What is it?

This is a 2-hour workshop that teaches participants how small disciplines create big results, using the ten life lessons Admiral William McRaven learned during Navy SEAL training. Participants explore all ten principles, select the ones most relevant to their context, and practise applying them through interactive exercises and physical challenges. The workshop demonstrates that success isn't about grand gestures; it's about doing the small things right, supporting each other through hard times, and refusing to quit when things get difficult.

Why is it useful?

Most people underestimate the power of small actions done consistently. They wait for big opportunities while neglecting the daily disciplines that build momentum and resilience. This workshop gives participants a practical framework for creating positive change through simple, repeatable actions. Teams leave with shared language for supporting each other, specific commitments to small disciplines that compound over time, and direct experience of pushing through challenges together. The result is stronger daily habits, better team support, and greater resilience when facing setbacks.

Target Audience

• Teams starting a new project or initiative who need strong foundations
• Groups recovering from setbacks who need to rebuild momentum
• Leaders wanting to instil discipline and mutual support in their teams
• Individuals feeling overwhelmed who need to simplify their approach
• Teams where accountability has slipped and standards need resetting
• Any group wanting to build resilience and follow-through

Workshop Objectives

• Understand how small daily disciplines create compounding results
• Experience the power of team support during physical challenges
• Select and commit to specific principles most relevant to their context
• Build accountability structures for maintaining new disciplines
• Develop shared team language for encouraging each other through difficulties

Summary

Duration: 120 mins
Group Size: 8-16 people
Format: In-person, highly interactive with physical elements

Materials Needed

• Open space where participants can move (outdoor area or large room with furniture cleared)
• Flip chart paper and markers (at least 10 sheets)
• Sticky notes (two colours, enough for 15 per person)
• A4 paper for each participant
• Pens for each participant
• Timer visible to all participants
• Printed handout: Ten Lessons Overview (one per person)
• Printed handout: Small Disciplines Planner (one per person)
• Printed handout: Team Support Card (one per person)
• Stopwatch for facilitator
• Water bottles available
• Optional: blindfolds (enough for half the group)

Process

Step 1: The First Task (10 mins)

Goal: Demonstrate the power of starting with a small win and introduce the workshop's core premise.

Activity:

1. As participants arrive, give each person a simple task on a card: arrange your chair neatly, place your pen parallel to your paper, put your phone face-down in the centre of the table. Don't explain why.
2. Once everyone is seated and has completed their small task, welcome the group. Ask: "How many of you completed the task on your card?" (Most will have.)
3. Explain the premise: Admiral McRaven's book starts with a simple idea. If you want to change the world, start by making your bed. It sounds trivial, but completing one small task first thing creates momentum. You've already won once before the day has tested you.
4. Ask the group: "You just completed a small task without knowing why. How did it feel to start this session having already done something?" Allow a few responses.
5. Explain that this workshop explores ten lessons from Navy SEAL training, adapted for professional life. These aren't about becoming a soldier. They're about discipline, support, and resilience.

Debrief Questions:

• What was it like to complete a task without understanding the purpose?
• How often do you start your day with a deliberate small win?
• What's the first thing you do each morning, and does it set you up well?
• Where else might small actions be creating momentum you haven't noticed?

Step 2: The Ten Lessons Overview (15 mins)

Goal: Introduce all ten principles and help participants see how they connect to professional and personal life.

Activity:

1. Distribute the Ten Lessons Overview handout. Explain that these come from Admiral McRaven's commencement speech and book, drawn from his SEAL training.
2. Walk through each lesson briefly (about one minute each), giving the military origin and the professional application:
   • Start with a small win: Make your bed. Begin each day with a completed task.
   • Find people to paddle with you: You can't succeed alone. Find your team.
   • Judge people by their heart, not their appearance: Size and background don't predict performance.
   • Keep moving forward when knocked down: Get over being a "sugar cookie" (when nothing goes right despite your best efforts).
   • Don't be afraid to fail: The circus (extra punishment for failures) makes you stronger.
   • Take calculated risks: Sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle headfirst.
   • Stand up to bullies: Face down the sharks.
   • Rise to the occasion in your darkest moments: Be your best when things are worst.
   • Give others hope: Sing when you're up to your neck in mud.
   • Never give up: If you want to change the world, don't ever ring the bell.
3. After the overview, give participants 3 minutes to mark the 2-3 lessons that resonate most with them right now. What feels most relevant to their current situation?
4. In pairs, share which lessons stood out and why. Allow 4 minutes.

Debrief Questions:

• Which lessons surprised you as being relevant to professional life?
• Were there any lessons you initially dismissed but reconsidered?
• Which lessons does this team most need right now?
• What's the connection between these different principles?

Step 3: Paddle Together (20 mins)

Goal: Give participants a physical experience of how team support makes difficult tasks achievable.

Activity:

1. Explain that in SEAL training, boat crews paddle together through surf. The crews that succeed aren't the ones with the strongest individuals; they're the ones that paddle in sync.
2. Divide participants into teams of 4-5. Each team will complete a physical challenge that requires coordination.
3. The challenge: Teams must complete a relay where each person holds a plank position while the rest of the team does 10 star jumps. One person planks at all times. The team decides when to rotate. The plank holder can't stop until a teammate taps in.
4. Before starting, give teams 2 minutes to plan their approach. Who goes first? How will they communicate? How will they support the plank holder?
5. Start all teams simultaneously. The challenge is complete when every team member has done their star jumps and held a plank. Encourage verbal support.
6. Once all teams finish, have everyone sit. Ask each team to discuss for 2 minutes: What worked? What would you do differently? How did it feel to have teammates counting on you?
7. Bring the full group back together for debrief.

Debrief Questions:

• What did your team do to support each other during the challenge?
• How did it feel knowing someone was waiting to tap in for you?
• What happened to the person planking when teammates cheered them on?
• How does this translate to supporting colleagues through difficult work periods?
• What would have happened if everyone worked individually?

Step 4: The Sugar Cookie Moment (15 mins)

Goal: Help participants process experiences where they did everything right but still failed, and build resilience for future setbacks.

Activity:

1. Explain the "sugar cookie" concept: In SEAL training, sometimes an instructor makes you run into the ocean fully clothed, then roll in the sand until you're covered head to toe. It happens not because you failed, but because the instructor felt like it. You did nothing wrong, but you're still a sugar cookie. Life does this too.
2. Ask participants to think of a time when they did everything right but still got a bad outcome. A project that failed despite perfect execution. A presentation that flopped despite thorough preparation. A deal that fell through despite your best efforts.
3. Give participants 3 minutes to write about this experience: What happened? How did you respond? What did you learn?
4. In groups of 3, each person shares their sugar cookie moment briefly (2 minutes each). After sharing, the group discusses: What do these experiences have in common? How did getting through it change you?
5. Bring everyone back together. Ask for volunteers to share one insight about how sugar cookie moments shaped them.

Debrief Questions:

• What's the difference between failing because of mistakes and being a sugar cookie?
• How does knowing the difference change how you respond to setbacks?
• What helped you move forward after your sugar cookie moment?
• How can teams support each other through these unfair situations?
• What sugar cookie moments might be ahead for this team?

Step 5: Team Selection of Key Principles (15 mins)

Goal: Move from individual reflection to collective prioritisation, selecting 4-5 lessons the group will focus on together.

Activity:

1. Post ten flip chart sheets around the room, one for each lesson. Write the lesson name at the top of each sheet.
2. Give each participant 3 sticky notes. Ask them to place their notes on the 3 lessons they believe this team most needs to embrace right now.
3. Once all votes are placed, count the votes together. Identify the top 4-5 lessons.
4. For each selected lesson, facilitate a brief discussion: Why did this resonate? What would change if we took this seriously as a team? Capture key points on each flip chart.
5. Write the final selected lessons on a clean flip chart as "Our Principles." These become the team's focus going forward.

Debrief Questions:

• What do our choices say about where we are as a team right now?
• Were there any surprises in what rose to the top?
• What lessons didn't make the cut that someone feels strongly about?
• How will we keep these principles visible in daily work?

Step 6: Rise in the Darkness (15 mins)

Goal: Give participants an experience of performing under pressure and discomfort, demonstrating that they can be their best in difficult moments.

Activity:

1. Explain that SEAL training includes "Hell Week," where trainees operate on almost no sleep in freezing conditions. The ones who succeed aren't always the fittest; they're the ones who can perform when everything is against them.
2. Introduce a challenge that creates mild discomfort: Partner exercises where one person is blindfolded and must complete a task guided only by their partner's voice.
3. Pair up participants. One person puts on a blindfold. Their partner must guide them through a simple obstacle course (chairs to navigate around, a path to walk, an object to pick up and move).
4. The blindfolded person must trust their partner completely. The guide must communicate clearly under pressure as other pairs create noise around them.
5. After 3 minutes, switch roles. The guide becomes blindfolded and vice versa.
6. Once complete, pairs debrief together for 2 minutes: What was hardest? What helped? How did you adapt?
7. Bring the full group back together.

Debrief Questions:

• What did it feel like to be completely dependent on someone else?
• How did you adapt your communication when your partner couldn't see?
• What did you learn about trust from this exercise?
• When at work do you operate in darkness, relying on others to guide you?
• How can we be better guides for each other during difficult periods?

Step 7: Never Ring the Bell (10 mins)

Goal: Create a shared commitment to persistence and establish team language for encouraging each other not to quit.

Activity:

1. Explain the bell: At SEAL training, there's a brass bell. Any time, day or night, a trainee can ring it and quit. The bell is always there. The option to give up is always available. But once you ring it, you're done.
2. Ask participants: "Where in your work is there an invisible bell? What's the thing you're tempted to quit?" Give them 2 minutes to write privately.
3. Ask: "What would help you not ring the bell when things get hard?" Collect responses from the group and write them on a flip chart. These might include: a conversation with a colleague, remembering past wins, focusing on the next small step, thinking about who's counting on you.
4. As a team, create a "Don't Ring the Bell" phrase or signal that anyone can use to ask for support. When someone says or does this, it means: "I'm struggling. Help me stay in the game."
5. Practice: Have everyone say the phrase together once, then laugh about how awkward it feels. That's fine. The awkwardness makes it memorable.

Debrief Questions:

• Why is it important to have a signal for when we're struggling?
• What stops people from asking for help before they quit?
• How will you respond when a teammate uses the signal?
• What bells have you been tempted to ring this year?

Step 8: Small Disciplines Planning (15 mins)

Goal: Translate the workshop insights into specific daily disciplines each person will commit to.

Activity:

1. Distribute the Small Disciplines Planner handout. Explain that the power of "make your bed" isn't about beds; it's about starting with something small that builds momentum.
2. Ask participants to identify:
   • One small daily discipline they will start (their "make your bed" equivalent)
   • One principle from today they will focus on this month
   • One way they will support a teammate this week
   • Their "don't ring the bell" commitment (what they won't quit on)
3. Give participants 6 minutes to complete their planners.
4. In pairs, share your small discipline and ask your partner: "Will you check in with me on this next week?" Partners agree on a specific check-in time.
5. Go around the room. Each person shares their small daily discipline in one sentence. Keep it moving.

Debrief Questions:

• Why does starting small work better than starting big?
• What will make it hard to maintain your small discipline?
• How will you restart if you miss a day?
• What difference could these small disciplines make over six months?

Step 9: Team Commitment and Close (5 mins)

Goal: Lock in the team's collective commitment and close with shared energy.

Activity:

1. Return to the flip chart with "Our Principles" (the 4-5 lessons selected in Step 5). Ask one volunteer to read them aloud.
2. Ask the team: "What's one thing we will do as a team to live these principles?" Capture one specific team commitment on the flip chart.
3. Distribute the Team Support Card. Ask each person to write their name and their "don't ring the bell" signal. Collect the cards and redistribute randomly. Each person now holds someone else's card and has informal responsibility to check on that person.
4. Final exercise: Everyone stands in a circle. Go around and each person completes this sentence: "I will make my bed by ____________." (Their small daily discipline.)
5. Thank the group. Remind them: If you want to change the world, start by making your bed. And when the days get hard, remember: never ring the bell.

Debrief Questions:

• How do you feel leaving this session compared to arriving?
• What's the one thing you'll remember most from today?
• How will you hold each other accountable to these commitments?
• What will be different about this team in one month if we follow through?

Secret Sauce

• Make the opening task seamless: Have the task cards ready on chairs before people arrive. The small task should feel almost too simple. That's the point.
• Know the ten lessons cold: You'll need to present them fluidly in Step 2. Practice the one-minute explanation for each. Don't read from notes if you can avoid it.
• Adjust physical challenges for the group: The plank relay and blindfold exercise can be modified. For less physically able groups, use wall sits instead of planks, or seated tasks for the blindfold exercise. Always offer alternatives without making a big deal of it.
• Watch for competitive override: Some participants will turn physical challenges into competitions. Remind them: the goal is team support, not individual performance. The best teams finish together, not fastest.
• Handle the cynicism about "make your bed": Some participants will find the premise simplistic. Acknowledge it: "Yes, it sounds trivial. That's what makes it powerful. Anyone can do it. The question is whether you will." Don't oversell; let them experience the compounding effect.
• Sugar cookie moments can surface emotion: This exercise asks people to recall unfair setbacks. Some memories may be painful. Keep the sharing brief and focused on what was learned, not extended processing of the pain.
• The blindfold exercise needs safety: Clear the space of hazards before blindfolding anyone. Keep obstacles simple: chairs to walk around, not things to climb over. Watch for participants who are uncomfortable being blindfolded and offer to let them keep eyes closed instead.
• Make "don't ring the bell" feel real: The team signal only works if people actually use it. In the weeks after the workshop, model using it yourself. Send a message to the group: "Almost rang the bell today on [project]. Didn't. Thanks for the reminder."
• Follow up on accountability pairs: The check-in commitments made in Step 8 are crucial. Consider sending a reminder email three days after the workshop prompting people to schedule their check-ins if they haven't.
• Physical challenges build bonds quickly: Don't skip the physical elements. The shared experience of mild discomfort creates team cohesion faster than discussion alone. If venue constraints require modification, find some physical component to include.
• End on energy: The final circle should feel like a commitment, not a chore. Keep it moving, keep voices up, and close before energy dips. Better to end slightly early on a high than drag past the natural ending point.