Ben
Pronk.
Former SAS Commanding Officer. Happiness realist. Recovering self-help cynic.
How we got here
I’ll be honest — by most measures, I’ve had a pretty good run.
Stable family, great country, meaningful work. A 24-year career in the Australian Army, most of it in the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), finishing as Commanding Officer. I’ve worked alongside remarkable people in some of the world’s most demanding environments — Timor Leste, Iraq, Afghanistan — and been recognised for leadership in combat with a Distinguished Service Cross. Since leaving the Army, I co-founded Mettle Global, a leadership and crisis management consultancy, teach in Australia’s top-ranked MBA program, and co-authored The Resilience Shield with my mate Tim Curtis and my brother Dr Dan Pronk.
And yet — I still get sad sometimes. I still do stuff that I know won’t be beneficial in the long run and I still find myself wanting things that I know, deep down, won’t actually make me happy.
That disconnect bothered me enough to do something about it. So I did what any self-respecting former SAS commander would do - I got lazy and stood on the shoulders of giants. I read, aggregated, analysed, synthesised and collated — which are all just fancy terms for plagiarised — history’s greatest thinkers. Ancient philosophers. Modern neuroscientists. Psychologists. Dreamers.
What I found is both humbling and practical. Happiness isn’t a personality trait or a stroke of luck. It’s a set of skills you can actually build. That’s what We’re All Going to Die is about — the tools, frameworks and ideas that help real people create something more sustainable than a good day. A good life.
Oh, and somehow through all of this, I’ve managed to find and keep my amazing wife, with whom I’m raising two brilliant kids. So clearly some of this stuff works.
My philosophy
Tough Love
We've known most of this stuff for centuries. And most of it is really simple. But that doesn't make it easy. The simple fact is that YOU have to get active in your own rescue.
Evidence-based
No woo-woo. Every idea is grounded in research. Philosophy, neuroscience, psychology — all dumbed down into something even an old infantry guy like me can understand.
Practical
This stuff works. But it only works if you do it. Which is why I've made all the tools absolutely practical, with a laser focus on stuff you can actually do differently on Monday morning.
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