You signed up to save lives—but no one warned you how the job would change yours. The calls that haunt you. The shifts that steal your sleep. The slow erosion of who you used to be. This isn’t burnout; it’s the cost of bearing witness to humanity’s worst moments while clinging to your own humanity.

This book is your field manual for surviving the soul of the job.

Forget generic resilience advice. More Badass dives into the real stuff first responders face:

• The Battle Mind Trap: How hypervigilance becomes a prison, and why "toughening up" backfires.
• Horrible Privileges: Holding space for others’ trauma without letting it consume you.
• Moral Injury’s Hidden Toll: When the system betrays your values, and how to heal.
• Women in the Arena: Navigating double standards, harassment, and equipment designed for men.
• Financial & Physical Traps: Overtime addiction, ill-fitting gear, and why “suck it up” gets people killed.

You’ll learn to:

• Reset your nervous system with tactical pauses that work in the rig, the patrol car, or your kitchen.
• Process trauma without talking—body-first techniques for when words fail.
• Lead without losing yourself—build teams that thrive, not just survive.
• Reclaim relationships torpedoed by shift work, cynicism, and emotional walls.
• Spot crisis early in yourself and your crew—and exactly where to turn.

Packed with raw stories from firefighters, cops, and medics, More Badass doesn’t peddle toxic positivity. It’s a no-bullshit guide to:

• Coming home—not just to your family, but to your values, your body, and the purpose that called you.
• Building compassionate resilience—staying open-hearted without getting wrecked.
• Redefining strength as the courage to rest, heal, and ask for help.

For leaders: Transform your agency’s culture with actionable steps to reduce isolation, improve gear equity, and retain your best people.

This isn’t a self-help book—it’s a survival kit.
Because the world needs first responders who last.

“Finally, a book that gets it. Arnett doesn’t just diagnose the problem—he gives you the tools to fight back.”

“Read this before you need it. It’ll change how you see the job—and yourself.”