Embracing advice from a Navy SEAL

Many people find sugar cookies to be a hallmark of the holiday season.

Fewer people know that “sugar cookies” are also a punishment in Navy Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, in which trainees are commanded to jump into the ocean, roll around in the sand, and remain as an uncomfortably sandy “sugar cookie” for the remainder of the day.

“There were a lot of things more painful and more exhausting, but being a sugar cookie tested your patience and your determination,” explained Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) in his book, “Make Your Bed.”

To “get over being a sugar...