The Secret Service Training Tactic for Building Mental Endurance
Embrace the Hormetic Effect
When I was training for the Secret Service, I learned about a phenomenon called the Hormetic Effect. The word hormesis comes from the Greek word hórmƒìsis, which means rapid motion or eagerness. In medical terms, hormesis refers to the body’s strengthening response to the administration of low doses of stress. This is how vaccines work — a low-dose virus is introduced into your body, which causes your immune system to produce antibodies to fight it. It’s also how muscles grow back larger and stronger when your muscle fibers repair the microtears sustained from weight training exercises.
But hormesis isn’t just about physical adaptation; it’s about adapting mentally to difficult situations, as well. Our Secret Service training was designed around this concept. Over the course of months, our instructors incrementally exposed us to greater and greater amounts of stress to the point where we could highly function, both mentally and physically, while under extreme cognitive loads.
Our training included drills that required us to run and shoot and maneuver our way out of a burning building and keep our protectee safe — all at the same time. The logic went that if our presidential motorcade was assaulted by multiple adversaries from multiple…
