Win The Daily War

Episode 18 - The Secrets To A Successful Career

In this episode, I'm joined by David Ortiz, a police officer in Arizona, who shares his experience as a police officer who worked SWAT, K9, Interdiction, and a variety of other assignments.  We talk about what it takes to make it through the career, even when things aren't going your way.  David shares his experiences when it comes to finding harmony with the career and home life.

Episode 17- The Suicide Epidemic

The "S" word. No one wants to say it.  But so many first responders and military personnel struggle with it.  Why?  That's a great question. And it's one we tackle during this episode.  My guest, Trevor Hill, is a Marine who served multiple tours of duty in the Middle East.  He shares his experience with suicide, as well as how he has dealt with PTSD and issues in his life. Learn the strategy he uses to calm his mind.

Episode 16- How is your career affecting your relationship with your kids?

What kind of relationship do you have with your kids?  As cops, we are pulled in so many different directions and this can really take its toll on our family relationships if we aren't being proactive.     Check out the highlights from this episode:  Gerritt's first narcotics deal.(01:19) Life has a way of throwing you curveballs, which is what happened when Gerritt and Melissa found out she was pregnant with her first child. (01:59) Police work forces you to become a different pers...

Episode 15- Permission: You don't need it to take charge of your life.

Episode 15- You Will Always miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take

Sometimes as cops, we become accustomed to asking for permission before taking action, and oftentimes, this spills over into our personal lives and leaves us in a state of never-ending limbo.  Instead of just taking initiative and going after the things we want, we wait for permission, we wait for someone else to fix things, or we just don't take the shot to jump in and do something for whatever reason.  To have success in life, this mentality needs to change.  It's time to stop asking for p...

Episode 14- The Obstacle is The Way

When faced with difficult times, you have 2 ways of looking at things.  You can either look at the trial in front of you as an “obstacle” or as an “opportunity” to change something for the better.  When Gerritt was working in the Gang unit, he had a few experiences where he put his coworkers in danger, which ultimately led him to be removed from the gang unit. After overcoming the shame that came with that time in life, he was able to turn things around and actually become an officer of th...

Episode 13- 4 Tips to Help Police Officers Cope

A normal day for a cop is far from normal for the average person.  We are constantly faced with difficult, dangerous, or life-threatening situations.  Or we are the first ones on the scene after death has already taken place.    After seeing all the dead bodies, and crazy situations police officers face every day, we are expected to just be “normal” in the other aspects of our lives.  This is not an easy feat for most cops, and oftentimes, we go down dark paths just to deal with the pain...

Episode 12: The One Thing Being a Boy Scout Taught Me About Direction in Life.

What's Your 20?   How many times have you heard that as a cop?  Probably more than you could remember.  But it is significant because unless we know where we are to begin with, along with goals of where we want to be, we will never go anywhere. Think back to the classic story of Alice in Wonderland.  When she is brought to a fork in the road and questioning which way to turn, the Cheshire Cat asked her where she wanted to go and she replied "I don't know."  His response to that was, "The...

Episode 12: What's Your 20 in Life?

What's Your 20?   How many times have you heard that as a cop?  Probably more than you could remember.  But it is significant because unless we know where we are to begin with, along with goals of where we want to be, we will never go anywhere. Think back to the classic story of Alice in Wonderland.  When she is brought to a fork in the road and questioning which way to turn, the Cheshire Cat asked her where she wanted to go and she replied "I don't know."  His response to that was, "The...

Episode 12: What's Your 20 in Life?

What's Your 20?   How many times have you heard that as a cop?  Probably more than you could remember.  But it is significant because unless we know where we are to begin with, along with goals of where we want to be, we will never go anywhere. Think back to the classic story of Alice in Wonderland.  When she is brought to a fork in the road and questioning which way to turn, the Cheshire Cat asked her where she wanted to go and she replied "I don't know."  His response to that was, "The...

Episode 11: Infinite Whiplash: The Effect of Going Zero to 100 Every Day as a Cop and What to Do About it.

A lot of us really have no idea what it’s like to be a police officer before we actually get in the line of duty.  One thing is for sure, no two days are the same.  You are constantly thrown from one situation into another, with no notice.  It’s a constant lurch from ZERO to 100 every time you go from a peaceful drive down main street, to an emergency call of a shooting, an accident, or a domestic situation.   This constant back and forth from calm to chaos that police officers deal with o...

Episode 10- Show up in Your Personal Life Like You Show up in Your Professional Life

When you chose to be a cop, you did it to have pride in what you do, and to become the best you could be.  A good cop works hard to dedicate him or herself to putting in the work, no matter how hard, to be there when times get tough.  To never give up.  To be a hero.  Sadly, so many of us cops give our very best at work, but when we get home, we drop the ball.  Our family is left to gather the few crumbs we leave behind because we have put so much of ourselves into our careers, that there ju...

Episode 9- Are you the HERO of your own life?

We all have looked up to heroes in our lives from GI Joe to Thor, Captain America, Batman or Iron Man.  When you become a cop, you are looked up to as a hero. In order to be a hero not only at work, but also at home and at life, you need to follow a framework to make that happen so that all aspects of your life are in harmony, and you don’t allow any area to become neglected.     Sometimes when cops put on the hero role at work, we forget that the hero role at home is not the same as the...

Episode 8- The One Thing Cops Need to Consider Before Taking Action at Work and in Life.

Learn the importance of deciphering perception vs. reality and why you should be careful to make decisions unless they are aligned.  Here are the highlights:   The coveted position of Detective. (0:39) Was it a heart attack?  (02:58) It’s important to use your senses to determine perception vs. reality (07:02) How are you making your decisions?  (09:06) When perception over reality can be deadly in our profession. (10:05) Tapping into your senses to determine perception from rea...

Episode 8- A Police Officer Needs to Be Certain That Perception Matches Reality Before Taking Action at Work and in Life.

Learn the importance of deciphering perception vs. reality and why you should be careful to make decisions unless they are aligned.  Here are the highlights:   The coveted position of Detective. (0:39) Was it a heart attack?  (02:58) It’s important to use your senses to determine perception vs. reality (07:02) How are you making your decisions?  (09:06) When perception over reality can be deadly in our profession. (10:05) Tapping into your senses to determine perception from rea...

Episode 7- The 3-Step Process To Getting Unstuck as a Police Officer, First Responder, or Military Personnel

Discover a 3-step process to helping yourself get unstuck in your life, no matter where you are.  Here are the highlights: Life lessons learned from SWAT training. (0:39) How to get unstuck (07:38) The 3-step process (09:14) The importance of finding a mentor or guide. (10:52) Stop focusing on the problem and search for a solution (12:03) Join Hero Nation (13:02) About The Show From the brink of divorce, health problems, and near suicide to having the life of his dreams. Meet...

Episode 6- Change Your Money Mindset: Police Officers Do Not Need to Live Paycheck to Paycheck.

Time for the dreaded money conversation.  So many cops live paycheck to paycheck.  Gerritt believes this is a choice. You can learn other ways to generate revenue and seek out ways to generate and keep more money.  He discusses the ways to invest in yourself and to identify the “cost” of NOT investing in you.  Here are the highlights:  The money conversation (0:39) Here’s why money doesn’t exist. (01:41) Gerritt’s story of getting himself out of massive debt.  (03:01) The money lesson...

Episode 5- Those Who Protect and Serve Should Be Proactive instead of Reactive in These Four Areas of Life

Gerritt reveals how he takes a proactive approach to every aspect of his life that allows him to be prepared for whatever comes his way.  Here are the highlights:  Gerritt shares with you the piece of technology he uses in order to track his sleep, his activity and his health.  (0:34) How he overcame pre-diabetes, anxiety, high cholesterol and high blood sugar (01:32)  A piece of technology helped him focus better on his sleep and health. (02:45)  If you are not proactive and you igno...

Episode 4- The Thought Process That Must Happen to Have Success in Police Work, and in Life.

Discover the thought process that must take place in order to get the results you want out of work, health and life. Here are the highlights:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Gerritt takes on a supervisory position and helps the new cops learn the correct protocols for effective police work. (0:50) Teaching new recruits about the processes of legal search warrants, investigations and arrests. (02:00) The potential drug bust. (03:08)  Probable Cause and Investigation leads to a search warrant.  (05:39) What d...

Episode 3- This Skill You Learned as a Cop That Can Make You Successful In Every Area of Your Life.

In this episode of Win The Daily War, Gerritt will share with you a skill that all officers must develop in the line of duty.  When you apply this same skill to your personal life, you will be able to find greater success and happiness.  Here are the highlights:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Lessons learned from working as an undercover cop. (0:41) A wrong decision that turned deadly. (04:14) What’s driving you? (07:44) The skill you learned as a cop that you need to take home with you. (09:29) The right ...

Episode 2- Four Things That Will Help Police Officers, First Responders and other Heroes Create A Life They Truly Want.

Summary⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Learn the steps Gerritt took to take his life back from the brink of divorce, near-suicide and addiction.  Here are the highlights: Some backstory about his marriage and why counseling didn’t work for them. (01:02) A key point that leads you to take action to change your life. (03:51) How to know if you are in the wrong place. (05:42) The Protect and Serve Protocol can bring you the life you want. (06:42) The 4 areas you need to focus on to Win the Daily War. (08:03) ...

Episode 1: The One Question That Changed a Police Officer's Life After His Infidelity, Addiction and Near Suicide.

Summary⠀⠀ In this episode of Win The Daily War, you will meet our host, Gerritt Bake, who is a retired SWAT officer, and he will share with you his story of his background on the police force and why he created Hero Nation and this podcast. Here are the highlights:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Why he created this podcast and what “Win The Daily War” means (01:48) Personal stories and experiences working as a cop (02:34) What led him down a destructive path that included infidelity, addiction to pornography ...