{"id":21,"date":"2024-12-04T02:39:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T02:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/fall-2024\/jingeli\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2024-12-16T18:42:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T18:42:50","slug":"mark-greene-discipline-devotions-and-the-relentless-dedication-to-excellence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ascjcapstone.com\/fall-2024\/jingeli\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Greene: Discipline, Devotion, and the Relentless dedication to Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Greene: Discipline, Devotion, and the Relentless dedication to Excellence<\/h2>\n\n\n

By Jinge Li<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When discussing Mark Greene, three words come to mind: devotion, dedication, and discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment he began speaking as a guest in a USC entrepreneurship class, he completely transformed the room. What had been a noisy, distracted environment\u2014students chatting among themselves or glued to their phones\u2014suddenly shifted. Phones were put away and everyone became captivated by Greene’s words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s rare to witness a scene like this in today’s world where everyone is so consumed by social media and their devices. But for Greene, this is just the norm\u2014a reflection of his 19 years of service as a Navy SEAL.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a series of failures that made me realize that being good for one iteration or one practice or one game was okay, but the hardest part was to be consistently good,\u201d Greene said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in his 50s, Greene is a retired veteran, father of four, and a proud Trojan who embodies high performance and unwavering commitment to helping others overcome obstacles in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ve never achieved anything alone, the people who believed in me took a chance on me and gave me opportunities,” Greene said. “I wouldn\u2019t be satisfied with life if I didn\u2019t pay that forward… because it\u2019s the right thing to do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dedication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greene first developed what dedication means when he was in elementary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was 9, getting ready to go to my first football practice, my dad said, \u2018Son, once you start something, there’s no quitting,\u2019\u201d Greene said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Okay, yeah,\u2019 but didn\u2019t take him seriously. Then he stopped me, knelt to my level, looked me in the eye, and said, \u2018Once you start something, you can\u2019t quit, because so many people are depending on you to see it through\u2014whether you\u2019re a star player or don\u2019t play a second. Once you start, you have to finish.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That conversation left such an imprint on Greene that quitting was never an option. After suffering career-ending injuries in college Greene carried his \u201cnever quit\u201d mentality into SEAL training and beyond, approaching each challenge as an opportunity to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In SEAL training there is an exercise called \u201csurf torture,\u201d where trainees lay in the freezing Pacific Ocean as waves crash over them, and the cold seeps into their bones. \u201c[The training] not about strength or speed\u2014it\u2019s about mental toughness,\u201d said Matt Biss, a former SEAL who served alongside Greene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PICTURE OF MARK GREENE WITH Matt Biss, HIS FACE IS COVERED DUE TO SECURITY REASONS (PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK GREENE)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The instructors circled us, yelling, ‘Who wants to quit? Just three quitters, and it’s over,’ Biss said while recalling the trainning sessions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours passed, and the cold became unbearable. Then, an instructor would come with a box of donuts for any who wants to quit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll you have to do is quit,\u201d Biss continued. \u201cYou just get up [and] say \u2018Hey, I\u2019m done,\u2019 and that\u2019s it. You get donuts, a hot shower, and it\u2019s all over. No more yelling.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But Greene was different, Biss said, when they offered the donuts, Greene just looked up and said, \u201cWell, are they jelly-filled donuts? Because if they\u2019re not jelly-filled, fuck you. I\u2019m not quitting.\u201d  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“You’re calling out the instructors in this miserable situation while we’re freezing our asses off,” Biss laughed, commenting on the memory. “That was a ballsy move.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glenn Fox, neuroscientist and assistant professor of clinical entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California said everything the SEAL went through It\u2019s all an internal battle,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that to stay consistent and maintain motivation, it\u2019s essential to battle with your brain’s dopamine cycle, which provides a rewarding boost, but the challenge is how to manage when that good feeling inevitably wears off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n