colors your character. I believe it is important to build a foundation of
self-awareness that will guide our actions for the rest of our lives. But to get there

LESSON 1 18
will require us to ask some difficult questions about things that we are passionate
and principled about, and point toward our over-arching purpose in life. Before I get
to the questions, let me discuss three tools that will help you to pull the information
from your inner space. They are insight meditation, contemplation, and journaling. I
describe each below and will leave it to you to use them for the ONE Thing and 3P
drill below.
Insight meditation has you select an internal aspect of yourselves to meditate
upon – such as an emotion, a particular belief or a sticky thought pattern. Rather than
obsessing about a detail of your life with your cognitive “monkey mind,” with insight
meditation you call your attention to the question you seek an answer to (or the issue
you are struggling with) and simply allow your awareness to rest on it, trying to pen-
etrate deeper and deeper into the object of your attention. Don’t try to actively think
about the question or object, rather just observe it and note what comes up. What
comes up should be an insight about the issue that you hadn’t considered before.
As an example, after getting mired in several bad business partnerships, I used this
practice to gain insight on why I kept repeating the pattern. After several sessions I
had the distinct revelation that I was overly trusting of those who came into my life
at a business level because I had learned to trust my teammates with my life in the
SEALs. This led to mistakes of entrusting partners at the same level, only to be burned
when they could not meet that high standard. So, though I was discouraged by this
uncomfortable fact, I had to learn to verify, and then trust.
Contemplation is a process similar to insight meditation but where the object of
awareness is not your own question or challenge, but an external source of inspira-
tion, such as a Bible verse or Rumi poem. You will rest your awareness on the words
or images and contemplate deeply the meaning. As you gain insight you will then
contrast your own beliefs, thoughts and actions to see if you align with the insights
or standards pointed to in the object of your contemplation. You can reflect upon how
to move in the direction suggested and your witness knows to be best. This can be
very motivating and a strong trigger for growth.
Journaling is an excellent tool to complement these drills and is a great insight
method itself. Writing down, or journaling, thoughts, ideas, fears, desires, and other
things that come up during an insight meditation or contemplation drill will help you
notice patterns in your thinking. Those patterns point to the very habits of thoughts
and behavior that you are seeking to understand, and perhaps, change.
Now that you have the tools, let’s look inside and uncover your ONE Thing and

LESSON 1 19
the 3P’s of passion, purpose and principles. Throughout the remainder of the Unbeat-
able Mind twelve-month Foundation Course you will seek to align your actions with
these foundational aspects of your being for more powerful results.

ONE Thing and 3P’s

Greater self-awareness will help you avoid making the same mistakes over, and
allow you to get aligned for serious forward momentum. When I was younger, I was a
great daydreamer, but if you asked me to describe what my future looked like, what
my purpose was, what my principles were, or what I was supposed to do about it all,
I would have given you a blank stare. To be fair, most people are not very clear on any
of that either. This inability to see and articulate a future full of purpose, passion and
principles was cured by my deep insight and contemplation sparked by Zen training.
In retrospect, the lack of awareness in my youth caused me much hand-wringing and
lost time. I often wonder how many people are in the same boat, or even make it to
their forties, fifties and later in life lacking the clarity I speak of? I believe it is crucial
to be self-aware enough to be able to articulate your ONE Thing and 3P’s.

Let’s begin to look at these by asking a few questions:

1. Who am I and what am I here for? What is the ONE Thing I am supposed
to accomplish in my life, and what does that mean for me right now?
(i.e., what is today’s ONE Thing connected to my big ONE Thing?)
2. What is my PURPOSE? How do take my ONE Thing and activate it in the
world?
3. What am I PASSIONATE about and how can I do more of that?
4. What do I value, and how can I develop these PRINCIPLES so they define
my character for the rest of my life?

Mastery over the self is somewhat difficult if you don’t have clarity on these
questions. The answer to these questions is what gives you direction in life. If you
don’t know yourself, what are you are supposed to do besides just get by? Lack of
meaning and purpose is a major cause of despair and despondency in the world.
Some will stumble upon a vague sense of purpose in their professional lives. Others

LESSON 1 20
have their purpose shown to them early in life and are well into fulfilling it into their
twenties. I have found that the vast majority of my students cannot clearly articulate
their purpose at first and are deeply moved when they uncover it.
Let’s step back and take a look at your ONE Thing again in more detail. It is highly
likely that you have a sense of your own uniqueness, that aspect of you that sets you
apart from others. This uniqueness is coded into your DNA and, I believe, put there
as part of your soul’s yoking to your physical body. Regardless of your philosophical
or religious orientation, you may sense that your soul whispers to your mind your
deepest yearnings and has propelled you in surprising directions in life. In the past if
you ignored the whispers, my guess is that you felt out of sorts and misaligned, like I
felt as a CPA in my early twenties. Listening to your inner voice will lead you to your
ONE Thing and help you define your 3P’s. Then you can align them in your actions
and march forth with confidence and peace of mind.
One of the finest ways to cultivate insight to your ONE Thing and 3P’s is the
aforementioned insight meditation, contemplation and journaling. You will start by
asking deeply personal questions in layers. This is likened to cleaning layers of dust
off a mirror in your mind to reveal the real image beneath. Looking inward and writ-
ing down what comes up in a free-flowing manner gets you into an ideal state for the
intuitive and creative aspects of your mind to be heard. You will train your mind to
enter these intuitive states on demand, and as you do so your insights will deepen
even further. I am getting ahead of myself a bit though. For now, let us look at some
deeper questions to get you started. These are good, layered questions to reflect upon
and journal about:

YOUR PASSION:

• What are you passionate about in a way that defines who you are?
• What makes you feel as if your hair is on fire (besides a fire)?
• What unique skills or talents do you have that you love to use and make you feel
different?
• If you won the lottery today, what would you do differently?

YOUR PRINCIPLES:

• What is it that you truly value in your life?

LESSON 1 21
• How can you move toward those things you truly value and away from the things
you don’t value as much?
• What do these values say about what you are passionate about?
• Do these values point to an over-arching purpose in life?
• Can you make a habit of the big, positive values so they become part of your
character, and then your destiny?

YOUR ONE THING AND PURPOSE:

• What have you been conditioned to think you are supposed to do with your life?
• What do you think you are really supposed to do with your life?
• What do you feel you are really supposed to do with your life?
• Is there a tiny voice of doubt deep within you suggesting you are on the wrong
track?
• Is that same voice nudging you forward with the sensation that you are on the
right track?
• What ONE Thing do you think you are here for? What ONE Thing would you focus
on if you had nothing holding you back?
• What would you do differently if you knew you had one year to live?
• Write your epitaph from the perspective of having fulfilled your ONE Thing and
lived your purpose in life.

When Alfred Nobel read an obituary one day, he did not like what he saw. It
was written about him! Of course it was a mistake by a reporter after his twin brother
passed away. The reporter berated Alfred in the obituary as the man who introduced
dynamite to warfare, leading to millions of deaths in World War I. Appalled, Alfred
used this event to find a new purpose and ONE Thing for his life…which we now know
was the Nobel Peace Prize.
Don’t blow off the obituary exercise; it is very powerful. The assignment is to
write the obituary as you want to be remembered, not as you are now. The person
writing the obituary “knew” the major impact you had on others and the world, as well
as all the good things about you. This may be uncomfortable at first, but focusing on
your legacy can be very enlightening. It will expose the gap between where you are
now and where you CAN be at the end of your life…if you align with your ONE Thing
and 3P’s. Once you can clearly articulate your ONE Thing and 3P’s, write them down

LESSON 1 22
someplace where you can review daily (mine are in my smartphone notepad). Your
next mission in Lesson One is to develop a daily morning practice to ground your day
in the UM principles and Big Four of Mental Toughness.

LESSON 1 23
WORKING SPACE FOR ONE THING AND 3P EXERCISES

Your ONE Thing:

Your Passion:

Your Principles:

Your Purpose:

Your Obituary:

LESSON 1 24
The Morning Practice
The goal of the morning practice ritual is to engage your body and mind in a posi-
tive manner. You will connect to your purpose, cultivate your optimism and positivity,
and ensure that your next actions of the day move the dial toward your goals. We want
to energize your physiology and psychology for optimal performance.

Step 1: Drink a large glass of water, then sitting comfortably with your journal, ask
yourself these empowering questions:

• What and whom am I grateful for today? (Write down what comes up.
Cultivate an attitude of gratitude!)
• What am I excited about and looking forward to doing today?
• What is my purpose and do my plans for today connect me to it?
• What can I do to move the dial toward my purpose goals today?
• Who can I reach out to and serve or thank today?
• Review your goals and ensure they are still aligned with your purpose.

Step 2: The Somatic (mindful movement) Practice.

• Box Breathe for 3 – 5 minutes (introduced in Lesson Two. For Lesson One just
breathe deeply into your belly with awareness)
• Unbeatable Yoga for 5 – 30 + minutes (use a short form, or substitute Qi Gong, a
light workout, or a brisk walk here if you prefer)
• From the resting pose, conduct a short future me visualization (3-5 minutes)
• If you have time, do the Still Water or Fish Bowl guided visualization or Sacred
Silence exercise (3-5 minutes)
• Drink another glass of fresh water then eat a healthy Paleo-style breakfast

Step 3: Prep to Win the day: Before you leave for work, review your Focus Plan (at end
of this document) and daily schedule. Make any adjustments that arose as a result
of your morning practice. Make sure you have blocked time for key project work and
your other training. Use spot practices such as Box Breathing, Sacred Silence or a
quick yoga drill to stay focused and energized throughout the day. Avoid food, drink
and people that sap your energy.

LESSON 1 25
SUMMARY

To wrap up this introductory lesson, let me congratulate you again for your selec-
tion of the Unbeatable Mind Academy! I am very confident that the program, if you
apply the principle diligently, will allow you to achieve personal mastery and great
success in all areas of your life. The UM team and the growing tribe are standing by
to support you on your new journey. I stated this in the “Getting Started Guide” but
will state it again: though the information alone will have an impact on you, it is the
daily practice and training that will make you the money (figuratively and literally!).
Many folks complain that they don’t have the time – but that is a fantasy. The
reality is that you just need to lock in the morning practice ritual, and then do spot
practices during the day. Later on, you will end your day with an evening ritual that
will be introduced in Lesson Two. In short time you will note the positive effect in
the form of clearer thinking, reduced stress and enhanced confidence. That should
motivate you to step up your training in all 5 Mountains of Development for Unbeat-
able Mind (introduced in Lesson Three). So good luck, stay focused, train hard…and
have a blast!

--Coach Mark Divine

LESSON 1 26
Unbeatable Yoga (aka “Warrior Yoga)
Though at first Unbeatable Yoga may seem to be simply a physical training system
similar to gymnastics and body-weight exercise, it will yield its bounty soon enough
if you stick with it. The focus should be on the breath, spinal health, concentration
development and growing awareness that this somatic practice develops.
While strengthening your body’s core and improving the flow of your movements
and energy, the Unbeatable Yoga practice also brings a deep awareness into how you
move. Senses are turned inward in an effort to “listen and feel” with refined skills,
which deepens your intuition, clears your mind, and improves your ability to think
clearly. The awareness developed “on the mat” will spill over to all that you do – in-
cluding your physical training, relationships and work success. Unbeatable Yoga is a
“moving concentration practice” linked with breath control and visualization. As you
develop and are able to move in total concentration you will experience moments of
total surrender - a state similar to a peak, or flow state of unconscious competence.
Finding this state in the morning practice allows you to find it in the chaos of a work-
out, at work and home. Here’s a quick overview of the primary pose types and their
benefits:

• Balancing poses are predominantly standing poses that develop balance in

our minds and bodies.
• Strengthening poses are mostly core-focused or rely on arm balances. These
poses are typically the most challenging.
• Lengthening and extending poses are most commonly associated with yoga,
and have been used in athletic training as stretching exercises for years.
• Restoring and contracting poses help to lengthen our spinal columns and
are closely related to lengthening poses. For every lengthening pose, there
is a contracting pose.
• Cleansing poses typically show up as twists. The twists compress and
“wring out” the internal organs like a washing machine, leading to
detoxification and cleansing.
• Inversion poses get the blood to flow in the opposite direction, flooding
the brain with oxygen-rich blood, and to allow the organs to “hang” upside
down against the pull of gravity.
• Resting poses are used as finishing poses. The most important resting pose

LESSON 1 27
 is dead man’s pose, which ends every practice and is important for the
integration of the many benefits of the training session.

Video training is included in the Unbeatable Mind Academy in each lesson in a pro-
gressive format. You will want to stick with the simple practices if you are beginner.
Here are outlines for four “short forms” which you can print and use to customize your
practice as needed to suit your training plan. There is a picture file with the poses in
the resource section of the member site.

Warrior Yoga Short Form #1-A

5x Sun Salutation A, hold down dog 5 breaths
Transition Breathing Exercises:
Windmill
Flow to Seated Poses:
Forward Bend - flow
Table Top - flow
Twist 1
Box & Breathing 5 cycles
Dead Man’s pose

Warrior Yoga Short Form #1-B

3x Sun Salutation A, hold down dogs for 5 breaths
3x Sun Salutations B, hold down dogs for 5 breaths
Transition Breathing Exercises:
Windmill
Flow to Seated Poses:
Forward Bend - flow
Table Top - flow
Twist 1
Box & Breathing 5 cycles
Dead Man’s pose

Warrior Yoga Short Form #2

3x Sun Salutation 1, hold down dog 5 breaths
3x Sun Salutation 2 (add warrior 1 each side w/flow between. Hold last down dog 5

LESSON 1 28
breaths)
Forward Bend – Toe Pose
Warrior 2 both sides
Side Angle – A & B both sides
Triangle – Reverse Triangle, both sides
Twisting Warrior, A, both sides
Transition Breathing Exercises:
Windmill
Chopping Wood & Sword Strike
Scooping Water
Flow to Seated Poses:
Forward Bend - flow
Table Top - flow
Butterfly
Twist 1
Shoulder stand
Box & Alternate Nostril Breathing 5 + minutes
Dead Man’s pose

Warrior Yoga Short Form #3

3x Sun Salutation A, hold down dog 5 breaths
3x Sun Salutation B (add warrior 1 each side w/flow between. Hold last down dog 5
breaths)
Forward Bend – Toe Pose
Warrior 2 (both sides, then flow to next pose for each standing pose)
Side Angle – A and B
Triangle
Reverse Triangle
Forward Head to Knee
Twisting Warrior
Transition Breathing Exercises:
Archer Breath from Warrior 2 & Windmill
Flow to Seated Poses:
Forward Bend - flow
Table - flow

LESSON 1 29
One-leg forward bend each side – flow
Butterfly – flow
Thread the Needle each side – flow
Supine Head to Knee each side – flow
Hugging Knee Twist A each side – flow
Twist 1 each side – flow
Bridge – flow
Wheel – flow
Shoulder Stand – Plow – Dead Man poses – flow
Box & Alternate Nostril Breathing 5 + minutes
Dead Man’s pose

LESSON 1 30
Lesson One Exercises
1. View Lesson One Insight video and the How to Meditate video.
2. Introduce yourself to the UM tribe in the private Facebook group.
3. View the morning practice intro and Warrior Yoga One video and begin to
implement a morning practice daily.
4. If new to functional fitness, view the air squat video and do 50 air squats a
day for 30 days…increase volume if you are feeling good about it.
5. Complete the ONE Thing and 3P’s questions and journal your results in the
space provided or your personal journal (by the way, we sell a nice UM journal
at shop.navyseals.com).
6. Use the practice videos as you can fit into your schedule.
7. Participate in the SME {subject matter expert} conference call.
8. View the “live event” videos and listen to archived SME calls as time allows.
9. Journal the insight questions and your answers to the self-awareness exercises.

LESSON 1 31
Lesson One Contemplation Journal
How did I do with implementing the UM Lesson One practices?

What thoughts routinely arise, and am I able to use the witness process?

Was there a change in how much time elapsed between when I started thinking a
thought and when I witnessed it…from the beginning of the month to the end?

How do I feel after each session?

LESSON 1 32
Do I feel more calm and centered after a month of practice?

Other thoughts, feelings, frustrations, questions.

LESSON 1 33
Focus Plan
Daily – Weekly Focus Plan for ______________

The One Thing (the most important thing I will achieve this day / week):

Priority Tasks (that I must complete today or this week):

Projects (to work on one step at a minimum each day):

Contacts (calls / email people I need to connect with):

Habit (what and how am I working on this week):

Notes, New Ideas and Inspirations (any ideas that came up during the morning ritual):

LESSON 1 34
Quarterly Focus Plan for ____________
 
The One Thing (the most important thing I will achieve this quarter):
 

Top 3 Targets for the Quarter:

 

Top 3 Tasks for each Target:

 

Top Contacts to Make:

 

New Habit to integrate:

 

Notes, New Ideas, and Inspirations:

 
 

LESSON 1 35
Annual Focus Plan for ______________
 
Purpose / Vision for my Life (carry forward, and adjust as it evolves):
 

Vision for my Business or Work Role (carry forward and adjust as it evolves):
 

Top 6 Values (and what I can do this year to get closer to them):
 

Top 3 Mission Goals for My Life (carry forward and adjust as these evolve):
 

Top 3 Mission Goals for the Next 3 Years (carry forward and adjust as these evolve):
 

Top 3 Targets for This Year:

 

LESSON 1 36
Must-Dos for Reaching my Top 3 Targets:
 

Top 20 Contacts to Make:

New Habits to Integrate:

Notes, Ideas and Inspirations (Have / Be / Do list):

LESSON 1 37