Finding New Limits for LEOs
Oct 29, 2023
The thing I love most about surrounding myself with high performers? We’re constantly pushing ourselves – and each other – to new limits.
On the range – we’re running our guns as hard as we can… until the wheels fall off. Constantly shooting standards to see where we stand. Once we identify where our breaking point is, we can continue to move forward. This is how we get race-time splits out of our service weapons. We’re always competing with each other – not to show who’s better, but to see how much better we can be.
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In the gym – we are constantly testing and re-evaluating where we are throughout the year (EFT Standards). Are we making progress? We freakin’ better be. Once you know your max effort (or failure point, sometimes!) we know the boundaries within which we need to be working. Again, competition breeds improvement. There’s a phrase written in my gym: “Is that enough?” Until it is, we’re not stopping.
Defensive Tactics – same. Medical training – same. Case law – same. SFSTs. Policy. Driving. The list goes on. There is almost no limit to the ways to improve ourselves as officers.
And all that is for our second priority – the job. What about as a husband? A mom? A friend? Are we pushing our limits to honor those relationships, as well? Our identity is in these things, not in what we do for a living.
What does that look like? How do we find these limits? What is the standard? From a Judeo-Christian worldview, the standard is found in God’s love, patience and grace to his people. Whether you subscribe to that ideology or not, I believe that it sets a great precedent for the ways we can push ourselves.
A screaming three-year-old who is unhappy with the way the carpet feels today? Patience.
A sixteen-year-old who’s heart has been broken for the first time? Love, adoration and encouragement.
A husband who left his clothes in a pile and a sink full of dishes…again? Grace (please!).
We find our limits the same way at home as we do at work. And oftentimes, the results are nowhere near as impressive. We identify where our breaking point is, and intentionally work at the threshold of our abilities. This involves a self-sacrifice in our time and energy. When you’ve both had a bad day – push yourself to serve your spouse. When you’re coming off a double? Push yourself to muster the energy to get on the floor with your kids – or better yet, run around outside.
The standard is more difficult to identify here. There’s no sub-2-second bill drill we can run while changing diapers (although the race can be real….especially with boys…).
I think as humans, the standard is something that we may never meet, but something we’re always chasing. And the results show when we’ve left the job.
Will your family remember who you were as a wife, a dad or a child? Or will they remember you solely as an officer? Because I promise the job will have moved on and filled your role.
Your role at home can never be replaced. There will always be another cop ready to step into your shoes at work, but your role at home is uniquely yours. Yes, we have to train hard for the job (it can kill us, after all). But it should never be at the expense of our most important job. There’s a balance that needs to be found, and the right people in your corner will help make that a reality.
And that group of hard-chargers I mentioned earlier? They better be there to hold you accountable – not just at work, but at home, too.
So as we look ahead to the coming year – find new limits. Get out of your comfort zone. Serve others with a passion. Shoot fast and lift heavy shit. And love your family like there’s no tomorrow. We never know when our number will be called, and if we’re not ready….well, you know the rest of that story. So, as the (now)-ancient philosophers , Salt-N-Pepa, so wisely said: Push it…
