How to Access Your Inner Warrior: Warrior Mind Podcast #438
Over four years and going strong! With over 800,000 downloads from over 9 countries and 5 continents’…. this is the Warrior Mind Podcast.
In this episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast I’m going to discuss how to access your inner warrior archetype for peak performance.
Access Your Inner Warrior
The Warrior in His Fullness
Moore says that “The characteristics of the Warrior in his fullness amount to a total way of life, what the samurai called a do (pronounced ‘do’). These characteristics constitute the Warrior Dharma, Ma’at, or Tao, a spiritual or psychological path through life.”
What are these characteristics? Let’s take a look.
Note: While here we use the language of the martial warrior, the characteristics can be applied to any man’s life mission, whether civilian or true solider.
21st Century Aspects
- Powerful Male Energy
- Discernment
- Setting and Protecting Boundaries
- Awareness of Death
- Self-control
- A Set of Principles
- Emotional Detachment
- Destruction and Renewal
How To Be A Powerful Warrior
- Make Friends with Anger
- Control Your Rage
- Find a Physical Outlet That Matches Your Warrior’s Needs
- Stop Being Passive and Get Your Balls Back
- Do Your Personal Work
- Live with Integrity and Authenticity
- Get Male Support
The Warrior is the part of us which goes out into the world and gets things done – on the orders of the King. He’s an action taker, but a principled one, and he servers his King in support of a cause he believes in.
His internal discipline controls his rage. His anger is channeled appropriately for the situation he is in. That many be simply presenting the energy of action in the world, it may be showing assertiveness, or it may be establishing clear boundaries.
When necessary, the Warrior acts with clean anger to provide the energy of offensive or defense action when that is needed to protect the things and people for whom he is responsible.
He may feel fear, but that will not prevent him from executing the King’s Mission in the world, nor from bringing to an end those things which no longer serve the Kingdom.
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How To Access Your Inner Warrior Continued
Traditional Aspects
Aggressive
If you look up the word “aggressive” in the dictionary, these are the definitions you’ll find:
1. characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing
2. making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive
3. vigorously energetic, especially in the use of initiative and forcefulness
Of the three definitions, the first is most popular in modern culture. Something unprovoked, out of line. Notice how often “overly” precedes “aggressive” in common parlance. Aggression may also bring to mind military policies a person does not agree with. In general, it has a negative connotation.
But true aggression should be thought of in the context of the second two dictionary entries. Effort. Energy. Initiative. Force. Aggression is a neutral tool that can be harnessed for either ill or good. How it is channeled makes all the difference. A man who does not harness his aggression at all picks a fight with everyone and about everything; his relationships fail and he is stunted in his personal development. The man who reins in his aggression too much becomes the stereotypical weenie Nice Guy–proper aggression turns into passive aggression. He is too “polite” to go after what he wants, and he’s seething inside because of it. A man who has successfully integrated the Warrior archetype harnesses his aggression as the force that pushes him to compete to be the best and moves him ever forward towards his goals.
Purpose
Of course, that proper use of aggression presupposes that a man has goals that he’s striving towards in the first place. A man has to have a clear and definite purpose in life, or he will feel lost and restless, like he is drifting along instead of marching ahead.
Mindful
The mindfulness of the Warrior is two-fold. First, he is always alert and awake, ever vigilant. He has keen situational awareness. He never lets complacency lull him to sleep; instead, he is always watching, observing, studying, and planning. Secondly, the Warrior is mindful of the finiteness of life and the inevitably of death, and he purposefully contemplates that death. His courage is rooted in the fact that he is not afraid to die. Life’s shortness brings clarity to his mind. He knows that any minute could be his last, so he makes every day and decision count. Carpe diem! becomes his battle cry.
Adaptable
During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army knew that it could not match the man and fire power of the British. So instead of facing them down on a field for a traditional battle, the minutemen took to the woods and launched surprise hit and run attacks on the enemy. This is the way of the Warrior; he is a guerrilla fighter. When he’s up against great odds, he bucks convention and uses his cleverness and his strategic intelligence to find creative ways to turn the tide in his favor. He is an efficient fighter–he studies the weaknesses of his opponents and concentrates his strikes there. He is flexible and able to respond to change by shifting tactics on the fly.
Minimalist
The key to successful guerrilla warfare is the fighter’s ability to travel light. While the traditional force has power in its superior resources, those resources also weigh and slow them down. The guerrilla fighter strips away all superfluities and excess baggage; he carries only what he needs and is thus quick and nimble, able to be two steps ahead of the enemy.
Decisive
In times of peace or crisis, whether for big things or small, the Warrior is able to boldly make decisions. He doesn’t stand there shilly-shally, wondering what he should do, scared of choosing the wrong option. He is calm and cool under pressure. Once he makes a decision, he unhesitatingly moves on it because he does not live in regret. The Warrior is able to be so decisive because he trains so thoroughly for these moments; he is prepared. He thinks about all possible contingencies and what he would do in each situation before the crisis arrives. When the crisis does come, his mind and body already instinctively know what to do.
Skillful
Part of the Warrior’s confidence in his decisions is rooted in his supreme competence. Accordingly, to Moore, “The Warrior’s energy is concerned with skill, power, and accuracy.” The Warrior “has absolute mastery of the technology of his trade…the technology that enables him to reach his goal. He has developed skill with the ‘weapons’ he uses to implement his decisions.”
Loyal
If you remember, the Hero is the boyhood archetype which matures into the Warrior archetype. Part of this maturation process centers on a shift in a man’s loyalties. Moore argues that “The Hero’s loyalty…is really to himself–to impressing himself with himself and to impressing others.” The Warrior’s loyalties, on the other hand, “are to something beyond and other than himself and his own concerns.” The Warrior’s loyalty centers on “a cause, a god, a people, a task, a nation–larger than individuals.” The Warrior has a “central commitment” around which he organizes his life. His life’s purpose is rooted in ideals and principles, which naturally strips away superfluities and pettiness and brings his life great meaning.
Disciplined
The Warrior has mastered himself in body and mind. His power is rooted in self-control. He knows when to be aggressive and how aggressive to be. He is the master of his energies, releasing them and pulling them back as he chooses. He decides the attitude he will take in a certain situation, instead of letting the situation dictate how he feels. Unlike the boyhood Hero archetype, the Warrior understands his limits; he takes calculated instead of unnecessary risks. His discipline also frees him of a fear of pain. Feeble, mediocre men believe all pain is bad. The Warrior knows there is bad pain and good pain. He is willing, even eager to withstand psychological and physical pain on the path to his goals. He’s the kind of man who subscribes to the “pain is just weakness leaving the body” philosophy; he relishes difficulty because it makes him stronger.
Emotionally Detached
Not all the time, but when he is in Warrior mode. To complete his mission, the Warrior must be emotionally detached–from the fear and doubt generated by his own feelings, from the intimidation emanating from his enemy, and from the “shoulds” and demands put on him by friends and family. The Warrior needs the kind of mental clarity that only comes from single-minded purpose, or as Moore puts it, “The Warrior needs room to swing his sword.”
Switching off that emotional detachment when away from the mission represents the great challenge for the Warrior. The inability to do so can result in one of the Warrior’s shadows.
Creative Destroyer
The Warrior is the archetype of destruction. However, the Warrior in his fullness only destroys in order to “make room for something new and fresh and more alive.” His is an act of creative destruction–he doesn’t tear things down simply for the pleasure of doing so. We call upon the Warrior archetype when we quit bad habits and replace them with better ones or when we get rid of people in our lives who bring us down and surround ourselves with people who edify.
Accessing The Warrior
If you’re accessing your inner Warrior appropriately, you’ll experience energy, decisiveness, and courage. You’ll see through bullshit and understand what needs to be done and find the resolve to do it. You’ll find your “hardness”. You’ll find yourself able to “attack” for the greater good, such as making a friend or a loved one feel bad about something they did when they really should feel bad about it, either for their own good or for another’s. You’ll set boundaries and see that people keep to them.
Without any of the other archetypes, you’d by a rigid asshole. But then, that’s why we have the others. 🙂
Exercises to Access Your Inner Warrior
Give some thought to when, where, how and how much the Warrior express (or does not express) itself in your life.
- How much or how little is the Warrior expressed in your life? Has it been expressed more in the past or present? Do you see it emerging more in your future? Is it expressed more at work, at home, with friends, in dreams or fantasies?
- Who are some friends, relatives, co-workers, and others who seem influenced by the archetype of the Warrior?
- Is there anything you wish were different about the expression of the Warrior in your life?
- Since each archetype expresses itself in many different ways, take some time to describe or otherwise portray, i.e. draw, collage, use a picture of yourself in a particular custom or pose, the Warrior as it is expressed or could be expressed in your life. What does or would it look like? How does or would act? In what setting does or would it feel most at home?
For a more in-depth discussion about this topic request your Introductory Consultation.
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