A Navy SEAL Commander Inspires College Grads to Make their Beds
Admiral Bill McRaven, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, shared with 2014’s University of Texas graduates the 10 lessons he learned during his SEAL training. Among them: “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
We know that making a bed is a mundane task that many of us choose not to do it every morning. Is an unmade bed a big deal? See what Adm. Bill McRaven says in his inspiring speech on how anyone can change the world.
“So, here are the ten lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life. Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Viet Nam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed.
If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack—rack—that’s Navy talk for bed.
It was a simple task—mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle hardened SEALs—but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.
By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.
Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.
If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”
Read the full transcript.
Do you agree with Admiral Bill McRaven on the impact of making your bed every morning? Why do you make your bed every morning?