Most times we never know when our crisis or challenge will hit us. Plus we never know how long the crisis will last. It is the ones that keep going mentally that are going to make it, mentally tough people understand that the warrior switch can never turn off!

This week MTNTOUGH COO Ara Megerdichian brought a unique workout to The Lab in Bozeman. The workout was designed so that the participants never knew when they were finished. There were 3 false finish lines in the workout, and each false finish line broke down the participants mentally, by design. Every time they got a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel they would red line, push hard, then their emotions were devastated when they realized the workout wasn't complete and more work was ahead of them. Ara intentionally built this workout to teach everyone at The Lab one thing...the warrior switch can never be turned off because it is very difficult to turn back on!

The result:

As the local MTNTOUGH'ers completed the workout and all huddled together for Ara's "AAR" or After Action Review, it was apparent Ara had emotionally wrecked some very strong athletes. Athletes that are very competitive typically were emotionally crushed realizing they had quit mentally after the first or second false finish line. The bottom line was simple, those that conquered this challenge didn't focus on the finish, they focused solely on their teammates and had the mindset of it is over when it is over, period.

When you turn the warrior switch off, it is very difficult to turn it back on. Warriors know to never turn the switch off. You are never out of the fight!

Ara is a retired military officer and Army Ranger. He's led some of the toughest and best soldiers in the world, trained Rangers and paratroopers, and taught physical education at the United States Military Academy. He believes in pushing the limits of physical, mental, and emotional endurance to find the strength to turn walls into hurdles: "Every time you find a ceiling…it becomes your next floor – so break through it, stand up, and get ready to drive further."