Blake Hall

And you go from that, and I didn't believe America's, and the strategy was making the world better because we were just creating these power vacuums and everything else. And I didn't want to be a part of taking life or risking life if I didn't feel like we had a strategy and a specific end that made sense.

And you go from that, and I didn't believe America's, and the strategy was making the world better because we were just creating these power vacuums and everything else. And I didn't want to be a part of taking life or risking life if I didn't feel like we had a strategy and a specific end that made sense.

And so I didn't feel I could continue to serve in the military because there wasn't a strategy. But man, I missed the purpose that I felt. You don't have to question the meaning of your life when you're trying to get to a terrorist in a phone before a car bomb goes off in a market full of innocent civilians.

And so I didn't feel I could continue to serve in the military because there wasn't a strategy. But man, I missed the purpose that I felt. You don't have to question the meaning of your life when you're trying to get to a terrorist in a phone before a car bomb goes off in a market full of innocent civilians.

So I went from that scene and got into Harvard Business School because my battalion commander refused to write me a letter of recommendation unless I applied to Harvard. I was like, sir, I haven't used a three-syllable word in the last year. I don't think I'm ready to write an essay for Harvard. He's like, you're going to apply to Harvard. I'm not going to write a letter of recommendation.

So I went from that scene and got into Harvard Business School because my battalion commander refused to write me a letter of recommendation unless I applied to Harvard. I was like, sir, I haven't used a three-syllable word in the last year. I don't think I'm ready to write an essay for Harvard. He's like, you're going to apply to Harvard. I'm not going to write a letter of recommendation.

So all of a sudden, I'm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm 26 years old. The biggest decision is like where to go on Friday to have a beer with my friends. I just couldn't shake it because I'd seen I'd been exposed to so much. And I just knew that life is short. You don't have a lot of time. None of us know how much time we have. War had just infused lightning into my bones.

So all of a sudden, I'm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm 26 years old. The biggest decision is like where to go on Friday to have a beer with my friends. I just couldn't shake it because I'd seen I'd been exposed to so much. And I just knew that life is short. You don't have a lot of time. None of us know how much time we have. War had just infused lightning into my bones.

Every time you get one of these kill capture alerts, it's just a flood of adrenaline. So in some ways it makes you an addict. And so I realized, oh my gosh, like I've basically been turned into an addict by this 15 months of like really high intensity tempo. I want to make an impact. And what combat taught me is that you can't take anything with you. So material stuff, like who cares?

Every time you get one of these kill capture alerts, it's just a flood of adrenaline. So in some ways it makes you an addict. And so I realized, oh my gosh, like I've basically been turned into an addict by this 15 months of like really high intensity tempo. I want to make an impact. And what combat taught me is that you can't take anything with you. So material stuff, like who cares?

What matters is making a positive impact on someone else's life. And looking for that sense of purpose, I started to see stats around there was so much goodwill trying to get the military suffer from identity theft at rates that were nearly twice as high as the general population.

What matters is making a positive impact on someone else's life. And looking for that sense of purpose, I started to see stats around there was so much goodwill trying to get the military suffer from identity theft at rates that were nearly twice as high as the general population.

And I can walk you through the story, but that ultimately became the thing that I gravitated towards because I felt it was a worthy mission to solve with my life.

And I can walk you through the story, but that ultimately became the thing that I gravitated towards because I felt it was a worthy mission to solve with my life.

And that if something happened to me, that if God forbid I were to die, I would do it trying to accomplish something that mattered and not being a cog in the wheel at a consulting firm or in banking that's just making capitalism work a little bit more efficiently. And so I think just the nature of risk was quite different.

And that if something happened to me, that if God forbid I were to die, I would do it trying to accomplish something that mattered and not being a cog in the wheel at a consulting firm or in banking that's just making capitalism work a little bit more efficiently. And so I think just the nature of risk was quite different.

I thought risk was going into an organization where I didn't believe in the mission. I felt like I was wasting my life. I didn't really care about the financial side nearly as much because how could you after coming out of combat? And so I'm super grateful for that.

I thought risk was going into an organization where I didn't believe in the mission. I felt like I was wasting my life. I didn't really care about the financial side nearly as much because how could you after coming out of combat? And so I'm super grateful for that.

But it was very schizophrenic to go from a time in your life where you're like 70 years old, maybe a normal time your friends are dying, you're contemplating your own mortality. Most of us will get there later. I kind of had already been there and then felt like a time traveler coming back. And it really just shifted my whole mindset.

But it was very schizophrenic to go from a time in your life where you're like 70 years old, maybe a normal time your friends are dying, you're contemplating your own mortality. Most of us will get there later. I kind of had already been there and then felt like a time traveler coming back. And it really just shifted my whole mindset.