by Jamie Wheal , August 23, 2022

Attributes - Rich Diviney - Optimal Psychology

How Grit Attributes Help us Build a Resilient Mind

Rich Diviney, joins Jamie Wheal for a discussion surrounding the value and development of attributes. For those of you who loved Jamie’s Stealing Fire, Rich Davis (a nom de guerre for Diviney) was the opening story in that book. Their friendship and passion for peak performance, flow states, and optimal psychology runs deep, fostering an educational and moving discussion.

Rich Diviney is a former Navy SEAL Commander who served in 13 overseas deployments. Throughout his career, Rich was intimately involved in the specialized SEAL selection process, whittling down hundreds of extraordinary candidates to a handful of the most elite performers. Oddly, which candidates washed out and which succeeded was often wildly unpredictable. Some had the right skills and still failed. At first glance others were more easily dismissible but would prove to be top performers.

Rich discerned that beneath obvious skills were hidden drivers of performance, surprising core attributes that determine how resilient we are. And he’s here today to share that knowledge with us. Jamie and Rich discuss:

Attributes vs. skills: what’s the difference?
How do cognitive biases impact attribute development?
Why we need experiential environments to refine attributes.
How loss of identity, tribe, and purpose can lead to PTSD, even in high performers.
The attributes we need to face a future of uncertainty with courage, hope and resilience.
Why the courage attribute is multifaceted.