What Is The Warrior Mindset? by Derek Smith

I see the term “warrior mindset” has been thrown around quite a bit lately, but there has been very little explanation about what this term really means and how to develop it. With 38 years in the security, law enforcement and military fields I want to give my take on what the “warrior mindset” really means. I will briefly talk about how to develop it and leave more details on that for another article.

What Is The “Warrior Mindset”?

Google “warrior mindset” and you will find many definitions of what this term means. I am sure many of them come from people who have never actually had to be a warrior as I have. I am also sure that their take on what makes a true warrior is different from mine. This is simply because they have had different experiences than I have.

My view of a warrior is based on my being a security professional since I was 18 years old (I am now 55 and still serving my country). I have served in the Navy, Air Force, and Army (and I am currently serving in the Coast Guard Auxiliary). I’ve also served for years as a special agent in the Air Force, Army and Federal Government.

Generally speaking, I see a warrior as those who place themselves in harm’s way by choice (i.e., military personnel, police officers, civilian security personnel, bouncers, etc.). With that being said, you don’t have to be a cop, Army Ranger or Navy SEAL to have developed a “warrior mindset”. The warrior mindset has been a part of human culture for thousands of years (beginning with cave people having to survive wild animals and other attacking cave people perhaps).

However, the “warrior mindset” is more than just having aggressiveness and determination. To be a warrior is to be able to overcome challenges and diversity in your life. It’s about possessing, understanding, and being able to utilize a set of psychological and physical skills that allow you to be effective, adaptive, and persistent in all that you do.

By being in tune with your inner “warrior” you are able to optimize your decision-making, psychological techniques, physical and tactical skills learned in training and by experience.

“Given enough time, any man may master the physical. With enough knowledge, any man may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both… and surpass the result.” – Tien T’ai

Often, I see articles, videos, etc. stating that people should maintain their mental focus and utilize a “warrior mindset”. In reality, most people are rarely ever trained on HOW actually to accomplish that task.

Face it, in the big scheme of things, there are not many people who have served in the military or have been law enforcement personnel or security professionals. There are even fewer like myself who have done all these things. However, regardless of the definition, real warriors have always been encouraged to train, develop and accumulate both mental and physical strength. My training in these areas have gone on since I joined the Navy at 18 years old and continue even today.

Within the modern military, law enforcement and security communities, with which I am most familiar, we are trained in mental toughness through hard physical and tactical training. If you have not experienced this type of preparation it is imperative that you work to develop a mental training program that will allow you to learn the skills needed of a warrior. Skills that will help teach you to eliminate mental roadblocks that you have about being a warrior and dealing with adverse situations.

You have to find something that will help you to break yourself down (just like we did in our military boot camp and police academy training) and then build you back up as a true warrior.

The goal of a “warrior mindset” is to integrate the psychological training and techniques along with the physical and tactical training to add a dimension that is often overlooked by those spouting the “warrior mindset” without ever having been a true warrior. If you only talk about mental toughness, like many of them do, but don’t actively train it, you haven’t developed into a complete warrior.

Regardless of what physical skills you have developed, I guarantee you that with the proper training you can possess the power to overcome any obstacle and change your outcomes. This is the point where you really develop an authentic “warrior mindset” in yourself!

In my next blog, I am going to teach you exactly how you can develop the “warrior mindset”. So stay tuned for that.

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