Gen. Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star U.S. Army general, former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and and an author. From the battlefield to daily life, it’s the small consistent choices that win both. So how can traits like discipline, integrity, and character shape everyday success and even prepare you to lead at the highest level? Expect to learn how the General thinks about discipline and what makes discipline such a powerful predictor of personal and professional success, how to balance high standards for yourself with gratitude for what you’ve achieved, why character is so important and how Stanley defines it, how leaders balance personal ambition with the greater good, and much more… Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period from Shopify at https://shopify.com/modernwisdom Get 10% discount on all Gymshark’s products at https://gym.sh/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM10) Get a Free Sample Pack of all LMNT Flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: https://tinyurl.com/43hv6y59 #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: https://tinyurl.com/2rtz7avf #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: https://tinyurl.com/3ccn5vkp - Get In Touch: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What challenges did Gen. McChrystal face at West Point?
I didn't know that you nearly got expelled from West Point.
I did. I had two problems my first two years at West Point. The first was I wasn't as academically prepared as some students, and I didn't have good study habits. So I had a very low grade point average, but that wasn't really what threatened me. I had a discipline problem. So starting my first summer, I got what they call a slug, and that was for disrespect toward a cadet superior.
They actually called it disapprobation. I had to look up the word. I didn't know what it meant. And I got that. And then a few months later, I got caught drinking. Well, I didn't get caught drinking, I got caught drunk. And so I got in significant trouble for that. And they put you on the area to walk punishment tours.
You might've seen that where you walk out on this, it's a courtyard in the middle of the barracks and you have your rifle and you walk back and forth for an hour at a time. And you are awarded those punishment tours in hours. So like if you get convicted of an offense,
You would get a certain number of demerits, a certain number of punishment tours, and then a certain number of months of special confinement. And that meant that when you weren't walking punishment tours or in class or something like that, you were in your room. You couldn't go out. It was like being in prison. So I got my first big one. I got a three-month slug. And then I got off on a Friday.
I walked my last tours on a Friday in the fall. And, you know, you got to celebrate. So I actually had a date with a young Italian girl from New Jersey and she came up. And so on Saturday, we went to the football game, my friend and I and she and her friend. And so we go to the football game and that was great.
And then the idea was they would go back to the Thayer Hotel where they had rooms and they would change and get ready for the formal that night. It was going to be a formal dance. So we went up to our room Theoretically to get ready, but we had more time than we needed. So we started drinking. And we started drinking 151 proof rum, mixing it with some cola out of that Coke machine.
And sort of the last thing I remember is getting caught again. Literally the night I was... You know, the day I was off my first one and I get a second one. And I'm about to get thrown out for that because I go into this commandant's board where a colonel is the president of the board. And he was, you know, obviously an older Vietnam veteran, real mature guy.
And I thought they were going to throw me out because based upon how much the punishment would be, it would either put me over demerits and throw me out then or not. But when I walked in, he goes, I don't get it. He says, you just got off this other one and now we're about to hit you with another big slug.
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