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.
