Defending ones country is the highest honor. Military members earn more than a paycheck; they learn lessons that they can apply to their civilian life when their service is over. Here are 8 life lessons learned during military service.
Military life can bring powerful life lessons we all can learn.
There are just over 20 million military veterans in the United States. Each veteran has unique experiences from their time in service.
Yet, there are common themes among veterans as to the value and lessons they learned in the military. Those lessons are carried through to their daily lives, as business owners, as employees, and as husbands, wives, and parents. As well as challenges such as PTSD and physical disabilities sustained during combat that may require litigation for financial support, which is made possible by the help of attorneys such as Stoneroselaw.com.
What can you learn from these people who put their lives on the line for our country? Keep reading to find out the 8 life lessons from military service.
1. Appearance Matters
In the military, it’s common to hear soldiers say they spent the first six months polishing their boots and ironing their uniforms.
They also had to hair their hair cut incredibly short and shave twice a day.
Why pay such close attention to appearance, when they’re just going for a run or doing drills?
First of all, it instills a sense of pride in you. If you’re a soldier in the best military in the world, shouldn’t you look the part? You should look the part and be proud of who you are.
You can take this lesson and apply it to your daily life by paying closer attention to your clothes. Get rid of clothes that have stains and holes.
Check your appearance before you leave the house and wear clothes that say that you are proud of who you are. In other words, don’t go to the grocery store in your pajamas.
2. Overcome the Mental Blocks
When things get rough, do you want just to give up and walk away?
You can’t do that in the military.
People depend on you, and yes, there are times when there are lives at stake. What you have to remember is that you have to push through the adversity.
In your daily life, you’re bound to have some type of adversity. That could be in the form of financial trouble or relationship issues. You might have been laid off from work.
The life lesson here is not to shy away from hard times. If you do, you’re going to make them worse.
3. Life is a Team Effort
It is virtually impossible to live life in a bubble and be successful.
That’s a key lesson learned in the military. Soldiers rely on the buddy system to keep each other alive in combat.
They also rely on the pilots providing air cover, the engineers who provide mechanical maintenance to essential equipment, and the team watching their every move on GPS.
This level of teamwork brings camaraderie among the soldiers and they become closer as a unit.
The lesson here is that you have to learn to trust the work of others in order to be successful. You have to let go of control because you simply cannot do everything yourself.
If you lead a team and they do a great job, reward them. You can take a page from the military book and get challenge coins from ChallengeCoins4Less.
4. You are What You Eat
Soldiers learn that what you eat matters. It’s the source of how you can physically function and be your best every single day.
They understand that if they feed themselves garbage, they will feel like garbage. They should know because eating food that tastes like a pizza box is a big part of military life.
What can you take away from this lesson?
Feed yourself well. Your body needs fruits and vegetables and lean proteins to thrive. Give your body what it needs, and you will be rewarded with more energy and higher productivity.
5. How to be Grateful for What You Have
When you hear people talk about gratitude or being grateful for what you have, you might think it’s a woo-woo think they talk about on Oprah.
There’s a truth about gratitude that soldiers learn in their service.
Soldiers spend time eating bad food, sleeping on the ground, not sleeping at all, showering in cold water, drinking hot water in 90-degree heat.
When they return to civilian life, they appreciate the little things.
6. Taking on Challenges & Responsibility
As a team, each member has to step up and get the job done. If you don’t do your part, you can’t make excuses or place blame on someone else.
Soldiers strive to be the person to be the most reliable person in the room, and that can take them far in life.
They’re not afraid to take on additional challenges, but they also know that they need to push through the adversity to get the job done right.
7. How to Be Resourceful
In today’s world, you rely on technology to do things for you. You might rely on a home assistant to keep your house temperature exact. You rely on your smartphone for email and calls.
You rely on your computer to be able to do your job.
What happens when one of these things aren’t working the way they should. Most people complain about it and say that they can’t do their job because something isn’t working.
In the military, you don’t have that luxury. You have to find a workaround, no matter what it is to get the job done because people are counting on you.
8. Appreciate Sleep
When you were in college, you might have pulled an all-nighter or two to prepare for an exam.
In the military, all-nighters are a way of life. They know how performance declines when they’re exhausted.
It’s common to hear people brag about how little sleep they’ve had and that they’re able to function with coffee.
Soldiers understand that a good night’s sleep leads to better performance.
Powerful Life Lessons from Military Service
Those in the military faced hard to fathom situations almost every day.
Yet, in times of adversity, there were life lessons to be learned. If you’ve never served in the military, these lessons can serve you well in your daily life.
No matter how challenging things get, you can always be grateful, pay close attention to your clothes, and take care in what you eat.
Those little actions will help you focus on the positives in life and get you through tough times.
If you want more advice on living an inspired and authentic life, check out this article on business success stories. Also, leave us a comment if you have something to share.