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Make Your Bed

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"That obstacle course is going to beat you every time unless you start taking some risks."

— William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed (2017)

Introduction

Make Your Bed
Full titleMake Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World
AuthorWilliam H. McRaven
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPersonal development; Leadership; Motivation
GenreNonfiction; Self-help
PublisherGrand Central Publishing
Publication date
4 April 2017
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover, paperback); e-book; audiobook
Pages144
ISBN978-1-4555-7024-9
Websitegrandcentralpublishing.com

📘 Make Your Bed is a concise self-help book by retired U.S. Navy admiral William H. McRaven that expands his 2014 University of Texas at Austin commencement address into ten everyday principles for resilience and leadership.[1][2] Drawing on SEAL training and operational experience, it offers brief, anecdote-driven chapters that translate military lessons into civilian habits and leadership practice.[3] The book is structured as ten short chapters—each built around one rule—and includes the text of the UT speech.[4] It was published by Grand Central Publishing on 4 April 2017 and runs 144 pages in the first U.S. hardcover edition.[1] The publisher bills it as a #1 “New York Times” bestseller.[1] Trade reporting showed strong early sales—25.7k print units and #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction in its third week—scaling to 354k U.S. print copies by October 2017 and 811k by mid-2019.[5][6][7]

Chapter summary

This outline follows the Grand Central Publishing hardcover edition (4 April 2017; ISBN 978-1-4555-7024-9).[1][8][9]

🛏️ 1 – Start your day with a task completed.

🤝 2 – You can't go it alone.

❤️ 3 – Only the size of your heart matters.

🏃 4 – Life's not fair; drive on!.

🔁 5 – Failure can make you stronger.

🦁 6 – You must dare greatly.

🛡️ 7 – Stand up to the bullies.

🚀 8 – Rise to the occasion.

🕯️ 9 – Give people hope.

🏁 10 – Never, ever quit!.

Background & reception

🖋️ Author & writing. McRaven is a retired four-star admiral who commanded U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 and later served as chancellor of the University of Texas System from 2015 to 2018.[10][11] The book grew directly from his UT Austin commencement address and keeps its spare, imperative voice, with each rule illustrated by brief vignettes from SEAL training and operations; the publisher notes the original speech “went viral” with over 10 million views.[1][12] Structurally it comprises ten stand-alone chapters capped by a reprint of the speech, reinforcing a direct, anecdote-driven style aimed at practical takeaway.[8][13] McRaven has since published additional trade books in a similar register, including Sea Stories (2019) and The Hero Code (2021).[14][15]

📈 Commercial reception. The hardcover went on sale on 4 April 2017; within three weeks it hit #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction with weekly print sales of 25.7k units, according to Publishers Weekly and BookScan.[16] It spent 34 weeks on Publishers Weekly’’s 2017 Hardcover Nonfiction list,[17] and had sold 354k U.S. print copies by late October 2017, rising to about 811k by mid-2019.[18][19] It also appeared repeatedly on The Washington Post’’s weekly nonfiction bestseller charts through summer 2017, reflecting broad retail momentum.[20]

👍 Praise. The Wall Street Journal reviewed the book on publication, describing McRaven’s rules-based program as a brisk guide to refocusing daily discipline and leadership (“Reset Your Life in an Hour,” 3 April 2017).[21] The U.S. Army’s NCO Journal endorsed its plain style and practical emphasis, calling it “a blueprint for becoming not just a great leader, but a decent human being.”[22] A Financial Times column later highlighted the broader appeal of McRaven’s keep-it-simple approach to communicating life lessons to wide audiences.[23]

👎 Criticism. The Guardian’’s “Digested Read” lampooned the book’s military aphorisms and straight-line moralizing, suggesting its lessons can come off as pat or overliteral in civilian life.[24] A Washington Post feature questioned the universal value of bed-making as a happiness tactic, arguing the habit can be counterproductive for some—an implicit caution about one of the book’s signature prescriptions.[25] Even favorable notices have framed it as a slim, highly condensed program, emphasizing brevity alongside utility.[26]

🌍 Impact & adoption. The publisher reports that McRaven’s original UT speech surpassed 10 million views, helping the book circulate as a graduation-gift staple and a shorthand for habit-first leadership.[1] The message has also been referenced in public-sector leadership talks—for example, a 2019 U.S. SEC speech used McRaven’s ten lessons to frame entrepreneurial guidance.[27] The franchise extended to younger readers with the picture-book adaptation Make Your Bed with Skipper the Seal from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.[28]

Related content & more

YouTube videos

Load video
YouTube
UT Austin commencement address (19 min)
Load video
YouTube
Edited speech highlights (Goalcast) (16 min)

CapSach articles

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Digital Minimalism

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Four Thousand Weeks

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The One Thing

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Make Your Bed

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The Magic of Thinking Big

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Cover of books

CS/Self-improvement book summaries


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Make Your Bed". Grand Central Publishing. Hachette Book Group. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "Adm. McRaven Urges Graduates to Find Courage to Change the World". UT Austin News. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "Make Your Bed (review)". Army University Press – NCO Journal. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Make your bed : little things that can change your life-- and maybe the world". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: May 1, 2017". Publishers Weekly. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: October 30, 2017". Publishers Weekly. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: June 3, 2019". Publishers Weekly. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Make your bed : record & contents". Marmot Library Network. Buena Vista Public Library. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Admiral William H. McRaven — Title details (includes page count)" (PDF). Hachette Book Group. Grand Central Publishing. 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "Admiral William McRaven". United States Navy. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "Former Chancellors". The University of Texas System. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "Adm. McRaven Urges Graduates to Find Courage to Change the World". UT Austin News. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Make your bed : little things that can change your life-- and maybe the world". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "SEA STORIES (review)". Kirkus Reviews. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  15. ↑ "The Hero Code". Hachette Book Group. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  16. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: May 1, 2017". Publishers Weekly. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  17. ↑ "The Bestsellers of 2017". Publishers Weekly. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  18. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: October 30, 2017". Publishers Weekly. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  19. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: June 3, 2019". Publishers Weekly. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  20. ↑ "Washington Post bestsellers: 30 July 2017". The Washington Post. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  21. ↑ "Reset Your Life in an Hour". The Wall Street Journal. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  22. ↑ "Make Your Bed (review)". Army University Press – NCO Journal. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  23. ↑ "The world-changing power of making your bed". Financial Times. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  24. ↑ "Make Your Bed… – digested read". The Guardian. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  25. ↑ "Making your bed can change your life. Or it can bum you out". The Washington Post. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  26. ↑ "Reset Your Life in an Hour". The Wall Street Journal. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  27. ↑ "Start Off by Making Your Bed: Translating Military Lessons to Entrepreneurship". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  28. ↑ "William McRaven Adapts 'Make Your Bed' for Kids". Kirkus Reviews. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
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