How the Military Prepares You for Change: Lessons from the Special Forces

Most people don’t resist change because they lack the ability to adapt, they resist it because they’re too comfortable where they are. In one of my talks, I shared a real story from military Special Forces training, which offers powerful lessons for anyone navigating today’s fast- changing world. Special Forces are volunteer-based units; you apply knowing you might not make it through. The training lasts anywhere from three to six months and is designed to break you physically, mentally, and emotionally. The physical part is intense, as you’d expect in the military, but what truly tests you are the mental and emotional ambushes. You follow a structured schedule with early morning PT, classes on demolition, navigation, medical training, and combat. But what catches you off guard are the surprises. Imagine returning at 1 AM from a 40-kilometre speed march, carrying 24 kilos of weight, your body begging for rest, when you’re suddenly told, “BPET in 5 minutes.” You’ve just eaten some halwa and tea thinking it's over, but it’s just the beginning. After that, you're sent to a training hall to solve a test on a class held two weeks ago, no prep, no warning. Then straight to a sewage filled nala, kept there from 3:30 AM, only to be told at 5 AM that PT starts in 30 minutes. Your plan to blend in gets shattered when the Training Officer calls out: “Probationers out! Group of three. Here’s your narrative, prepare an attack plan in 45 minutes.” You were ready for exercise, now you’re solving tactical problems in soaked clothes and zero sleep. It’s chaos, but it’s not random. It’s intentional. The army doesn’t use buzzwords like “VUCA” (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), but they prepare you for it every day through lived experience. They’re training you to be comfortable being uncomfortable. And that’s the biggest reason most people outside the military resist change, they don’t want to leave their comfort zone. The problem is, the world today is changing at a speed never seen before. The last hundred years changed more than the thousand before them. The last ten years changed more than the previous hundred. And now, thanks to technology, change is constant and exponential. If you’re not adapting, you’re falling behind. In the military, we say the comfort zone isn’t a place you step out of, it’s a zone of familiarity. Your brain clings to the known because unfamiliar equals danger in its survival wiring. That’s why stepping out isn’t the answer. You expand your comfort zone by entering unfamiliar spaces, learning, adapting, and making them familiar. Special Forces do this relentlessly. They put you in unexpected situations until your brain stops treating them as threats. That’s how your zone grows. And this is the foundation of a growth mindset, your ability to learn, improvise and stay grounded under pressure. This mindset isn’t just for soldiers. It’s for leaders, entrepreneurs and anyone living in today’s volatile world. It makes you open to learning, resilient in setbacks and effective in uncertain environments. So the question isn’t whether the world will slow down. It won’t. The real question is whether you are training yourself to respond to change, or waiting for comfort to return. The world isn’t going back to “normal “and that’s not a bad thing. Growth happens at the edge of discomfort. Whether you wear a uniform or a suit, what matters is this: can you keep going when the plan falls apart, when the schedule breaks down, when the rules change mid-game? That’s what determines who survives and who thrives in a VUCA world.

WORK LIFE BALANCE