EPISODE 7: Military-Grade Physicality with former SAS operator and mountaineer, Jay Morton
The level of intelligence, physicality and resilience required to be a member of the SAS and SBS is almost unparalleled. There may not be such a thing as a truly Perfect Athlete, but those who serve in the special forces could be considered the closest thing to it.
One such man with 14 years of service across the SAS and Parachute Regiment, two Everest summits to his name, and now taking on the challenge of wrestling high performance racing cars around some of the UK’s fiercest tracks, is Jay Morton.
This episode of The Perfect Athlete delves into how Jay’s approach to intelligence consists of more than just IQ, but also EQ and AQ, and the unique tests he’s faced scaling some of the toughest terrain in the world.
LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE PLATFORM
IN THIS EPISODE OF THE PERFECT ATHLETE:
- Academic, social, and adaptable intelligence (IQ, EQ and AQ)
- The makings of a great team leader
- Effects of early life experiences on physical and social development
- Importance of planning and preparation
- Learning perseverance
- The hidden dangers of mountaineering
LINKS & REFERENCES
Chris Billam-Smith: https://twitter.com/chrisbillam
Jay Morton: https://twitter.com/jay_morton_
Chris Billam-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/chrisbillam/
Jay Morton: https://www.instagram.com/jay__morton/
Soldier: Respect Is Earned – smarturl.it/soldierbook
Website: https://www.jaymortonofficial.com/
Get in touch: [email protected]
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
“I’ve always wanted to push myself and challenge myself. The thought of jumping out of a plane is scary, but you get a lot from that. It’s a different education – the same as being punched in the face and punching people in the face.” – 7:22 – Jay Morton
“EQ – emotional intelligence – is whether you’re good in social situations, can you read people well? And that relates to going into a career where you’ve got to be able to read people and judge people’s character. For me, that’s one of the biggest skills that people should learn or try and expose themselves to, having a level of social intelligence.” – 8:36 – Jay Morton
“Some people might think ‘Why have I got a soldier on the podcast?’, but in my eyes, the SAS and SBS are probably the closest thing to a perfect athlete that you can get – they’re some of the best athletes in the world.” – 10:25 – Chris Billam-Smith
“My parents did a great job, I’m not trying to slag them off. But they grew up in that era of school, college, university, then getting a blue collar job. So they always pushed me down that, and I always rejected it because they were so hell bent on getting good grades in school, and I didn’t see the point. I didn’t see the end product of getting good grades in school.” – 20:21 – Jay Morton
“We have those idols. I think teachers can be a massive part of being an athlete or going into the career and the life you live, because meeting those people and having that inspiration is where it all starts, right?” – 28:54 – Chris Billam-Smith
“You’re probably most fatigued whilst you’re on the summit, and a lot of people tend to switch off on the way back down when really that trip down is just as important as the trip up.” – 34:22 – Jay Morton
“I had the whole of the summit to myself, but I had no camera. So I pulled up my iPhone, which had about 60% battery, and I started trying to just film and take as many pictures as I could. The thing probably lasted about 10 seconds – it just died because of the cold.” – 41:05 – Jay Morton
“Everyone that goes into the military or the Special Forces, we’re just human beings, the same as everyone else. We get tired when everyone else gets tired. But what you’re trained on is how to keep going when you’re physically tired or mentally tired through resilience. ” – 54:00 – Jay Morton
