Episode 6 – The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
Welcome back to The Texture of Resiliency. In this episode, Steve Sheffar unpacks the old line: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” At first glance, it sounds like nothing more than dark humour or a hard-ass joke. But when Steve revisits it through the lens of PTSD and operational stress, the phrase reveals a deeper truth.

The “beatings” aren’t punches they’re the daily symptoms: the intrusive thoughts, sleepless nights, hyper-vigilance, and constant stress that wear you down. The paradox is that those beatings don’t stop on their own. They keep coming until your morale shifts. The trap of PTSD is waiting for symptoms to fade before feeling better. But the hard truth is that morale has to come first you must change your stance while the beating is still happening.

Once morale improves, the symptoms lose their grip. The stress is still there, but it doesn’t run your life anymore. That’s the paradox, and that’s the path to resiliency.

This episode takes a tactical look at resiliency through the lens of the OODA Loop, Observe, Orient, Decide, Act, and how trauma interrupts that cycle. Drawing from his experiences in the Canadian Army, policing, and personal battles with PTSD, Steve explains why the amygdala hijacks decision-making, why “solutions” only come after stress fades, and why resiliency must be deliberately trained.

Key takeaways include:

• The OODA Loop explained: Why speed and clarity in decision-making matter under pressure.

• How trauma hijacks the loop: Getting stuck in Observe → Orient and losing access to Decide → Act.

• The amygdala vs. the prefrontal cortex: Why you only think of what you “should have done” hours later.

• Hypervigilance defined: The self-fulfilling trap of scanning without acting.

• The enemy within: That inner voice urging you to quit, and how resiliency means refusing to surrender.

• Painstorm XXVIII story: A crucible workout that showed resiliency isn’t about strength, but the choice not to quit.

• Resiliency redefined: More than toughness , it’s awareness, alignment, and a deliberate decision to keep going.

“Stress is inevitable. Chaos is optional.”

In Episode 4 of The Texture of Resiliency, Steve Sheffar takes listeners deep into the world of Immediate Action Plans and Deliberate Action Plans, two tools that separate reacting in panic from responding with purpose.

Drawing on decades of experience in the Canadian Army, tactical policing, and his own journey through trauma and recovery, Steve explains how the same principles used in combat and high-risk operations can be applied to everyday life when operational stress or PTSD takes hold.

Immediate Action Plans are for the rapid hits, the unplanned moments when stress blindsides you. A trigger you weren’t expecting, a sound that transports you back in time, a chance encounter that spikes your anxiety. Steve shows how the OODA Loop, Observe, Orient, Decide, Act, becomes the operating system for surviving those moments. Through vivid examples, including his own experience with triggers as sharp as the sound of a roofing nail gun, you’ll learn how to interrupt the amygdala’s overreaction, cut through the fog, and execute a pre-trained drill that gets you back in control.

Deliberate Action Plans are different. They’re for the predictable stressors you can see on the calendar: family gatherings, work events, high-stakes appointments, court dates, or therapy sessions. Using the same mindset that goes into mission briefs in the military, Steve breaks down how to plan your goals, script your responses, build backup options, and prepare your recovery. These aren’t theories, they’re practical mission-ready plans you can put in your pocket before walking into the storm.

By the end of this episode, you’ll understand the difference between reacting blindly and responding with structure. You’ll see how Immediate Action Plans powered by OODA and Deliberate Action Plans shaped like mission briefs give you both sides of resiliency, rapid drills for sudden chaos, and structured preparation for known stress.

This is training, not therapy. It’s about building resiliency SOPs, structured, intentional, repeatable responses that make sure when stress hits, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training.

If you’re a first responder, veteran, or someone who knows the weight of operational stress, this episode gives you the tools to fight back with structure and strength.

Stress is inevitable. Chaos is optional.