What do I want to talk about? There were many things going on today, but the biggest impact on me was learning about how Special Forces select people for their teams.

They don't traditionally select the strongest type of person.

It is not necessarily the loud ones who get selected.

It is not necessarily the most physically fit.

It is not necessarily the most talented.

It is a different kind of person that Special Forces select for.

They look for heart. Spirit. A never-give-up attitude. Humility to take feedback. The ability to admit when they're wrong. The ability to improvise and adapt. Someone who knows it is going to be a struggle and still keeps going. Someone who is dead tired and still keeps going.

They look for persistence, but persistence with wisdom. Someone who knows when to give up—but not 90% of the time. And even when they do give up, someone who comes back and finishes the job.

They look for kindness under pressure and trouble. Someone who can learn on the ground. Someone who cares about others, particularly the team. Someone who cares about something more than themselves: the mission.

Someone who can tackle massive tasks with enormous determination, while also being able to admit the role of luck. Someone who can learn in real time and improvise when reality doesn't go according to plan.

The really top players are not necessarily what people think of as the top players.

You don't want the so-called talented people simply because they are talented. You don't need the flashiest people, the biggest talkers or the show-offs.

You are looking for a person who may be externally quiet, but internally determined. Someone with a big heart, mind and spirit, willing to struggle with others of the same kind, with utter humility, towards enormously difficult objectives on shared missions.

And I think a founder's job is two-fold:

Strive to be one of these kinds of people.

And get and keep people of these sorts in the team.

Why does this matter?

The ultimate destination for us all is death. That is clear.

Therefore, it matters how we go along the journey.

And you want to do it with people of big hearts, minds and spirits. People who will face up to reality despite lacking in capabilities, struggle along, never give up, and eventually learn to achieve something for the group.

But at the end of it all, know that it is not achievement itself which delivers the goods. It is the shared journey.

The people you struggled, learned and grew stronger with is what matters. The mission you pursued is what matters.

This is the ideal to aspire towards.