This is basically to all the wannabes out there stuck inside a cube or support job, buried in paperwork, with the routine of 0730-1630. There are many times that I am forced to train alone. Not because I want to, but for various other reasons such as not being able to find a similarly motivated partner, conflicting schedules, work/significant other/life getting in the way, etc. This can be truly taxing and difficult. I've found that being TDY really helps a bit, especially if there are ST operators at the base I happen to be working at. Unfortunately, TDYs for me can be far and few between, and I may not always have the time to chase down and talk to the operators for obvious reaosns.

My question is this: How do you stay motivated to train and keep your eyes on the end goal, becoming a leader and an operator (for me this is STO), through all that?

Whadam, right now I am involved with ROTC and I am taking a max credit load at school. This may not compare to your job pushing paper work, but I feel as though I can relate. My ultimate goal is to become a CRO, and some days it is hard to motivate to push myself to get into the shape I need to be in. Whenever I am struggling for motivation; I just think about what I will be doing with my life if becoming a CRO doesn't come into fruition. Sitting behind a desk 7:00-16:15 is enough motivation for me. I am also in the same position as you when it comes to workout partners. When it comes to ROTC alot of cadets are all talk. "Sure I'll work out with you." only to hear excuses everytime I see them. I figure this is what makes Special Tactics personnel "Special" they are able to push through adversity and see their mission to the end. Right now you have a mission to get yourself in shape for the PFT for STO and then PHASE 2 I assume. This is the way I approach the whole scenario. If I start slacking in any aspect I am letting go of my dream, and i don't want that to happen. If I don't give this a shot and don't give it everything I've got, I will regret it the rest of my life. I don't want that held over my head when I am old, no regrets. You've got a goal, see it to the end. The only thing that you are going to have to overcome is yourself, don't let the mental games defeat you. There is nothing better than getting a good workout in when your mind is trying to talk you out of it.

Dude- I was in the same boat 2 years ago so here it goes...
I think you actually answered the problem of staying motivated when you listed all of the things that get in the way of you staying motivated. I know very FEW people who are always 100% motivated to do the training required for our job, sometimes things get in the way. Maybe you have to work, see the girlfriend, or you have some other conflict. So is that necessarily due to motivation??? I think not and this is why... Motivation is a mental state and there are a million variables that can affect one's state of mind. Instead of allowing life to get in the way (as you stated in your post) try to make training part of your life (way of life) and you will get around many of the problems you are currently having... basically you'll prioritize your life so training to meet your goal of becoming a STO takes precedence over the majority of other things. But of course this is not the end all solution...
So what happens after you do all of the things stated above... you'll probably write out some goals for yourself, get busy working to meet those goals and plan your days for optimum efficiency. This is all fine and good but THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is that in the middle of all this mayhem you NEVER EVER forget why you wanted this in the first place! If you're not thinking about why you want to be a STO you're making a big mistake b/c you're getting caught up in all the little things that get in your way. You are being defeated mentally b/c you are not reminding yourself why this is important to YOU.

Please forgive me, Sir, if my answer seems irrelevant to you, but I figured I might share my ideas with you... Hopefully you will find something helpful among them...
Just like you, I have a very challenging dream - I am in medical school in Europe, while my husband serves in the Air Force. I'm just about to become a U.S. resident (finally, step one behind me) and deep in my heart I'm dreaming of being a surgeon in the USAF... We live on a base which is 200 km from my school, our girl doesn't even want to hear about living close to my school and going to a local school herself... My husband seems to deploy every time I have finals, so when they are about to come, I start thinking of getting his bags from the basement, before taking my books off the shelves...(lol) My school only will take 7 years total (thanks God I am already over half way though it), and then another 5 years of residency... In the meanwhile I will have to battle with ECFMG (educational council for foreign medical graduates), take extra exams to get my degree recognized in USA, hurry up and wait to get the U.S. citizenship (= TONS of paperwork to push over thousands of desks), renounce two European citizenships... Actually the list could go on for a few more lines, but the idea was to talk about motivations...
So what do I do when sleep deprived facing another adverse event?

Call me crazy, but I go on base at 5pm and stand out listening to the U.S. Anthem (well, we live on base, but on our part they don't play it - shame)... I get lost in its beauty - I see dreamy images flashing in my mind... Or another crazy thing - I go to the military clothing sales and touch a blue uniform, just like one of those I will wear some day... Or I spend a day at a local hospital and help out in the operating room... Or I go for a run (imagine I used to HATE running)... Or I get my little girl involved in patriotic conversations - it's amazing how motivating this can be... Or I spend a whole day reading through surgical books... And although none of those equals being a USAF surgeon, it turns on the 4-wheel-drive in my mind, and gets me over any obstacle on the way to make my dream come USAF Blue!!!
What I want to say, is that the motivation is within your heart and all you need to find are little triggers that help you transfer it to your brain... You need to use your imagination and make it work in your favor... You have to imagine the final goal and see it shining at you in all its glory!!! Stay focused, re-discover the beauty of acts and things you started taking for granted... Get cheerfully lost in patriotic emotions, buy a CD with the most heart-raising performance of Star-Spangled-Banner, make bookmarks with motivating quotes and spread them all over your house, some of them small enough to fit into pockets of your running shorts... Challenge a leader in yourself and actually try to get a few younger colleagues/troops to run with you (lead them into runner's high)... Do anything, no matter how crazy it seems to anyone around you, as long as it makes your heart beat faster, as if ready to jump out of your chest so it could lead you towards the final goal.
My Husband is an aspiring PJ, and I have tried my motivational ideas with him as well... They seem to work for a warrior, not only for a surgical operator!!!
NEVER LOSE YOUR GOAL OUT OF SIGHT!!! And when you feel like you are losing it, go for a long run, one of those that makes you so tired you wonder how you got back on your own legs!!! Some pain on the next morning will definitely remind you what you are doing and why...

Good luck
crazy doc-to-be

I took all the material things about CCT that I wanted and displayed them in places that I would see them. For me it is the function badges. I have them taped up around my house, truck etc.
For instance, I have one taped to my alarm clock right where the snooze button is, there is one on my pulluo bar in the hallway, one on the TV and the front door. Because this is a school that I desperatly want to attend, when I see them, it helps to inspire me. I also have all the recruiter clips saved to my desktop which I watch when I am feeling a little bit lazy. The other thing that I do is look at some of the folks in the career field and the airman we are putting in it and I think to myself, do I really want to deploy with them and trust them to keep up and cover me when something goes down??? Dont know if it can help you, but it is enough to keep me going.

I just remember all the crap I've had to deal with to even be ELIGIBLE to put in a package. All the people saying "No", and asking "Why???" when they hear about my goal. If you have to ask, you'd never understand. That's motivation enough.

George Orwell said it best. "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Ok, the soap box is ready for the next guy.

Thank you for the excellent responses. It's really interesting to hear the different perspectives on this.

doc4usaf, I think your story is as appropriate as any could be. The dreams may be different, but the principles are all the same.

Selection is about a month away. That, in of itself, has really kicked me in the crotch to stay focused on making sure the important suff (passing the PT eval on day 1) is taken care of. The rest is all balls.

Hey Whadam,

Are going to STO selection in April? My training partner is Capt Baldwin, he'll be there.

Good luck!

Sean Daugherty

I am. :-) Should be a good time.

Good reading in this post, thanks!

Here is something that I came across the other day. I've felt this way for some time, but Theodore Roosevelt put it in much better words.

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

That's my motivation. To be among the ranks of people who sacrifice comfort and all to be great people. Far too many people just float through life. I can't do that. I just won't let myself. Yes....I do get second thoughts about my descision to be an operator. I think second thoughts are rather normal. But to me, you have to be willing to step into the unknown and take the risk.

As far as PT, the CrossFit website is very nice, as you post your scores there every day. You "compete" with others who also post their times, and can vent from time to time as needed. Just make sure you have a number/time, 3 days on, 1 day off, for 6-12 weeks at a time. That would be a simple enough goal. Research the program, and make sure you add supplemental situps, and pushups in the warmup, and add some swimming and running a few days a week.

A step up from that in difficulty would be making sure you have a number for Harley/Ninja every time they post a workout, with a week off every 6-12 weeks or so. I would hazard a guess 9 out of 10 people who follow their program religously make it. Could be wrong.

Public committments are motivating. Keep in mind, too, that it takes balls to post failures and poor results. But everyone has them sometimes, and anything worth doing well is worth sucking at until you can do it well. It's no use pretending, and you have to start where you are. You have to teach yourself the skill of challenging your comfort zones. We all have them. And the longer you live, the more weaknesses you realize you have. If you want to keep learning, you have to constantly be finding new things to suck at. I do. I was telling somebody this morning that whatever it is that I don't want to do is probably what's most needed.

Blah, blah, blah. This is like watching Hamlet on a computer screen.
As Sergeant Rodman once said to MSG James Rothermel, Director of Training at PJ/CCT Selection when I went through: "Jim, I don't get these kids. In my day, when the Cadre said to cross over, we flicked our cigerettes to the side of the pool, went underwater and came up on the other side. End of story."
Sometimes you have to shut off your brain and just do it.
If you think too much, you think yourself right out of making it. Some self doubt BEFORE you even start is normal but Jimminy Christmas this has gone on too darn long. Enough holding hands and talking about your feelings. Go watch Oprah if you want to talk about your feelings or go hit the pool for some underwaters to make yourself tougher but either way, stop all this talking about your feelings before you've even faced the Pipeline.

Oh yeah, being forced to train alone sure is tough. Try getting assigned to be a TAC for a bunch of SEALs or SF guys you've never met and betting your life and theirs on your skill set. Skills that you and only you posess. Screw it up and everybody dies. Do it right, maybe you save the day, maybe nobody even really notices becuase they've worked with enough good CCT TACs to expect great results everytime.
Yeah, get used to being "forced" into lonely situations. Especially if you are going to be a STO. One day you are going to hand out assignments to your dudes and somebody is going to die doing that assignment. You will know that you chose the right guy for the task but it won't bring him back...and you are the guy that sent him there. Yeah, get used to being alone.
If you have the fortitude and confidence to be alone with your concience, you'll make a good STO. If you can't even handle keeping your motivation up in an office environment, you might want to really think about your motivation. The Pipeline will test your motivation, but the real world will test it more. Get used to being alone.

Tyr sucking crap out of aircraft for a year, rain, snow, sleet or hail, that will motivate you.

Amen, MC.

haha thats it haha,come to the Hospital and follow me around

I find every butt that I have to wipe, urnial I empty, basically all the nasty repulsive $#!T I have to do helps to motivate me

This is not the bitch and gripe forum...do your job, it's important...if you're going to crosstrain, then do it and get motivated...if you don't you ain't gonna make it...it really is that simple.

Sorry to ressurect this thread, but holy crap that's some good *****, MC. I often find myself lacking in motivation or finding an out for not pushing myself all the way. But *****, if I can't reach down and grow a pair as a cop, how TF can I be expected to do it as an operator? Real good stuff there, thank you.


BTW, for those looking for a workout program as well as a pretty tight fitness community, check out www.fatalfitness.com. It has a lot of the same methodology as crossfit, but is a more closeknit community of military guys or guys planning on joining the military. If you're a PT guru, I'm sure they'd love to have more SMEs. The site is run by a current TACP with some kind of certification (can't remember what from where).

Holy ***** hell... no offense, but if we ever serve together, there better not be any of this whiny ***** going on...


Anyways, if you really want to feel a lack of motivation and a kick to the balls, try finding out that you girlfriend of 2 years is leaving you, plus your mom just got diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer all in the same day... that ***** had me down for a good month.... it also turned into my biggest motivator because i wanted to show that bitch what she's gonna miss, plus I wasn't going to let my mom down!

This is not a social network, nor a venting network...take this to PM if you want to continue it.

Topic closed.