Warning: This review delves into trauma issues that may be distressing to some readers. Support is available through your Chain of Command, Chaplaincy or Health Centre, Lifeline 131144 or Open Arms 1800 011 046.
Dan Pronk tells his story of transformation from a chubby average kid who joins the Army to train as a doctor and then join Special Air Service Regiment, and lessons he learned during service as a Combat Doctor and afterwards, including navigating post-traumatic stress into a career change.
Average 70kg D**khead is my latest number #1 recommendation for recruits from Wagga or Cerberus, especially those experiencing health, discipline or adjustment challenges as they set career and life goals. It is insightful reading for instructors and health professionals supporting Defence members facing resilience challenges. It is also a ripping good read and relevant for anyone eager to dream big, set audacious goals, pursue them relentlessly, and adjust and grow through inevitable setbacks. Pronk’s foundational advice: ‘We only get one go at this life so don’t become comfortable and settle if you’re truly convinced that you’re destined for something more’.
The first central theme I appreciated was goal-setting inspiration. The book helped me shape goals for my main challenge of supporting wellbeing with attentive chaplaincy support. It elevated service, quoting John Bunyan ‘You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you’. It urged me to be prepared for tough conversations and challenging relocations. And it reminded me not to compare myself with others but to compete with my yesterday, citing Miyamoto Musashi the 17th-century Japanese swordsman, ‘Today is victory over yourself of yesterday’.
Among the book’s best advice was to be more concerned with the regard and appreciation of those ‘below or around you’ than those above, despite what it means for recognition or progression. A meaningful measure of success is the accomplishment of bringing others along! This reminded me of a learner who appreciated a Kapooka Corporal who told them, ‘You’re not failing if you don’t get through but I am failing as an instructor’, encouraging them to keep at it together.
The book also helped me break down goals for supporting fitness and language learning efforts. It outlines SMART goals and breaks them into bite-sized plans. If it takes one bite at a time to eat an elephant, then it will take consistency with focused practice to develop my Indonesian language fluency. It takes incremental and consistent effort to increase my number of push-ups and a range of other fitness indicators. Our social media-addicted, fast-paced society expects things to be easy, but if mastery takes Gladwell’s predicted 10 000 hours, then I need to respect the need for training hours (as well as coaches and colleagues to support the journey). It takes perseverance and giving 100% in training and events to achieve ambitious goals in endurance sports, which is why Pronk’s stories of ‘Always a little further’, ‘Don’t leave any gas in the tank’ and ‘Don’t leave any rounds in the magazine’ were inspiring. Pronk’s stories of selection and Special Forces teamwork will be motivational, especially for those preparing for selection, but it carry lessons for all of us in taking a current project to the next level or overcoming barriers to start something new.
The second theme I appreciated was perspective. This also can help with goal setting—having a bigger perspective to avoid getting stuck in a rut, not taking yourself too seriously, and taking time to celebrate accomplishments. It also helps to have perspective to know when some goals are not worth pursuing or are not achievable. For example, Pronk spent 5 years trying to make it as a professional triathlete until he realised he was underperforming and decided to apply his effort in other directions. He helped remind me that a key to top performance in a central area of effort is saying no to other distracting or alluring options.
The most valuable image of perspective was the recalibrated suck meter. A suck meter is calibrated to what we think is comfortable. Typically, we might sit in an orange zone if food and life and comforts are flowing okay, or tip into a green zone when we see small wins of fortune, or a red zone of ‘suck’ when we experience simple inconveniences or things not going our way. Australian Defence Force training starts to recalibrate this with expectation management that life and service are not meant to be easy and reinforces that achieving anything worthwhile takes effort. Pronk is transparent about his post-traumatic stress from witnessing violence in combat and the challenges of adjusting to civilian life. But he explains that this also gave him a fresh perspective or post-traumatic growth (PTG). It is possible to experience stress and, instead of slipping into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to rise up to be stronger and more appreciative. Pronk’s experience may help others navigate trauma and/or gain a fresh perspective:
‘Having seen the horrendous rotting meat and produce at the regional markets of a third-world warzone I would find myself in awe of the abundance of fresh choices available at my local supermarket. Having seen kids ripped limb from limb by explosive devices gave me a newfound appreciation for my own kids, and the simple pleasure of being able to safely play at a local park without the fear of every step being their last. Having watched my friends and teammates die on the battlefield I felt a new obligation to really live my life to honour them. I spent more time with my kids because my friends were robbed of the same opportunity with theirs. I invested more in my relationship with my wife for the same reason. The devastation that I saw on the faces of the parents of my dead friends at their funeral services caused me to further invest in my relationship with my own parents. I began to see the minutia of life for exactly what it was.’
Dan Pronk also wrote The Combat Doctor: A Story of Battlefield Medicine and Resilience, and, with SF colleagues Ben Pronk and Tim Curtis, wrote The Resilience Shield: SAS Resilience Techniques to Master Your Mindset and Overcome Adversity.
Average 70kg D**khead is a valuable resource for ADF members seeking inspiration for achieving bold goals or to help with recalibrating a healthy perspective on life’s struggles and the Commanders, health professionals, family and friends who support them.
The views expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Australian Army, Department of Defence or the Australian Government.
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