Gen. Stanley McChrystal

No, really my first two years at West Point, then a couple of things happened. One is I probably started mature a bit. Second is I met the girl I've now been married to for 48 years. And so she sort of helped She gave me a reason to sort of straighten up. And then I had a new tactical officer come in. And when he came in, he had this first meeting with me at the beginning of junior year.

No, really my first two years at West Point, then a couple of things happened. One is I probably started mature a bit. Second is I met the girl I've now been married to for 48 years. And so she sort of helped She gave me a reason to sort of straighten up. And then I had a new tactical officer come in. And when he came in, he had this first meeting with me at the beginning of junior year.

And I had just had this two horrific years and I was almost like a felon. And so we had this initial interview and he says, you know, I think you're going to be a great army officer. And I wanted to lean over and see if he was looking at the right file. And I said, you know who you're talking to? And he says, the stuff that you're not good at is here at West Point. It doesn't matter.

And I had just had this two horrific years and I was almost like a felon. And so we had this initial interview and he says, you know, I think you're going to be a great army officer. And I wanted to lean over and see if he was looking at the right file. And I said, you know who you're talking to? And he says, the stuff that you're not good at is here at West Point. It doesn't matter.

And I had just had this two horrific years and I was almost like a felon. And so we had this initial interview and he says, you know, I think you're going to be a great army officer. And I wanted to lean over and see if he was looking at the right file. And I said, you know who you're talking to? And he says, the stuff that you're not good at is here at West Point. It doesn't matter.

He was a special forces officer not long back from Vietnam. And he goes, this stuff doesn't matter. We've just got to get you through this and in the army. And what I see in your file is I think you're going to be a great soldier. Now, whether he really believed that or not, it had an amazing effect on me because here's a guy I respected highly who said I would. And it started to convince me

He was a special forces officer not long back from Vietnam. And he goes, this stuff doesn't matter. We've just got to get you through this and in the army. And what I see in your file is I think you're going to be a great soldier. Now, whether he really believed that or not, it had an amazing effect on me because here's a guy I respected highly who said I would. And it started to convince me

He was a special forces officer not long back from Vietnam. And he goes, this stuff doesn't matter. We've just got to get you through this and in the army. And what I see in your file is I think you're going to be a great soldier. Now, whether he really believed that or not, it had an amazing effect on me because here's a guy I respected highly who said I would. And it started to convince me

yeah, I can do this. All I've got to do is make it through this gauntlet and then I'll get to the army, which will be better suited for what I like.

yeah, I can do this. All I've got to do is make it through this gauntlet and then I'll get to the army, which will be better suited for what I like.

yeah, I can do this. All I've got to do is make it through this gauntlet and then I'll get to the army, which will be better suited for what I like.

You saw that very much in the Army, particularly in elite units, because the things that you go through in your initial entry training and then all the basic years are pretty mundane and everybody can do it. But they've got to be patient enough, consistent enough, and stick with it to get to that.

You saw that very much in the Army, particularly in elite units, because the things that you go through in your initial entry training and then all the basic years are pretty mundane and everybody can do it. But they've got to be patient enough, consistent enough, and stick with it to get to that.

You saw that very much in the Army, particularly in elite units, because the things that you go through in your initial entry training and then all the basic years are pretty mundane and everybody can do it. But they've got to be patient enough, consistent enough, and stick with it to get to that.

You can often see that talent in them down low, but then you also see sometimes if they don't have the persistence, the discipline to go through it, that also shows up later. because it's clear that they haven't valued the in-state highly enough, kind of like I was guilty of. How do you come to think about discipline after all this time? I think discipline is the most important thing we have.

You can often see that talent in them down low, but then you also see sometimes if they don't have the persistence, the discipline to go through it, that also shows up later. because it's clear that they haven't valued the in-state highly enough, kind of like I was guilty of. How do you come to think about discipline after all this time? I think discipline is the most important thing we have.

You can often see that talent in them down low, but then you also see sometimes if they don't have the persistence, the discipline to go through it, that also shows up later. because it's clear that they haven't valued the in-state highly enough, kind of like I was guilty of. How do you come to think about discipline after all this time? I think discipline is the most important thing we have.

And when I talk about that, I start with self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to do those things which you believe you should do and you decide to do. I think it's the gap between discipline really good leaders and sort of everybody else. And I think it shows up in every part of life.

And when I talk about that, I start with self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to do those things which you believe you should do and you decide to do. I think it's the gap between discipline really good leaders and sort of everybody else. And I think it shows up in every part of life.

And when I talk about that, I start with self-discipline. Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to do those things which you believe you should do and you decide to do. I think it's the gap between discipline really good leaders and sort of everybody else. And I think it shows up in every part of life.