The Psychological Secret That Helped Me Survive Combat

EverydaySpy Podcast

Andrew Bustamante

Spy, Learning, Spies, Thinking, Human, Cia, Intelligence, Espionage, Education, Lifehack, Social Sciences, Advantage, Edge, Unfair, Science, How To, Humint, Secret, Growth, Business

4.7 • 640 Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Find your Spy Superpower: https://yt.everydayspy.com/3EiLRez

Learn more from Gus: https://everydayspy.com/gus

Retired Navy SEAL DEVGRU operator Karl ‘Gus’ Gustavson talks about quitting, how to find control in hard situations, and the love/hate relationship Navy SEALs develop with the ocean. Every time I sit with Gus, I am humbled and inspired, and I hope you are also!

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CHAPTERS

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:03:15 - Enron Collapse Lessons

00:06:52 - SEAL Team Perspectives

00:09:33 - Navy SEAL Examples

00:12:16 - High Achievers in Life

00:15:54 - Responsibility of the Listener

00:20:45 - Deciding to Stay or Quit

00:24:00 - Honesty with Yourself

00:28:10 - Embracing Constructive Criticism ️

00:31:10 - Finding Your Why

00:34:54 - Control vs. Change

00:37:54 - Shifting Perspectives

00:41:35 - Ownership of Control ️

00:44:21 - Moby Dick Insights

00:47:24 - Water's Draw on Life

00:52:14 - Finding Balance in Water ️

#everydayspy, #andrewbustamantepodcast, #budstraining, #cia, #intelligenceoperations, #ciainsight, #intelligenceagency, #nationalsecurity, #shawnryan, #jockowillink, #davidgoggins, #jasonhanson, #timkennedy, #joerogan, #blackriflecoffee, #lexfridman, #everydayspypodcast, #navysealpain, #mentalcontrolinpain, #whatittakestonotquitwhenlifehurts, #budstrainingbrokeme, #whatittakestonotquit, #navysealgrit, #highpressuretraining, #mentaledgetactics

Transcript

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0:00.0	When I was in the Air Force and I went through Sears School, they put us in a small, I call it a cage, in a mock detainment for resistance.
0:06.5	And they taught us one of the simplest things that you can change is just how are you sitting.
0:11.5	Training like that gives you perspective.
0:13.6	Literally, you're confined in a box and you can't change that.
0:16.9	They're not going to let you out early.
0:18.5	You can't really escape out of there.
0:20.3	You know at some point there's going to be some interrogation and stuff, but a lot of what they're doing is just trying to soften you using physical discomfort. So what can you change or what can you control in that situation? You can control your own body, your posture, the way you sit, and what you think about? Somewhere, somebody is hearing us talk right now and they're
0:37.8	thinking about quitting. What would you say to that person now? So we'll go back to the beginning
0:42.9	of this conversation where we're talk about books.
0:52.8	Gus, I am super excited to have you back in the chair.
0:56.0	My first question is one that I know is going to be relevant to you because you're
1:00.0	always reading something, man.
1:02.0	And I want to know what are you reading now and what does it make you think about?
1:07.0	Well, usually for me, I like to have a couple of books that I'm reading at the same time because I don't always feel like reading, you know, it'll usually be one fiction, one nonfiction, maybe one.
1:16.9	I hate to use the term self-help, but one that's sort of like a self-improvement type of book.
1:22.8	So right now I'm, I am actually listening to a book on tape called What the Dog Saw by Malcolm
1:29.4	Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favorite authors. One of my favorites too. And a fantastic
1:33.7	storyteller and very insightful. He has a way of looking at everyday things in a sort of taking
1:39.9	a perspective on it that we don't always think about. So a fantastic read or a great listen anyway
1:46.6	on my way up. And Gladwell's other books. So Blink, one of my favorites. One of the things that we
1:54.2	had to read before we went to CIA actually was a signed reading before we could even show up on day
1:58.2	one was blink. Wow. And then uh outliers i think that was also
	...

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