#86: General Stan McChrystal on Eating One Meal Per Day, Special Ops, and Mental Toughness

Stanley McChrystal (@StanMcChrystal)  retired from the U.S. Army as a four-star general after more than 34 years of service. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates described McChrystal as "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I ever met."

From 2003 to 2008, McChrystal served as Commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where he was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

His last assignment was as the commander of all American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He is currently a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and the co-founder of CrossLead, a leadership consulting firm.

In this episode, we discuss everything imaginable, including:

- Why he eats only one meal per day
- His exact exercise routines
- Tactical and psychological lessons of combat
- Self-talk used before and after difficult missions
- The value and development of mental toughness
- Favorite books, documentaries, etc.
- And much, much more

Chris Fussell (@FussellChris), who also joins the conversation, is a former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, former Aide-de-Camp for General McChrystal, and a current senior executive at CrossLead.

Links, resources, and show notes from this episode can be found at http://fourhourworkweek.com/podcast

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Enjoy!