In Brief: Essential Insights for Post-Military Transition
9 Jan 2023 · 4 min
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In this episode of the In Brief podcast, Jordana Megonigal, CEO of the Recon Network, uses the metaphor of physical stretching to encourage post‑military listeners to deliberately pursue uncomfortable challenges that expand their capabilities. She explains that, like a physical stretch, personal growth often feels tense or painful in the moment but leads to greater flexibility, range of motion, and a refreshed mindset. Jordana invites listeners to identify one “stretch” for the year—whether a new skill, certification, language, or endurance goal—emphasizing that the purpose is not solely career advancement but also curiosity, exploration, and a mindset shift toward embracing challenges as opportunities for growth. The episode concludes with a concrete weekly challenge: pick a single activity that will stretch you and commit to it, fostering a more adaptable and flexible self.
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This is In Brief. Let's get to it. Hello, this is the In Brief podcast where we take just a few minutes each week to dive into a topic that makes your post-military transition a little easier and gives you a new perspective to take into a new week. I'm Jordana, the CEO of the Recon Network, and this week in the brief, We are talking about how it's time to stretch. Okay. So no, we aren't talking about working out or mobility or any of that kind of stuff today. I'm sure you have plenty of that in your social media feeds and in your inbox, selling you the newest, latest, greatest way to get healthier, physical, whatever. But today we're actually talking about how you can grow yourself by doing something that's uncomfortable. Okay, so let's use physical stretching as an example. Okay, it's, it's not comfortable. Sure, it may feel good after you stretch, but the actual movement of stretching is full of tension, sometimes pain. It's not a very comfortable position to put yourself in, right? But you do it because after the fact, it's good for a number of reasons, right? You feel refreshed, you maybe feel a little bit looser, there's less tension. But primary reason that you might stretch is to improve your range of motion. Okay, so with that in mind, we want to look at stretching in a less physical and more internal way. Okay, so when we talk about stretching here on this podcast, we're talking about extending ourselves in a way that is not the norm. It's not our relaxed state. It's not how we typically are. In order to improve our range of motion Within a capability or a skill set. Okay. So it's our way out of our norm to become bigger, to become better, to do something new. So the question then becomes, how can you do something that stretches you, that challenges you, that is not within your normal extension of capabilities right now, but by doing so, you can grow and expand those capabilities. So for this week's challenge, I want you to do this. I want you to find one thing that you can stretch yourself with this year. Okay. It could be a new skill, a new certification. You could learn a new language, but whatever it is, what are you going to do that will grow you in one way or another and extend your reach, so to say? Okay, so you're going to find this thing that actually makes you better at something. Okay, but keep in mind, it doesn't have to be something that is like functional within a career path. Okay, I know some of you, you're out there thinking, well, if I get this certification, then I can leverage it to get a raise, or I can do this and then I can do this. That's great if that's where you land. Perfect if you want to have a means to an end. Great. But it's also perfectly fine to do something just because you're alive and because it exists, right? There is a curiosity that many of us lose along the way of just exploring and doing new things. You can learn a new language just to learn a new language. You can decide to go run an ultramarathon just because you want to. And that is the goal here. That is the thing that I want you to really hone in on this week, not so much to be able to capitalize on what it is you want to do this year, but to shift into a mindset where a challenge is just that. It's a challenge. It's an exploration. And it's a way to stretch yourself and be better and more flexible tomorrow than you were today.
