NEVER ENOUGH

A former Navy SEAL leader discusses approaches to improving one’s life by taking an active role in it.

Hayes opens in Fallujah, recounting a tense situation in which he had to make a split-second decision about whether or not to shoot a civilian reaching inside his robe for something. Was he hiding a gun or a detonator? No, an ID card. The decision, by the author’s slogan-rich narrative, is “take action, or don’t.” That action comes in many forms: As Hayes notes, he tells his daughter every morning not to have a good day but to “ ‘make it’ a great day. ‘Have’ is passive, implying that the world will simply happen around her.” Those without a determined mindset need not apply: “The greatest trajectory to excellence is trying really hard things….You need to maintain the mindset every day that even the most excellent person can never decide that he or she is excellent enough.” Doing so involves constant striving and developing something beyond the ordinary shallow motivations that get us through our days—the desire for fame, money, and so forth, rather than taking the robust leadership stance of “align[ing] passions to larger causes.” A leader who does so and inspires others all around to do better, constantly, can be a world-changer. Hayes is earnest, inclines to repeated keywords (“Excellence. Agility. Meaning.”), and doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of humor. But there’s no question but that his blend of cheerleading and suck-it-up exhortation will produce results in readers who take his advice seriously to remake themselves in an unending search for self-improvement. The author offers valuable lessons for motivated readers, but there is also considerable overlap with the work of fellow Navy SEAL Jocko Willink.

A well-thought-through program for building personal greatness, but you have to work for it.