Motivation Tending Towards Zero

The military exercise I spent 6 weeks preparing for was not what I was expecting. I had prepared physically and thus mentally to go on reconnaissance with my squad. This meant spending time with my men and getting the adrenaline that goes with sneaking around enemy territory.

It was not the case. I had my thesis defence on Thursday and had to be at the military site by Saturday. Since the exercise had started earlier, this meant that I joined the platoon leader as his communications assistant.

On paper, it is an upgrade in hierarchy, yet in this context, a drop in responsibility. Furthermore, this meant I did no actual reconnaissance, since the platoon leader was the one supervising and coordinating the squad leaders' work.

The combination of not knowing what my job was, not having responsibilities, and expecting something completely different meant that my motivation was gradually tending towards zero throughout the exercise.

During the final two days in the barracks, I went around speaking to people about their experiences. This helped me connect with them more meaningfully and also get some of the adrenaline that I came for.

In my new role, I got to see the military functioning 2 levels higher than I am used to. During my service as a squad leader, I got to experience how to break down orders into tasks. In this role, I saw how these orders are formulated and how those above me operate.

What I noticed is that some things persist on all levels of leadership, such as knowing how much information to share with subordinates. There is a fine line between giving enough to understand the task and giving so much that it drowns them.

I came for adrenaline and friends, but what I got was new connections and a deeper understanding of how things work in the military. Not a bad trade-off.

This Week's Suggestions:

🎶 "CLOVER" by IDK, Joey Valence & Brae:

I have been cruising in a car with my fresh license, and rap just hits right when behind the wheel. Found this song scrolling on Instagram, good little gem.

Have a lovely day!