23
23Protocol
Nervous System Ops
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The Protocol

The operating picture behind the book and the app.

The Protocol takes the best of CBT, ACT, and polyvagal theory and translates it into mission-ready language: Anchor, Shield, and Beacon. One daily loop, three pillars, a clear Deployment Order.

You don’t have to memorize the science. You just need a shared map that your nervous system, your family, and your clinicians can all understand.

Anchor · Nervous System Regulation Shield · Discipline & Load Management Beacon · Convoy & Co-Regulation
Read The Protocol in the Book Run It in the App

The Three Pillars

The Protocol is built on three pillars. You don’t need to “fix everything.” You just need to know which pillar to reinforce today.

Anchor
Anchor · Nervous System Regulation

Anchor is your ability to notice your state and down-shift when you’re running hot. It’s the difference between “I’m fine” and “I’m in amber and climbing.”

  • Traffic-light Signal Chain: green, amber, red—with your own tells.
  • Flight Simulator: rehearse hard conversations before they hit.
  • Simple grounding drills you can run in 30–90 seconds.
Shield
Shield · Discipline & Daily Ops

Shield is the infrastructure: sleep, fuel, movement, and the tiny habits that keep your system from running at 110% all the time.

  • Morning SOP: a B-minus routine you can run on low battery.
  • Sleep Ops: shutdown sequence so your brain gets the memo it’s safe.
  • Fuel Protocol and load management instead of “go until you crash.”
Beacon
Beacon · Convoy & Co-Regulation

Beacon is your convoy: Battle Buddies, Fire Teams, and a shared language so you’re not silently white-knuckling your way through life.

  • Signal-based check-ins instead of “I’m fine” / “I’m good.”
  • Family Ops scripts and prompts to talk without flooding each other.
  • Convoy rhythms so you don’t drift back into isolation when life gets loud.

Clinical Foundations, Translated into Ops

Under the hood, The Protocol stands on solid ground: cognitive-behavioral therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, and polyvagal theory. We just speak about it in language your nervous system and your people can actually use.

CBT · Cognitive-Behavioral Tools
Thoughts, beliefs, and behavior loops
CBT shows up in the way The Protocol helps you catch distorted thinking, run “thought records,” and change the behavior loops that keep you stuck. Instead of worksheets, you get short, repeatable drills you can log in a Daily AAR.
ACT · Acceptance & Commitment
Values, committed action, making room
ACT shows up in the language of missions and values: what you stand for when the smoke clears. The Protocol helps you name what matters, make room for painful thoughts and sensations, and still take small “toward moves” each day.
Polyvagal & Nervous System Science
States, safety, and co-regulation
Polyvagal theory shows up in the Signal Chain and in the focus on safety, not just stress. Anchor and Beacon drills are built to help your system move out of constant threat mode and back into connection—alone and with your convoy.

The Deployment Order: One Day at a Time

The Protocol is not another “optimize your life” checklist. It’s a simple Deployment Order you run on repeat—especially on days when motivation is at zero.

  • ① Morning SOP: a short startup sequence that checks your Signal Chain, stabilizes Shield basics, and sets one “toward move” for the day.
  • ② Day Ops: use Anchor, Shield, and Beacon tools as stressors hit—Flight Simulator before hard conversations, Matrix Sorter when your brain is overloaded, Signal Chain when you spike.
  • ③ Daily AAR: a two-minute debrief at night: what helped, what dragged you, and one adjustment for tomorrow.
  • ④ Command Center: once a week, zoom out. Look at trends, not just individual days, and adjust your load, sleep, and support accordingly.
The book teaches the Deployment Order. The app walks you through each phase. Your convoy helps you keep running it when life gets chaotic.
Where the App Fits In

The 23Protocol App is built directly on this Deployment Order. Every screen maps back to this loop:

  • Home: Today’s Deployment Order at a glance.
  • Anchor tools: Signal Chain, Flight Simulator, Matrix Sorter.
  • Shield tools: Morning SOP, Sleep Ops, Fuel Protocol, Long Game.
  • Beacon tools: Convoy, Battle Buddy check-ins, Family Ops prompts.
Book = Doctrine App = Cockpit Convoy = Backup
Free Preview · Chapter 1: Anchor
Chapter 1 introduces Anchor: your ability to notice your state, name it honestly, and stay tethered when life pulls hard. It sets the tone for the entire Protocol.
If you look at the architecture of the human brain, you realize quickly that it wasn’t designed for happiness. It was designed for survival. In my work—whether in a clinical setting with veterans recovering from trauma, or reflecting on my own time in combat—I’ve seen that the human nervous system craves predictability. Chaos is expensive. Thinking is calorie-intensive. To conserve energy and keep you safe, your brain builds habits. The old way of thinking about habits is that they’re just “routines”—brushing your teeth, making coffee. But let’s look deeper. A habit is a psychological shelter. When you feel stress (Cue), and you doom-scroll for an hour (Routine), your brain rewards you with a momentary drop in anxiety (Reward). In clinical terms, we call this Experiential Avoidance. We form habits to avoid difficult thoughts or feelings. But here’s the problem: while you’re hiding in that shelter, your life is passing you by. This book isn’t about “hacking your life” to become a productivity robot. It’s about understanding the mechanics of your own mind so you can stop reacting to the past and start acting for your future.
For the full chapter and the complete Deployment Order, grab the book or open the app and start running your first Morning SOP and Daily AAR.