How to stay calm when things go wrong, according to a Navy SEAL

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Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven says people should make their beds every day.

McRaven, best known for his role as the SEAL commander in charge of the team that took down Osama Bin Laden, dropped this advice in a commencement speech at the University of Texas graduates in 2010. That led to McRaven’s 2014 book, Make Your Bed, skyrocketing to the top of The New York Times bestseller list.

McRaven’s recommendation that we make our beds isn’t so that we’ll all have nicely made beds to slip into every night. It’s about the neuroscience and logic of small habits and momentum.

Today we’re going to explore some of our favorite ideas from McRaven’s work that leaders — from military officers in wartime to middle managers in corporate offices everywhere — can practice instilling in their teams and workplace cultures.

It’s not about vision or charisma. It’s about conditioning through tiny rituals over time.

Here are some of our favorite ideas that McRaven shares through his work.

Pick one small, non-glamorous task to commit to finishing each morning 

McRaven chooses to make his bed in the morning, and do it well and to a high standard, as was required during his Navy SEAL training days.

And making our beds is great, but we can choose anything or many things. Answer emails. Respond to vendor questions. Organize your desk.

The point is that small wins start positive feedback loops that are foundational to healthy habit formation, as discussed in James Clear’s Atomic Habits and Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit.

McRaven leans on this simple wisdom to give himself, and the teams he has led through the years, the best chance for success. And these small wins stack and become rituals over time. Rituals — the healthy, productive ones, at least — protect us from decision fatigue. 

When we take days off from completing these small habits, we lose time, and we rewire our brains to make quitting easier next time. Decision fatigue can result from this. Our neural pathways begin to weaken, and it becomes harder to restart our good habits the longer we interrupt or fail to follow through on our routines.

This “rituals reduce choice” idea is based on the work of Roy Baumeister. If every choice consumes mental energy, then by creating rituals and routine, we preserve mental energy, reducing our need for willpower and increasing our performance later into each day.

The disciplined structure reduces stress and chaos. That gives people freedom.

‘What could go wrong?’ rehearsal

McRaven suggests running regular “what-if” sessions. SEALS train relentlessly so that when real danger comes, they react with discipline and clarity, and avoid panic.

In the civilian working world, maybe that looks like preparing for a huge product launch or client presentation by listing every way we can think of that the plan could go wrong, then assigning mitigation responses to each of them. 

If this bad thing happens, we’ll respond this way. And if this other bad thing happens, we’ll pivot this way.

This is literally how we shorten decision time, improve clarity, and respond effectively to hardship. To the best of our ability, we don’t allow ourselves to be surprised.

If it’s a conceivable outcome, we have a plan for it.

Join the team in daily trench work

McRaven repeatedly emphasizes the idea of “showing up” in his writing and interviews. 

And maybe this can’t work in every industry or workplace. But blocking a half- or full-day once a month to join frontline workers instead of running meetings has tremendous value for building trust and psychological safety, and reducing distance and suspicion among your work teams. It should be consistent, visible behavior.

Use that time to learn about the obstacles and pain points that slow people down. It’s about being there to help, not to inspect. Ask to be corrected if there’s a better way of doing something. When we understand with clarity what our team members are dealing with each day, we’re in a position to recognize their work, give meaningful reviews and feedback, and make adjustments that improve the lives of those workers in the trenches.

After-action ritual

Inspired by his time with the Navy, McRaven notes that after every mission or training exercise, SEALs conduct immediate debriefs and reflections. They use this time to discuss and think about what went well, what failed, and what can be improved. This is also when leaders can identify great work by individuals or the collective, and call it out in front of the entire team.

This practice trains the mind to notice patterns, celebrate wins, and correct mistakes before they compound.

When leaders participate in these rituals, McRaven describes it as “leading from the front” — showing that you hold yourself to the same standards that you’re expecting from your teams.

This practice embeds desired behaviors and work habits into daily routines.

It’s about building muscle memory for excellence and cohesion.

Like fitness, healthy eating, academic excellence, and quality, loving relationships, success is built on performing small, consistent habits every day.

We can start with something small like answering those emails, or exercising for 30 minutes, or maybe just making our beds.