Meet Mark Greene

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Greene a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I finally found purpose when I joined the Navy, Playing football and other sports was not really a passion of mine. Growing up poor, the only way to go to college and get an education was to earn a scholarship through sports. My sport was football. I was 6’3″ and 220 lbs, a gifted runner, and had a strong arm that helped me excel as a quarterback all the way to the Division 1 college level. However, my heart was never completely in it and I was going throug the motions without the passion to fully focus on sports. When I discovered the Navy SEALs after suffering a career ending shoulder injury, the SEALs really spoke to me and it’s the first time I was passionate, to the point of obsession, about joining the legendary Navy SEAL Teams. Once I found out what I needed to do to even get a shot at going to SEAL Training, I had to focus all my energy into attaining my goal.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Now that I’m retired and into my next career, I have become a bestselling author of UNSEALED: A Navy SEAL’s Guide to Mastering Life’s Transitions. Through the book and the connections I’ve made as an Alumni of the University of Southern California, I became a fierce advocate for supporting veterans as they, and their families, transition from active duty military service and reintegrating back to their previous life they left behind to join the military. This process is often a struggle as veterans transtioning back to normal life, that requires them to redefine themselves, learn how their skills translate into the “”Real World” in which they are about to crash into without being fully prepared. I also want to discover how to stop the epidemic of service members taking a permanent solution to what’s often times a temporary problem. What I discovered about the transition process, is transition is something that all of us experience to various degrees often multiple times throughout life. The principles and framework that I developed of Isolation, Indulgence, Coccooning, Emergence, Grief, and Resolution can help anyone experiencing complications of transitions. Not just service members and their families.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that I rely on the most are gratitude, consistency, and curiosity. I love to learn new things and know that I have something to learn from every conversation and interaction I have. I find people fascinating, and since everyone’s experience is different and have their unique lessons that life has taught them, I love to learn from every experience.

My advice would be to infuse some level of discipline into your daily life. It could be exercise, reading, learning to play a new instrument, engage with purpose with friends and family. Every quarterback in the NFL has the potential to be the next Tom Brady, however, its rare that people can maintain the high level of being consistently good at everything you do in life. Consistency is the the most elusive goal I’ve ever tried and it’s hard to do, but that’s what makes the results incredibly satisfying,

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The number one obstacle or challenge that I face now and have faced since retiring from the Navy, is how to combat the effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Stress that was a result of my service. I have an incredibly difficult time learning and retaining new information. After leaving service, I realized that learing new things was a struggle that I face to this day. I didn’t realize learning new things was going to be such a challenge because I was on a type of Auto Pilot when doing things in the SEAL Teams, because I wasn’t learning new things, just refining and perfecting things that I already learned and mastered. However, when I started my new career at USC, it was such a difficult process to learn and retain new information. Realizing that I TBI and PTS had a significant affect on how I processed new information. Through a lot of help and support, I’ve leared that my “New Normal” requires a lot of patience and consistency to learn and retain new things. I resolve and overcome my brain’s new way of working by taking in new information in small and manageable bits that I can digest and process things in the way I learn best. It’s very frustrating and a daily struggle, but I’m getting better through consistency and patience.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Emily Paszczykowski UNSEALED photos

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