Shot, Not Stopped: Patrick Nugent on Grit, Habits, and Reframing the “Worst Thing”

with Marine Infianty (Ret.) and Adaptive Athlete, Patrick Nugent.

Five days into deployment as a Marine infantry officer, a live-fire training accident severed Captain Patrick Nugent’s sciatic nerve and paralyzed his right leg. What most people called “the worst thing that could ever happen” became the turning point for everything that came next.

Patrick is a Marine veteran, Invictus Games athlete, Harvard Kennedy School and Wharton grad, Boston Consulting Group consultant, and future Paralympic hopeful. And in this episode of Consequence of Habit, he joins JT to talk about grit, habits, and cognitive reappraisal: the ability to literally rewrite the story you tell yourself about adversity.

Patrick walks through the injury, the brutal recovery at Walter Reed, and the decision to treat his situation not as an ending, but as an opening. They dig into keystone habits, goal-tracking, stoic philosophy, and why believing “this might be the best thing that ever happened to me” changed his life. If you’re facing something that feels defining or impossible, this conversation will give you a new lens, and a roadmap. 

Connect with Patrick:

• Instagram: @pnudge

• Substack

• Learn More About Patrick