Our Blog
Fearless
Tom Doescher
I believe Brown is a role model for having a clear mission (he knew his “Why”) and for staying laser-beam-focused on it.
First, a little background. Brown grew up in a loving, intact Christian family in Arkansas. He was an athlete and well liked in high school. Sadly, he lost his way after graduation and became addicted to drugs. His life got pretty ugly and, near the bottom, he attended a Teen Challenge drug treatment center. Along the way, he decided he wanted to become a Navy Seal and serve his country as a patriot warrior.
Before reading Fearless, I knew that becoming a Seal was a rigorous process, but it was more complex than I realized. Brown, however, was determined to join their ranks. Here are just a few obstacles he had to overcome:
- During his dark drug years, Brown was convicted of several felonies and spent time in prison. This was a huge deal-breaker that he miraculously overcame.
- Near the end of his Seal training, he became blind in his dominant right eye in a training accident, but he was able to train his non-dominant left eye and eventually passed the precision sniper marksmanship tests. More importantly, he convinced the Navy that being blind in one eye wouldn’t be a liability to his fellow warriors.
- During an early deployment in Iraq, he crushed his hand and severed all his fingers in a Humvee IUD accident. His fingers were reattached on his dominant right hand. Still, he learned how to use his left hand and, once again, passed the rigorous marksmanship training.
- Brown was always the one to volunteer for the toughest assignments and, as the title of the book reflects, he was, indeed, fearless.
If you’re struggling with your “Why” or staying on your “Why,” I would strongly encourage you read Fearless for motivation. I would say that focus is a common challenge for many entrepreneurs, and I think Brown is a poster child for being single-minded.
A postscript: I found Brown’s reporting of the ups and downs of his Christian faith and his lifelong struggle with his drug addiction refreshingly candid and realistic.