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Masters of Uncertainty
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Masters of Uncertainty

The Navy SEAL Way to Turn Stress into Success for You and Your Team

Rich Diviney
Amplify, 2025
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9

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Retired Navy SEAL commander and performance expert Rich Diviney explains how to perform at your best amid uncertainty. He explains how to use elements of the Seals’ “Masters of Uncertainty” method to optimize your performance in the face of challenges. He approaches stressful, chaotic circumstances as opportunities to excel. Diviney bases his motivational advice on foundational values, including trust, self-awareness, unified teamwork, and perseverance. He shows you how to use his system for governing your attitude and your actions to make uncertainty work for you.

Summary

Uncertainty is the only thing you can count on.

The US Navy SEALs understand uncertainty far better than most teams. On May 2, 2011, a SEAL team undertook a dangerous and uncertain mission: to “capture or kill” Osama bin Laden, the terrorist most responsible for the deadly September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. The special forces SEAL team prepared comprehensively for this important mission. They built an exact duplicate of Bin Laden’s hideaway compound and practiced every step of the mission to capture or kill him. 

Even though they ran repeated drills, the mission went horribly wrong. A US helicopter crashed at the beginning of the mission, making entry into bin Laden’s compound far more difficult than the SEALs had anticipated. The mission timeline quickly fell apart. Because of all these setbacks, the opportunity for stealth disappeared. What was planned as a certain, predictable operation quickly became uncertain, unpredictable, and even more dangerous. Yet, the SEAL team managed to execute bin Laden while suffering no casualties.

To function so well amid danger and unpredictability, SEALs must...

About the Author

Retired US Navy SEAL Commander Rich Diviney served more than 13 overseas deployments and founded the SEALs’ performance-boosting “Mind Gym.” He is also the author of The Attributes: 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance.

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