Soon after I got out of the service I moved back to my hometown where I ran into Gary. Gary is a Vietnam veteran that lived around the corner from me growing up. One day Gary asked me “what are you doing now?”

I whipped out my usual answer “well, I just retired from the military.” Typically at this point people nod their heads in admiration as if retirement is the Holy Grail of achievements. More importantly, they left me alone and wouldn’t push the issue any further. But not Gary. He wasn’t playing into my game. He pinned me down.

“Good for you”, he said. ”But what are you doing now?”

I rambled off some different answers but he wasn’t having it. I started to squirm a bit. He continued to really pin me down and wouldn’t let go. I felt more like I was in an interrogation. And finally when I ran out of BS answers I raised the white flag. I was speechless. I had no real answer. It was a harsh realization that I didn’t have a clear objective to step up to next in life. Not anything with real significance anyway.

At that point I think Gary could see I had no answer. Then he said something that struck me to the core. He said “thanks for your service and the things you DID. That means a lot. But it’s what you do NEXT that matters most!”

Gary nailed it. My military service was over and in the past. But my life wasn’t over. It was just starting a new chapter. I needed a new objective and real purpose. I needed a High Value Target (HVT) to go after next in life.

The same goes for you. Big achievements don’t end after the military. Not for Ultra High Achievers who mastered the necessary skills to take big targets in combat. For this rare breed of achievers, the potential for success only gets bigger in the civilian world.

The question is WHAT DO YOU WANT?

It’s your life. You have the freedoms of LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. It’s the freedoms you fought for. You are free to define the life you want. You choose what to do with your time and money. You get to decide what makes you happy and you are free to pursue it.

Watch out for the Transition Trap. The number 1 obstacle holding people back from progressing in the civilian world is they don’t know what they want. They don’t have a clear objective that they are pursuing. They get caught up in the system. They settle and go after Low Value Targets (LVT’s) and long slow roads that don’t lead to success. They work 50 weeks a year doing something they don’t love so they can have a 2 week vacation away from all the stress. They are doing what they NEED to because they just want to survive.

The key is to clearly define your next objective and new HVT. I’m not just talking about work. Whether you need employment or not, you need a purpose that allows you to continue being an Ultra High Achiever. Otherwise you’ll go nuts like a caged lion who is broken spirited and loses his will. You need to continue to be challenged. You need a cause to get behind that gives you purpose and is driven by your passions and the things that excite you.

You are capable of much more in the civilian world than you think. You have already proven yourself in the Theater of War. Now it’s time to step up to the next level in the civilian world and make an impact. You can build any lifestyle you choose. The possibilities are essentially limitless.

The question is WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Hope that helps!

Nic Transtrum

ARE YOU STUCK?? You shouldn't be after all you did in the military!

  • Identify your next HVT (high value target)....
  • Use your military skills to make an impact...
  • So you can live the freedoms you served to protect!

About Nic Transtum

Nic is a husband, father with 6 girls "oh help us all", adventurer, entrepreneur, author, speaker, coach, Veteran, Blackhawk Pilot- US Army.

Nic has been to war and back on battlefields in the Middle-East...AND he's been to war in life after the military.

The UGLY TRUTH is he struggled deeply for years until he identified his next HVT in life and applied what he learned on the battlefield to achieving personal & business success.

Now he is dedicated to showing other veterans how to win at the next level after the military without struggling like he did... so we can all live the freedoms we fought for!