Books Like
Make Your Bed
Seven books for readers who finished McRaven in an hour and want something with more in it.
If you liked Make Your Bed, the closest books are The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William McRaven, Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink, Atomic Habits by James Clear, You Are Capable of More by Chris Sund, Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink, and Sea Stories by McRaven. Clear is the one that turns McRaven’s image into a method.
What you actually read
It is worth knowing what the book is before you look for the next one. Make Your Bed is McRaven’s 2014 commencement address at the University of Texas, expanded into roughly a hundred and thirty pages, one short chapter per lesson with the SEAL training story behind it.
The speech is freely available and runs about twenty minutes, and a lot of readers get most of the value there. The book adds the stories, which are good, and it does not add a method. The lessons arrive as aphorisms, and an aphorism is a thing you agree with rather than a thing you do.
The first lesson is also the one everybody remembers and the only one that is genuinely operational. Complete one small task properly and you have started the day having done something, which makes the next thing easier. That is a real mechanism, and it is the thread worth following.
The bed is not about the bed. It is about the fact that at six in the morning you have already finished something, and the day now has to argue with that.
One
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The book McRaven’s first lesson needs. Clear agrees that small completed actions carry disproportionate weight and then explains why, through identity, and gives you the machinery to install them, through habit stacking, environment design, and the two-minute rule.
If Make Your Bed made you want to build small disciplines and you were not sure how, this is the answer and it is not close.
Two
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
The natural companion from the same world. Willink and Babin were SEAL officers in Ramadi, and their argument is that a leader owns every outcome in their domain including the ones that were not their fault.
The combat chapters are stronger than the business translations, which get repetitive by the back half. Read it if what you responded to in McRaven was the standard rather than the sentiment.
Three
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William McRaven
His follow-up, in the same form, short chapters built on leadership maxims collected across a long career. The title comes from the Navy’s nickname for its longest-serving SEAL.
Better than Make Your Bed if you lead people, because the material is drawn from command rather than from training. Same virtues and the same limitation, which is that it inspires rather than instructs.
You Are Capable of More by Chris Sund
My book, so weigh this accordingly. It is on this list because it is what a reader usually wants after Make Your Bed, which is the same message at more length and with something to actually do at the end of each chapter.
Ten principles, plain writing, and a playbook that turns each one into questions and decisions rather than leaving you with a good line. The overlap with McRaven is strongest in Own It. Every Day. and Finish What You Start. What is different is the source. He is writing from thirty-seven years in the Navy, and I am writing from fifteen years running staffing companies, which is a smaller life and a more ordinary one, and closer to the reader who has a shift and a family rather than a command. It is about the same length as his, so it will not cost you a weekend.
Five
Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink
The most extreme version of McRaven’s first lesson, and the shortest. Willink’s field manual is written in fragments, and the argument is that discipline in small mandatory things buys you freedom in large ones.
Be aware of the register. It is closer to being yelled at than to being taught, which some readers need and others will bounce off in ten pages.
Six
Sea Stories by William McRaven
His actual memoir, and the better book if what you liked was the man rather than the lessons. It runs from a childhood on military bases through commanding the raid that killed bin Laden, and he is a genuinely good storyteller.
No self-improvement framework here at all. Just a career, told well.
Seven
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
The other book people reach for from this shelf, and worth a warning. Goggins is far more intense than McRaven and the method does not generalize, since it involves years of self-punishment and multiple surgeries.
One idea in it transfers, which is that your perceived limit shows up well before your actual one. More on books like Can’t Hurt Me, including the less damaging versions.
An aphorism is
something you agree with.
A method is something you do.
Which one to pick
| Book | What it adds | Best for | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic Habits | The method behind lesson one | The obvious next read | ~320 pages |
| Extreme Ownership | Accountability as a standard | The standard, not the sentiment | ~320 pages |
| The Wisdom of the Bullfrog | Command rather than training | You lead people | ~200 pages |
| You Are Capable of More | Something to do per chapter | Same length, more to act on | ~170 pages |
| Discipline Equals Freedom | The hardest version | You want it blunt | ~230 pages |
| Sea Stories | The career, told well | You liked the man | ~350 pages |
| Can’t Hurt Me | Far more intense, less usable | Read with the caveats | ~360 pages |
If you want one, read Atomic Habits. McRaven gives you the image of a made bed. Clear gives you the reason it works and thirty other places to apply the same principle.
Common questions
What should I read after Make Your Bed?
Atomic Habits by James Clear. McRaven’s first lesson is that one small completed task sets the tone for everything after it, and Clear is the book that turns that observation into a working method.
Is Make Your Bed worth buying?
It is about 130 pages built from McRaven’s 2014 commencement address, and the speech is freely available and takes twenty minutes. Watch the speech first. If it moves you, the book expands each lesson with the story behind it, which many readers find worth the hour and some find thin.
What are the ten lessons in Make Your Bed?
Roughly: make your bed, find someone to help you paddle, measure a person by the size of their heart, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving, do not fear the circus, slide down the obstacle head first, stand up to the bullies, rise to the occasion at your darkest moment, give people hope, and never ring the bell.
What is the main criticism of Make Your Bed?
That it is a speech extended to book length, and that the lessons arrive as aphorisms with a story attached rather than as anything you can practice. It is genuinely inspiring and it is not instructional, which is why most readers who love it still need a second book.
Is Make Your Bed a good gift for a graduate?
It is one of the most common graduation gifts for a reason. Short enough that a non-reader will finish it, and the origin as a commencement address fits the occasion exactly.
Make Your Bed is a great speech and a thin book. Keep the first lesson, then read Clear for the mechanism behind it, Willink if you wanted the standard, and McRaven’s own memoir if what you actually liked was him.
Keynotes and
workshops.
Chris speaks to companies, associations, and teams on ownership, resilience, and helping people reach their full potential. Every program is built around your audience and your goals, and the impact is designed to continue after the room clears out.
Reading Lists
Ten lists of books worth your time, one for each principle, with honest write-ups including the ones I would hand you before mine.
You Are Capable of More
Ten principles and a no-excuses playbook for becoming the person you know you’re capable of being. Available now in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle.