One day, McRaven and his swim buddy Ensign Marc Thomas finished last in a swimming exercise. As a result, the two recruits were assigned to the day’s Circus, a tortuous test of endurance that consists of an extra, multi-hour session of calisthenics and cardiovascular exercise on top of the day’s already grueling activity. To make the Circus list was a disgrace: “In the eyes of the instructors, you were a failure” (38). The Circus ended in one of two outcomes: Either it killed your progress, as you exhausted yourself daily until you couldn’t continue the training, or it forced you to make up for your failures, becoming the cause of your improved ability. As McRaven remembers, “[O]ther students quit […] Marc and I were determined not to allow The Circus to beat us” (38). Eventually, thanks to their time in The Circus, McRaven and Thomas outpaced every other pair of swimmers.

Later in his career, McRaven was in charge of his own team, until he was fired and almost drummed out of the SEAL community. After being reassigned, he knew he had to find a way to regain the respect of his new team, and the rest of the SEAL leadership as well.