The Highly Effective Man

Grit & Resilience – How Mental & Physical Strength Go Hand in Hand

• JP Bolwahnn

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What separates high performers from the men who quit when things get hard? Grit.

In this episode of The Highly Effective Man Podcast, I break down the true meaning of resilience—why mental and physical strength are inseparable, how to train both, and why learning to endure suffering is the key to success in every area of life.

🔥 Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ The SEAL training moment that almost broke me—and what it taught me about mental toughness
✅ How to push past your limits and build unshakable resilience
✅ The “One More” Rule and other daily grit-building habits you can implement today
✅ Why grit isn’t just for athletes—and how one man in our community is battling cancer with a warrior’s mindset
✅ The exact challenges, workouts, and mental conditioning I use to forge elite-level toughness

💥 Want to work with me 1-on-1? I’m opening up only 5 spots in April for high-performance coaching. If you’re a driven man who’s ready to master discipline, energy, and performance, DM me “COACH” on Instagram [@thehighlyeffectiveman] to get the details.

Join The Highly Effective Man Community – Surround yourself with men who push limits and level up daily.

💪 Test Your Grit: Take on the 5-Minute Plank Challenge or 100 Burpees for Time and DM me “GRIT” with your results.

If you’re ready to stop quitting on yourself, build elite mental and physical strength, and dominate every area of life—this episode is for you.

🔥 Listen now, and let’s get after it!

#Grit #MentalToughness #Resilience #HighPerformance #Discipline #MenWhoLead #HighlyEffectiveMan #MindsetMastery #FitnessForMen #ElitePerformance

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Highly Effective man podcast hosted by former Navy SEAL turned life and fitness coach. I'm your host, jp Bolwan. This podcast is your resource for unlocking the healthiest, most productive and highly effective man within you. Let's go. What's up, guys? Welcome back to the Highly Effective man podcast.

Speaker 1:

Okay, today we're going to talk about grit and resilience and how mental and physical strength go hand in hand. So I'm going to ask you a question what do you think separates the men who push through pain from the ones that break? I'm going to tell you, it's not talent, it's not genetics, it's grit. Grit's what allows you to keep going when your mind is screaming for you to quit. It's the difference between a man who backs down and the one who finds one more rep, one more step and one more second of a fight. Today, we're going to dive into grit and resilience and why mental and physical strength are inseparable and how to train both, and why learning to endure suffering is the key to success in every area of life. And I promise you this by the end of this episode, you will walk away with the tools to forge an unshakable mind. Let's get to work Now.

Speaker 1:

I want to take you guys back to a time that is probably one of the hardest moments in my life. Okay, and that was Hell Week. All right, this is in 1996 and SEAL training, and back then Hell Week was the fifth week of training and at this particular time I think it was maybe Tuesday or might even been Wednesday, but I want to say it was Tuesday. But we've been moving for hours, miles and miles, with the boats on our heads and at this point we were circling a freaking parking lot, you know, and we just kept going around and around and around and there's all these concrete blocks you know, like the parking blocks that you know they put for cars so they don't like roll into the car in front of them. I can still see them and I can still picture this like, I can still picture the concrete blocks, what they look like. They were yellow, it was dark, I was wet, I was cold, I was sandy. I can still hear the sounds of, you know, pants and shirts and everything just kind of ruffling together that you know that's just been full of seawater and sand. It's like if you've been in Coronado when there's a hell week going on, you definitely know when the guys are running by with the boats on their heads, because all you hear is a shuffle of feet, the shuffling of sand and guys just groaning.

Speaker 1:

But we were just going around and around and around around this parking lot and we were probably about 400 meters away from the chow hall, which is where we were going to eat midnight rations, and the instructor was just driving us around and around in this circle and all we wanted to do was just sit down. We just wanted to get the boats off our heads, shove some food in our mouth, and the instructor knew it. He knew how bad we wanted it and that's why he kept circling. And at that moment I felt like I was going to snap. We had our paddles in the boat. I was thinking to myself man, if we keep going around this thing, I'm just going to grab my paddle and I'm going to charge the guy. And luckily I didn't right, because that would have for sure got me kicked out. But I was that close. It's hard for me to imagine how close I was at snapping, but it was super close.

Speaker 1:

But here's the lesson it wasn't about the physical suffering. What they were trying to teach us or what they were trying to do was break us mentally. It was about how we responded when you're that close to relief, but you still got to endure. And that's what life does to you. Okay, you'll be grinding, you'll be suffering, thinking you're almost there, and then the pressure keeps coming. How do you respond? Because that specific moment, that's the test. It's not the first few miles of a marathon, right, it's not the first few hours. The test is when everything in you says I want to quit and you refuse. That's grit, that's what separates the highly effective man from the rest.

Speaker 1:

And this isn't just about physical challenges, right? I want to tell you about a guy that's in the community. His name is John, and John is in the community and he's going through some shit. He's currently battling cancer. Right, he has one more round of chemo. He's got good days and he's got bad days. And guess what? He still shows up, he still pushes himself, still shows up, he still pushes himself, he still puts in the work, even when his body is screaming at him, like literally screaming at him. I haven't been through chemo, but seeing my mom go through it, or hearing about my mom go through it and seeing John go through it, it's like I wouldn't wish that on anybody. But here's the most powerful part he's vulnerable about it, and that's real strength.

Speaker 1:

Grit isn't about being the toughest guy in the room. It's about showing up even when it's hard. It's about saying I may not be at my best today, but I'm still here. That's the mindset that changes lives. So every man that's listening to this right now, what's your excuse? Because grit isn't something you're just born with, it's built.

Speaker 1:

And here's how you can start training it, starting today right. You can look at the one more rule right, where every workout or every challenge, you know every moment that you want to quit. Just do one more right. One more rep, one more minute, one more round right. When you're at jujitsu or whatever it is that you do and you're like man, I'm tired, but then it's like, okay, I just got to do one more. Start journaling, right, maybe. Pick up a resilience journaling practice and every day, track where you pushed through discomfort, what you wanted to quit but you didn't, maybe how you handled stress differently than you did before. And you can do quick ones, like cold exposure challenges, right. So, ending your shower with two minutes of just cold water, why? Well, because if you can sit in discomfort and control your breath. You can control yourself in any stressful situation, and high performance men they don't avoid discomfort.

Speaker 1:

We hunt it down, and so one of the things I want you guys to do this week is just give yourself a little bit of a challenge, a little grit. Challenge, right? Do a five-minute plank, hold. See how long you can hold it before the mind gives up. Or you can do 100 burpees for time, for time. Set a clock, get it done Right, see how long it takes. Then you can just DM me on Instagram. Just DM me grit the word grit and tell me how you did.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is how grit is built one rep, one decision at a time. And if today's episode hit home and if you're done quitting on yourself and you're ready to build elite mental and physical strength, you have two options you can keep doing what you've always done and stay where you are, or you can step up and train like a high performance man and dominate every area of life. Join the highly effective man community, because this is where we live every single day. And for those of you that want to take it to the next level, I have a major announcement in april, I'm opening up my one-on-one coaching again, and this is for men that are ready to go all in and work with me directly. I'm only taking five new clients because I want to make sure that each man is getting the attention and accountability that he needs. And if you've been following along in the community and you want to experience what it's like to work with me one-on-one, then this is your shot. And you want to experience what it's like to work with me one-on-one, then this is your shot. And if you're serious about transformation, dm me the word coach and I'll send you the details. I don't half-ass things, and neither should you. So this is JP, reminding you that grit is earned through struggle, and struggle is where men are made. Let's go.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the Highly Effective man podcast. If you found value today, hit that subscribe button and stay connected. I want to invite you to join my incredible community, the Highly Effective man. The link is in the show notes below. It's a powerful space where you'll find support, accountability and camaraderie with men who are committed to growth and living purposefully. And your voice matters. So leave a review and share your thoughts and help us reach more men just like you. Together, let's elevate our lives and become the best versions of ourselves Stay highly effective. See you next time.