Mastering Fear: A Navy SEAL’s Guide

In this inspiring self-help book, entrepreneur and former Navy SEAL Webb (The Red Circle) and Mann (coauthor of The Go-Giver) skillfully direct readers on how to harness their fears and accomplish personal goals. Taking a matter-of-fact but empathetic tone, Webb revisits his challenging days in BUD/S (basic underwater demolition/SEAL training) and the resulting process for accomplishing goals he created for himself: decision, rehearsal, letting go, jumping off, and knowing what matters. He devotes a chapter to each step, using his own experiences—good and bad—as examples. For the first step, he draws a counterexample from his first, failed foray into business after leaving the military, which he entered into with partners he intuitively recognized were ill-suited, but chose to work with anyway—thus teaching him about the importance of trusting intuition. Throughout each step, Webb writes, the most important consideration is managing the conversation in one’s head: focusing on what will go right, not what could possibly go wrong, a maxim to which he attributes his success in getting SEAL trainees through the demanding sniper training program. Webb’s encouraging central message about overcoming and making use of fear should improve the lives of those who take it to heart. (Aug.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the title of a book John David Mann coauthored.