What is in a Name? Part 2: "The Contender"

As many of you are aware by now, I spent some time as a Navy SEAL. My experience not only inspired me to set out and create a legacy for my sons but also became the inspiration for naming one of our watches “The Contender”.

To become a Navy SEAL, one must make it through BUD/S, Navy SEAL selection. It is a six-month arduous journey where only 20-25% of candidates make it through selection. Without a doubt, making it through BUD/S changed my life. The experience itself taught me a lot of life’s hard lessons. Everything from the importance of a positive attitude, fortitude, and friendship to name a few. It had such a profound impact on my life that I wish everyone could go through BUD/S training.

Every SEAL candidate deals with their own issues at BUD/S. Some are slow runners, some have bad knees, and some are simply just struggling with the adjustment of being in the military. To be honest, the physical evolutions at BUD/S were not difficult for me. But then again, I was somewhat athletic (or I would like to think I was). What was difficult for me was the daily grind, the early mornings, the late nights, the soreness, and the ice-cold ocean. BUD/S is designed to exploit those weaknesses and insecurities and push you off the ledge. The goal of BUD/S is to see if you will climb back up to the top after being pushed down; to see if you can pick yourself back up not just once, but perhaps multiple times.  It is designed to find and test your fortitude or lack thereof. Discovering and testing one’s fortitude is not about the guy next to you, the instructors yelling, the physical evolutions, or even the standards. Rather, it's about the two competing voices inside your head. One voice telling you to “get up” and the other voice telling you “I’m too tired to get up”. It’s about the two voices inside your head saying “you can do this” and “there is no way in hell you can do this”. As a SEAL I have learned that winning has nothing to do with the person you’re competing against, the standards, or the race itself. It does however have everything to do with those two voices in your head contending for victory and you deciding which one will prevail.

Designed with understated simplicity and numberless dial, The Contender reminds you to keep your eyes on the target and charge forward with gusto. It reminds you that the battle is won within and nowhere else.