How does a Navy SEAL face his fears?

Listen to the podcast on Inkandescent Radio Accessing Courage: Don Mann Helps Us Embrace our Inner SEAL

How scary is it to climb Mt. Everest, Mt. Washington, and run a double Iron Man? This Navy SEAL explains it's a decision to keep going, no matter what the challenge.

September 2020: A Note from Hope, publisher, Inkandescent™ Health & Wellness magazine — Believe it or not, I met Don Mann sitting in a coffee shop in Richmond, VA back in September of 2018. We were both tapping on our laptops when we struck up a conversation about what we were writing. Don was putting the finishing touches on one of his books based on his decades long career at as Navy SEAL (he’d penned about 15 at the time). I was relaunching BeInkandescent.com — formerly a business magazine for entrepreneurs — as Inkandescent Health & Wellness: The business of mind, body, spirit, soul. It didn’t take long for us to strike up a professional friendship.

Fast forward two years. With great admiration I introduce you to this former member of Team Six who in the years since has become an internationally renowned endurance athlete and a New York Times best-selling author. Don has changed countless lives by sharing his Reaching Beyond Boundaries philosophy, perhaps most eloquently in a trilogy of books he published this year: Overcoming Obstacles, Choosing Your Battles, and Facing Your Fears.

Given that we are a solid six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is being ravaged by hurricane and fire storms, the 2020 election is polarizing the nation only a daily basis, and the world’s economic health is in question — I imagine a better time to turn to Don for tips on how to Face Your Fears.

Scroll down for our Q&A, and learn more about the truly amazing man at usfrogmann.com.

Be sure to watch our video interview on Inkandescent.TV. 

And click here to listen to our podcast on InkandescentRadio.com. 

FACING YOUR FEARS: A Navy SEAL’s Guide to Conquering Your Doubts

A Q&A with Don Mann

Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher Inkandescent Health & Wellness magazine: I enjoy reading all of your book, Don, and one of the most recent in the trilogy you published earlier this year, “Facing Your Fears,” really resonates with me. As a Navy SEAL with Team Six, you have certainly been in some dicey situations, as depicted in the first chapter of the book where you share details about Operation Urgent Fury that occurred in Grenada in October of 1983. What I really appreciate is that you explain that it’s a common misconception that Navy SEALs don’t experience fear. That’s not the case? 

Don Mann, author: As with any large-scale military operation, things didn’t always go as planned. But thanks to their top-notch training and high level of professionalism, the SEALs that were a part of Operation Urgent Fury were able to maintain their focus and complete the missions they were assigned. Even as heavily armed enemy forces closed in on their positions, the SEALs remained disciplined and determined, achieving their objectives despite unexpected challenges.

That isn’t to say that the SEALs didn’t experience moments of uncertainty and fear. The members of Team Six who captured a radio tower on the mission you described were vastly outgunned and heavily outnumbered, which would be enough to give even the most experienced and well-trained operatives a reason to take pause. But their training allowed them to control that fear and constructively channel it towards completing their mission. After destroying the communications antenna, they were also able to make good on their escape, slipping away into the ocean and leaving their pursuers behind. Read rest of article