Book Review: Make Your Bed

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven offers life lessons drawn from his Navy SEAL training.

These lessons are not only practical but also deeply psychological, echoing strongly with principles found in counselling practice. Yes, you heard me right! Therefore, I took this opportunity to explore how the key themes from Make Your Bed can enhance counselling approaches and client outcomes.

The Power of Small Actions

McRaven’s first lesson is to start each day by making your bed, which emphasises the importance of small actions. In counselling, small actions can have a significant impact on clients’ mental health. For instance, counsellors often encourage clients to establish daily routines or set small, achievable goals. These small steps can help build a sense of accomplishment and control, which is essential for clients struggling with anxiety or depression.

Embracing Adversity

One of the central themes of McRaven’s book is embracing adversity. He recounts rigorous training and the importance of perseverance. In counselling, this translates into building resilience. Clients often face life’s adversities, from personal loss to professional setbacks. Counselling practices like cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) help clients reframe negative thoughts and view challenges as opportunities for growth, echoing McRaven’s advice to embrace the struggle.

The Importance of Teamwork

McRaven highlights the critical role of teamwork in overcoming challenges. This lesson is mirrored in counselling practices that focus on relational dynamics, such as family therapy or group therapy. These approaches emphasise that supportive relationships are dynamic for emotional health. Counsellors often work to strengthen clients’ social networks, encouraging them to seek support and collaborate with others to overcome personal challenges.

Accepting Failure

Then, McRaven speaks to the inevitability of failure and the necessity of learning from it. Yes, this lesson is fundamental in counselling. Counsellors encourage clients to view failure not as a definitive end but a learning experience.

This perspective helps clients develop a growth mindset, reducing the fear of failure and promoting perseverance. Techniques such as mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are used to help clients accept their imperfections and failures as part of the human experience.

The Value of Determination

Determined effort is a recurring theme in Make Your Bed. This lesson aligns with motivational interviewing, a counselling technique that helps clients find the internal motivation to make positive changes. By fostering a client’s intrinsic motivation and determination, counsellors can guide them through the process of setting and achieving meaningful goals.

Conclusion

Make Your Bed provides valuable insights that resonate deeply with counselling practices. The book’s emphasis on small actions, embracing adversity, teamwork, accepting failure, and determination aligns with many therapeutic techniques aimed at fostering resilience, motivation, and personal growth.

By incorporating these lessons into their practice, counsellors can empower clients to make meaningful changes in their lives, one small step at a time.

And I’m sure this book could empower us as well.