The 18STRONG Podcast 124: Perform Under Pressure Like a Navy Seal Sniper with Eric Davis
Today I am very excited to announce our guest, Eric Davis. Eric Davis served our country as a US Navy SEAL and decorated veteran of the War on Global Terror. He’s been recognized as one of the premier sniper instructors in the US military and served as a Master Training Specialist at the SEAL Sniper school. In fact, Eric trained both Marcus Luttrel and Chris Kyle, who you might know from the books and movies Lone Survivor and American Sniper.
Eric is an expert in technical and physical surveillance and was part of an elite group hand-selected to perform intelligence collection in some of the scariest places in the world.
He spent years developing and writing curriculum for the SEAL teams and was instrumental in reducing the failure rate of the SEAL Sniper course. And we’ll discuss how golf had a big influence on how he did this.
Since his time in the SEALS teams, Eric has become a speaker, educator, and coach in the world of corporate performance and leadership training. He is the author of “Raising Men: Lessons Navy Seals learned from their training and taught to their sons” and his upcoming book and project: “Habits of Heroes: Being the Hero in Your Own Life”
Eric Davis’ Background
- Eric has been recognized as one of the premier sniper instructors in the U.S. military and has served as a Master Training Specialist at the SEAL sniper school in Coronado, CA.
- Eric was instrumental in significantly reducing the failure rate, of Naval Special Warfare’s internationally recognized Sniper course.
- Since departing from the SEAL teams, Eric has worked in corporate performance, sales and leadership training bringing an unprecedented amount of innovation, efficiency and structure to the domain of business and personal performance.
Highlights from this Episode
- What started Eric’s journey into the military, the Navy SEALS, and to become one of the most successful sniper instructors in history.
- Eric’s approach to ‘mental management’, and how anyone can apply it to just about any aspect of life, including golf.
- Eric tells the story and methods of a prisoner of war who was held captive for six years, and came out of it to shoot par on his very first hole just days after getting out.
- We talk about the feeling a sniper gets when they are about to take a shot, and how to not let emotions take over when they need to focus. This can also apply to helping a golfer making a putt (in a less pressure-filled context obviously!)
- What people can do if they don’t have a great self-image.
- Eric quotes a study that contrasts people who are told they are ‘smart’ vs people who are told they’re hard workers. The difference in how people act after hearing this information is very interesting.
- The importance of habits.
- The Trifecta of Performance
- Eric explains the importance of a Contingency Plan and how that was a major focus that the SEALS had for every mission and decision.
- Why people should prioritize recreation, diet, exercise, recovery etc. Most people only allow themselves to do these things once they’ve finished their ‘work’. Eric is of the opinion that people should reverse these, because they lead to a much more productive work day.
Caddy Shack or Happy Gilmore?
Caddy Shack
Where is the scariest place you’ve ever been?
Between a helicopter and the rope that I was jumping onto, without being attached to anything.
What’s the longest shot you or a student has ever made?
1 mile.
What’s your mission as you move forward in your career?
Producing a strategic training group, to pull people out of the entertainment/information void, and into the trenches.
Who would you like to spend a day on the course with?
Tiger Woods at Augusta
Where to find Eric Davis:
Website: http://ericdavis215.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EricDavis215
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