A few more things the military taught me

kennufromfinland (37)in #life • 6 years ago (edited)

Hey,

I'm continuing on the same topic as last time: military service. Let me know if this is the type of content that is appreciated by you guys.

Anyway, here goes:

Discipline. Yes this is an obvious one, but after five days on a remote island in cold rain and not a single glimpse of sunlight, this is what keeps you going. When you've slept 8 hours in 5 days, and then march 10 miles with 70 percent of your bodyweight on your back, this is whats keeps you going. When you burn 4000 (kilo)calories a day, but only ingest 800, this is what keeps you going.
Learning from mistakes. Being a platoon leader I was under a lot of pressure to get my tasks done and that meant managing the people under me (as those of you who read my previous posts know, this wasn't so easy). Since I was the highest conscript in our platoon, and said platoon was the one being trained, I was the one with the responsibility and , in the eyes of my superiors, the blame. This conditioned me to get extremely particular about learning from my mistakes and making sure that I didn't do them ever again, since I didn't want to get shouted at for something I couldn't deny that I knew how to do right.
Being on schedule. A bit more specific than "discipline". There is no schedule like there is in the military. When something is supposed to be done by 10.43, if it is done a minute later, you're late. And being late by one minute is not better than being late with 30. I learned how to be in time, but more importantly, I learned how to make sure that someone else (often up to 40 people) also were on time. The secret formula? Give them the time they actually need plus a lot more, where "a lot more "multiplies with the amount of people who need to be ready. Yes they are going to be irritated if they sit have to sit and wait the one time when everything actually went like it should, but you are going to be on time a lot more often.

I am also thinking about sharing a lot of unique stories I have, let me know what you guys think

#military #writing