Thread by @ItsKieranDrew

I fired my first gun when I was 11 years old.

And met the Queen when I was 14.

Childhood in a military school had its perks. The problem?

I was anxious, overweight, and hated every second.

Here’re 6 eye-opening lessons I learned pretty damn early

Pain is Relative

I remember my first morning:

5 am

A soldier screaming at you to get up.

Ice cold showers.

Room inspection.

Parade before school.

It used to be I’d wake up to the smell of breakfast and the comfort of my mum’s voice.

It was a shock.

But…

You recover.

See,

We exist not because of our strength,

But our adaptability

You can use this to your advantage:

Your dreams require sacrifice.

Tough choices. Hard work. Whatever it takes.

But this becomes your 'normal'.

Decide what you need to do.

And you will adapt.

Beware of Echo Chambers

You're probably wondering what I did 'wrong' to go to military school.

I won’t pretend to be a bad boy - I’m a pussy lol.

But my family was military

We moved around a lot, so it made sense.

I lived in an echo chamber

And saw how dangerous they are.

The school had a belief about how to live.

And over time, we reinforced it

It became all we knew

My friends joined the army

I didn't.

Now I see our idea of reality is a small slice of a bigger picture

It's your duty to find perspective & update your map of understanding.

Question Authority

As you can imagine,

A lot of my teachers were dicks.

You did what you were told when you were told

And you didn’t question it

Here’s the thing:

We’re psychologically biased to overweigh authority

Even if they're entirely wrong.

My teachers laughed when I said I wanted to be a dentist

They told me to get real

As a dentist, my boss said I was throwing away my career when I quit to write

But here’s what I think:

Fuck anyone who doesn’t share your vision.

Authority doesn’t mean shit

You’re in charge

You Decide if Problems Win

At one point, I developed a spinal cord tumour.

I didn’t know it was there.

But I couldn’t shout as it grew.

Trust me:
Not being able to shout at a military school is like being unable to dance at a disco.

I was laughed at.

Bullied.

I hated my throat

But it was outside of my control

So I accepted

Worked 2x harder

I finished as an officer

(no one could hear me though lol)

Here's a pic of my chubby ass

What I learned 👇

When you can do nothing about a situation, you're challenged to change yourself.

Tidying is More Than You Think

I know.

Who the hell cares about tidying?

I never did.

But when the punishment was assault courses, not washing dishes -

You start to love a clean room

(Especially because I hated exercise lol)

But here’s why it’s important:

Tidying isn’t about being tidy.

It’s about self-respect.

See,

The standards you set become the results you get.

A tidy room is a tidy mind.

And the habit builds discipline.

Which prepares you for when you truly need it in life.

Hard Work Will Be Your Superpower

I struggled through military school

I was never a ‘natural’

I’m still not – with anything.

But I learned early:

You decide your level of success.

Not your environment. Not your situation.

But your response.

Your attitude.

So, if you doubt what you can achieve, try this:

Make a choice.

Decide to be the hardest working in the room.

Consistency will take you much further than innate ability.

And you can move mountains with daily effort.

My fav Q from @tombilyeu re this:

https://twitter.com/tombilyeu/status/1215732667934597120?lang=en

My friends - thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this:

1. Follow me @itskierandrew for threads on writing and pursuing your potential
2. Check out a bit of my story and what I’m up to now:

https://twitter.com/ItsKieranDrew/status/1428038290804981761

TL;DR:

Some ideas on life that will help you succeed:

• How to use perspective
• The danger of echo chambers
• Risk of authority
• Tidy the f*ck up
• Overcome adversity
• Be a fast pig

Tough environments teach important lessons.