Why You Should Have a Field Manual for Your Life

How to define a simple set of operating procedures to stay focused on our daily goals

By Max Frenzel

Every day we wake up with determination. There are things we want to accomplish. But then as the day unfolds, our missions get derailed. Unexpected landmines pop up. Unforeseen decisions need to be made. They slow down progress and use up energy. And as a result, those initial goals fall by the wayside. And it is rarely because the goals were too ambitious.

In order to face this uncertainty in an ever-changing environment and still succeed, carry a field manual.

Take Ownership

The key idea of the book ‘Extreme Ownership - How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’ is the titular concept of extreme ownership.

When things go wrong, we often blame others, bad luck, or circumstances. But what we should actually do is take full responsibility ourselves, no matter the circumstances. And it is - as the Stoics teach us - the only thing that actually makes sense from a practical point of view.

It’s what true leaders do.

‘Extreme Ownership. Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.’ ’ Jocko Willink

Field manual

Field manual - a set of simple instructions for making decisions and dealing with the unexpected.

Lets outline the idea of writing a personal field manual for life. With that, hopefully, we will be able to more calmly confront the landmines that might crop up in our jobs, our relationships, or any other aspect of our lives.

By definition, we will never anticipate all unexpected situations, but being aware of some of the things that could go wrong, and having a clear and simple set of rules to follow in case of adversity, will give us the calm and composure to carry on with the mission and succeed despite a setback.

And this is where the field manual comes in.

The field manual is a set of simple instructions that enables us to take extreme ownership even in the most extreme, chaotic, and unpredictable situations. It allows us to confront our personal landmines and avoid ambushes challenging our mission.

To be effective, the manual should follow three key principles:

1. It should be simple and fit on a single page, e.g. as a bulleted list of operating procedures.
2. It should be prioritised in a strategic order that you can start executing tomorrow.
3. It should be reviewed, evaluated, and understood by everyone crucial to the mission.

Keep it as simple as possible. When you need it the most, when things are going sideways, you don’t want to be overwhelmed by complexity. Avoiding complexity and uncertainty is exactly the point of having a field manual.

Laying things out chronologically helps with planning our day, but other ‘strategic’ orders might work as well, depending on our personal mission.

And our mission is not static, but changes over time. Similarly, our field manual should not be written once and then set in stone forever, but updated regularly to reflect the changes in our mission and priorities.

Finally, especially when we want to share our field manual with others (as we should), it’s easy to hold back. But we should be as open and honest as possible. Often a good field manual will make us vulnerable. This might be scary, but that’s a good thing.

Sample field manual

1. Get at least eight hours of good quality sleep.
2. Mornings are focused on output! Minimize input, except books.
3. Reduce screen/phone time.
4. Meditate at least 10 minutes, ideally in the morning.
5. Show appreciation for people, even for simple things.
6. Protect your time off and schedule time for reflection.
7. At least one uninterrupted hour spent fully focused on my top priority for the day. Not making progress is okay, working on something else is not!
8. Disconnect at least one hour before bed time.
9. When tempted by a social thing, I ask myself if I truly want it, or if it is just FOMO speaking. Practice JOMO!
10. Surround yourself with people who push/challenge you!

These 10 short and simple operating procedures take the burden of constant small decisions away from us and allow us to focus on what really matters.

I had many more days on which I prioritised effectively, with my different pursuits boosting each other. I experienced much fewer days of anxiously switching from one thing to another and being busy without making any progress. - Note from the author

If I actively reminded myself of the manual and tried to check off each point, I generally had a great day. But you do have to remind yourself of it regularly. Otherwise you start slipping.

Summarizing the main steps

1. Identify your mission! What’s important to you, and what are you trying to accomplish in life?
2. Imagine failure! What would failure in your mission look like? What would the consequences be?
3. Spot the landmines! What hidden landmines are there that tend to threaten your mission?
4. Write your field manual! What simple and strategically ordered operating procedures will help you avoid landmines and accomplish your mission?
5. Share and review your manual! Who is critical to your mission? Friends, co-workers, lovers…? Make them aware of your mission and get their feedback.

Tips for making the most out of it

The most difficult part in following these instructions will most likely be to stay honest and true to yourself, as well as openly sharing your mission and priorities with those around you. Just try not to overthink it; listen to your gut reaction. Write down whatever comes to mind first, no matter how vague and inarticulate it might be. You can work on putting it into better words later.

If you can quantify the items in your manual, do so. It will help with following through. That way the field manual essentially becomes a checklist that you can go through each day. (That said, not every item might be quantifiable. Try it, but if it doesn’t work, don’t force it.)

The SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound), can also be very helpful for refining each goal.

Once you follow all these steps, you should have a solid field manual in place that allows you to get through every day with much more ease, to take extreme ownership of your life, and to accomplish the things that really matter to you.

‘Our freedom to operate and maneuver had increased substantially through disciplined procedures. Discipline equals freedom.’ Jocko Willink

The only thing that’s left is to regularly remind yourself of your manual, periodically review and update it, and actually put the steps into practice. Keeping your field guide in a place where you’ll see it throughout the day is the most obvious step to take. If you do this together with others, try to schedule a monthly check- in where everyone reports on how they have been doing with acting on their manual. You could also discuss how the manuals should be updated, if necessary.

And even if you are doing this on your own, scheduling a monthly or quarterly check-in with yourself can be an effective way to review and update your manual, as well as just reminding you of its existence and importance.

The more you act on it and practice it, the more it will become second nature. And as you progress, your manual can evolve to tackle even bigger or more subtly hidden landmines.