Building the Bridge Between Grit and Calm: The Story of Chriss Smith

Chriss Smith Jr., CEO and co-founder of Trident Mindset, draws on a career that includes service with the Navy SEALs and years as an entrepreneur to teach practical ways people can steady their thinking and act more deliberately. His work combines hands-on coaching and a structured mindset curriculum, grounded in a mission to create learning environments where ordinary challenges are met with repeatable mental skills. That aim has evolved from experiences in childhood, intense training, and years of mentoring others.

Smith’s earliest years were marked by physical difficulties that became challenges to overcome rather than barriers that could stop him. As a child, he managed asthma and spent time in leg braces, realities that demanded persistence and disciplined steps to keep moving forward. “Doing the small, difficult things teaches you to finish the day better than you started it,” he says. Those routines of incremental effort carried into sports, where repeated attempts and mixed results taught him that both failure and success can build character. Over time, adapting to physical constraints evolved into an early template for understanding how steady practices influence outcomes.

The decision to pursue the Navy SEALs came from a recognition of missing skills and a desire to test himself against a demanding standard. When he finally entered BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL), he encountered a defining moment. Smith failed a lifesaving test and then, an hour later, passed the same test without any change in physical ability.

The only alteration was a brief exchange: an instructor voiced belief in him and offered another chance. That experience shifted something fundamental. “After that hour, I saw how much of what I thought were limits lived in my head,” he shares. “The body will follow what the mind instructs.” From that point, methods he had relied on instinctively, such as visualization, breath work, and reframing, became tools he could practice and teach.

Those tools were tested beyond the military. Together with his wife, Andrea, Smith built Trident Athletics, a training space where mentorship and applied coaching were central. He also began working with people preparing for demanding physical paths, adults seeking to reclaim their fitness, and young people in juvenile facilities. In each setting, the same pattern appeared: small, repeatable practices helped people respond differently to stress and setback. He views these moments as consistent shifts in how people relate to difficulty. “You don’t have to be exceptional to change how you handle pressure; you need a repeatable way to practice,” he says.

Interest in that approach led to collaboration with a neuroscientist who had observed the effects of Smith’s methods and suggested combining practical training with neuroscientific insight. That collaboration gave rise to Trident Mindset, a structured program that presents a set of core tactics for managing thought, emotion, and behavior.

The program focuses on 12 foundational strategies taught over an extended period, making each tactic become a lasting habit. Daily lessons and short practice exercises are designed to be accessible to people from diverse backgrounds, centered on the idea that mental skills are learnable and applicable in everyday life as well as in high-pressure situations.

Smith characterizes his role as a translator of experience into teachable forms. Where the Navy SEALs taught him how mental practices apply under extreme strain, the ongoing work of coaching and curriculum development taught him how to shape those practices for broader use. He also points to mentorship and community as essential support. “When someone names what they see in you, it can open doors you didn’t realize were closed,” Smith says. That belief informs the way he structures programs and leads groups, intentionally creating conditions where people receive clear feedback and repeated practice.

Legacy matters to Smith. He wants the methods he teaches to be useful beyond any single workshop or gym. The pathway from childhood persistence to formalized mindset training traces a consistent thread: learning to treat limits as variables, practice small skills daily, and build networks that sustain growth. “If you can change how you respond to pressure, you can live with more clarity,” he says. Through Trident Mindset and his other efforts, he aims to make those practical skills available to a wider audience, giving people tools to navigate stress, pursue their potential, and achieve steadier well-being.