David Rutherford: 3 Truths to Wake You Up and Give You Purpose

David Rutherford - Live With Purpose

Navy SEAL David Rutherford's tragic tale of a fallen comrade shows you how to live the "Team Life".

Transcript:

Mike screamed: "Grenade out!" And jumped on it and boom! Two snipers were providing overwatch for the other platoon that were trying to maneuver. And unbeknownst to Mike and those guys, an insurgent had seen where they were firing. Had snuck up next to the side of that building, pulled out a hand grenade, pulled it, and threw it up, and that thing came right up ... boom! And hit Mike on the chest. Petty Officer Mike Monsieur took the entirety of that blast in his face and his chest. He lasted for another 35 minutes before he passed away on the medevac bird out. And the kicker to this story is there was a stairwell right next to Mike. Right next to him. And all he had to do was jump down that stairwell to save his own life but he didn't. He turned and jumped on the grenade, sacrificing himself, so his two brothers could both go home and hug their wives, kiss their children, and fight another day.

Once you think to yourself what would you do? For 70 years United States Navy Seal Team. We've been pushing the envelope. We've been setting the bar. We've been setting the standard for what the team life is and how you should live. Are you really committed to yourself physically? Because we all know, when the going gets tough, the more in shape, the more focused you are, and what you eat and what you consume, the better you are. And what I've learned in this incredible journey are a few undeniable truths about what enables us to succeed.

Now truth number one is: you got fear in your heart always and you can't defeat it. Everybody's like "well that's a bummer." The problem is, ladies and gentlemen, is you're wired for fear, right? We have it in what we do for a living, right? You guys get on your conference huddle calls and you talk about fear and dealing with clients. You talk about fear in meeting numbers. You talk about fear in your lives and your personal lives with your family. Folks we've got fear period. So what you have to learn to do is embrace it. Truth one.

The second one is: self confidence is huge. It's important. And you gotta forge it every single day. The third one is: you gotta live with purpose. If you don't have purpose in your life you don't have momentum. You don't have anything driving you forward, anything pulling you out of bed every single day.

And the last one, and the one I learned ... that left an indelible mark not only in my heart but in my soul on those beaches across the street over there is nobody does it alone. There's not a single person in this whole room right now that can raise their hand and say "you know what [inaudible 00:02:37] I've done it by myself. Not a single person out there has helped me, not a one." And you know what I'd say? ... We all need help. So as a result of that you have to recognized that you have to live what I call team life. You have to be 100% focused. That everything you think about, everything you do is with someone else, is with a team. Amen right?

We've been giving everything we are to our communities, to our families, to our children, but more importantly we're willing to give everything we are and potentially everything we will ever be, for the man that's next to us. This is the team life. This is what my mission here is today, is to help you understand this standard. To help you redefine your understanding of what that mission might look like for you.

Are you working on it, are you working on it right now? Did you work on it today? Are you gonna go work on it tonight? Because I tell you, with those three things, you're on the road to commitment.

I've worked with every kind of person there is on this planet, we all bleed red. What I care about is, there's something that gets out of bed every morning. There's something that you have faith in that's bigger than yourself. There's something that you're willing to sacrifice for another human being, that's powerful.