Welcome to another very special HPP edition, also recorded at The Barn — this one back in August 2025. Yes, it's also been a little delayed in getting pushed out, but I promise it's worth the wait.
In this show, we welcome Nick Lavery to the podcast. I first met Nick at our 2025 gathering of tight ends at TEU in June, where he addressed our group. Nick's energy and message were truly inspiring and offered all of us great insight on mindset and performance.
Nick's story and perspective on life are grounded in action and intention, built on hard-earned, lived-through lessons on success, resilience, and courage — all approached with a peak-performance mindset.
Nick's resume is extensive, and we cover it in the show, but some highlights are worth noting:
Nick is a Chief Warrant Officer 2 and an active-duty member of the United States Army Special Forces (The Green Berets). He is the first Special Forces operator to return to full active-duty combat deployment as an above-the-knee amputee. Injured in 2013, after two years of surgeries, prosthetic fittings, and grueling field training, he returned to his unit and back into full combat settings.
He is also the first amputee in military history to complete: (1) the Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification course, (2) the Special Operations Combatives Program Instructor course, and (3) the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification course.
Nick's awards include the Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, and many others. He is a warrior's warrior, a proven leader, and the author of Objective Secure: The Battle-Tested Guide to Goal Achievement. He's also an inspiring speaker with a group of veterans doing leadership and mindset training known as Precision Components, a spokesperson for Pillars of Valor Coffee, and — above all — a husband and father to two boys.
This episode follows how Nick's life intersects with the three components of our work at HPS: (1) Navigating Transitions, (2) Finding Healing, and (3) Achieving Peak/Optimal Performance. His story across all three is a textbook study in mindset, resilience, courage, loyalty, and love.
He shares his transition from college football, growing to 6'5" and 250 lbs by the time he reported for service; his sense of wasting his life and making some poor decisions while working as a VIP security guard after college; and eventually seeking a higher calling with purpose and intention. And he found it.
He shares his stories of training for the Special Forces, his deployments, and the insider ambush attack on the U.S. military compound where he was stationed — which resulted in the deaths of U.S. service members and his own injuries, ultimately costing him his leg. This led to more transitions, more healing, and eventually more optimal performance. It's also a blueprint for developing your own mindset: how he accomplished the recovery and training that led to his approval and assignment back to full active duty — something no one with his injuries had ever done before.
Give this a listen and expect inspiration, challenge, shock and awe, and deep admiration for another hero in uniform with the Special Forces. Thank you, Nick, for sitting down with me.
https://mchn.co/
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