Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon is a trained counselor specializing in the psychology of behavior change, with certifications including motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, DBT, CBT, and trauma counseling.

She’s the author of numerous books and accredited nutrition, sleep, stress, and recovery courses.

She’s our go-to performance psych for special operations candidates and active operators, and works one-on-one with many of our clients to help them excel in selection and stay mentally and emotionally resilient throughout their careers.

This is part of an ongoing series with KSD, where we’ll be talking with her about the specific tools and concepts that come up regularly in her work with special operators, and how you can apply them in your own life.

Work with KSD: https://www.buildingtheelite.com/performance-psych-coaching/

Timestamps:

00:23 Introduction to Krista Scott Dixon

01:07 Helping Candidates Assess the "Am I Good Enough" Question

08:03 The Mistake of Only Looking at PT Test Scores

13:34 The Struggle of Getting Stuck in Your Head

21:28 The Way People Quit

29:36 Being Good at Working Through Any Conditions

34:27 Preparing for Anything and Everything in Skills Assessment

42:02 "I'll Figure it Out" and Fuzzy Trace Theory

47:23 Tolerating Suffering in Crappy Jobs

52:03 Military Barracks Full of Broken Washing Machines

58:17 How to Access the Variables that Matter

1:05:35 Outro

Steve House serves as the managing director, coach, and official mascot of Uphill Athlete, which he co-founded in 2016. He lives in a remote and mountainous corner of Austria with his wife and two sons.

Steve’s biggest coaching challenge was coaching himself. Which was successful enough for him to be called “The greatest climber of his generation” by none other than Reinhold Messner. He was inspired to write down what he learned and originally recruited two other coaches to help him write Training for the New Alpinism while recovering from a near-life-ending fall in 2010.

He then co-authored Training for the Uphill Athlete (2018) to fulfill his personal mission to “Teach conventional endurance training theory and practice to mountain athletes.” He retired from professional climbing at the end of 2020 to dedicate himself to family and work full-time on Uphill Athlete.

Steve’s most famous ascent is the 4,500-meter-high Rupal Face, the world's biggest mountain wall, which culminates at the summit of the world's deadliest and 9th-highest mountain: Nanga Parbat.

In this episode, we talk with Steve about his career, Uphill Athlete’s approach to coaching, and the overlap between mountain athletes and special operators.

More about Steve and Uphill Athlete:

You can learn more about Uphill Athlete at their website, uphillathlete.com.

And you can follow them on social media here:

Uphill Athlete Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uphill_athlete/

Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevehouse10/

Timestamps:
00:00:22 Introduction to Steve House

00:01:47 What is Significant about Nanga Parbat, "The Naked Mountain"

00:06:51 Grading the Technical Difficulty of Climbing

00:11:18 The "American Certified International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations" Guide

00:15:23 Overlap Between Climbing and Special Operations Communities

00:18:00 Similarities and Differences Between the Communities

00:30:32 Uphill Athlete Training Mistake

00:40:37 Base Building Meaning and Development

00:42:44 Aerobic Threshold to Regulate Training

00:51:00 Building Aerobic Volume

00:58:59 What to Prioritize During Training

01:02:09 Misunderstanding V02 Max in Training

01:09:13 Ventilatory Threshold Breakpoint

01:15:10 Ten Athletes, Ten Results

01:18:03 What's Next for Uphill Athlete?

01:21:23 Best and Worst Advice Ever Received

01:23:44 Book Recommendations

01:24:59 Outro

Dr. David “Wally” Walton is a retired Army Special Forces officer with 25 years of experience in the SF community. His career spans service with the 7th Special Forces Group, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and the Special Warfare Center and School.

Dr. Walton’s extensive operational experience includes deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and across Latin America. Since retiring in 2013, he has transitioned into academia, teaching National Security Studies and Executive Leadership. His research portfolio covers Security Strategy, Organizational Culture and Dynamics, and Human Performance. He has a deep understanding of security studies, encompassing everything from tactical operations to strategic policy discussions.

Currently an instructor at JSOC, Dr. Walton is a Subject Matter Expert in Special Forces Assessment and Selection. He specializes in Land Navigation, runs a prep program designed for SFAS candidates, and is the author of multiple books about preparing for SFAS.

More about Dr. Walton:

Website: https://tfvoodoo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tf_voo_doo/

Timestamps:

00:00:23 Introduction to Dr. David Walton
00:01:42 Changes within SFSS and Coaching
00:20:22 Being Trained in Land Navigation
00:30:43 Better Prepared Candidates
00:53:34 The Sandman Event
00:59:29 Selection Rates and Working Through the Stages
01:05:23 No Dependencies in the SFSS Course
01:09:47 The "Awaiting Training" Phase
01:11:33 What has Dr. David Walton Changed in Coaching?
01:17:08 How Many Books has Dr. Walton Written?
01:21:52 Books Everyone Should Read
01:26:32 Outro