Jocko Willink: DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM (Jocko Willink Motivation)

[Music] motivation is it's kind of a strange word because it doesn't really mean what we think it means we think it means that we're fired up to do something we think that it means we're eager and passionate to make something happen and we think that somehow we should just be able to turn on that eagerness and turn on that passion but we can't you just can't turn on passion you can't just turn on the desire to execute a task just doesn't work that way and honestly that isn't even what motivate means motivate doesn't mean to

yell and scream and encourage no to motivate actually means to provide a motive a reason why so to motivate someone is to explain to them why they're doing what they're doing how it will help them where it'll take them why they should continue to work and to struggle and to fight and when you need motivation yourself go look for someone to scream and yell don't look for someone else to give you motivation look at yourself look at yourself and remind yourself why why you are doing what you are doing remind yourself that this struggle this

temporary pain this fight this fight that you're in this is what will make you stronger and faster and smarter and better and then with that motivation go forward into the fray into the storm into the heat of the battle where victory has forged rome wasn't built in a day we all know that everyone's hears that but rome also didn't fall apart overnight either it took hundreds of years for Rome to reach its peak but it also took time hundreds of years for Rome to decay and fall apart and that is representative of life because you

don't achieve worthwhile goals quickly or easily they take time they take struggle they take relentless pursuit day in and day out that's what it takes but also things don't usually fall apart quickly either and at least at first it's it's a slow process a little slip here a little setback over there a little wearing down of discipline and will over time [Music] that's the thing success and failure are generally slow processes either slowly building things up or gradually tearing them down [Music] and that's why I say you've got to pay attention you have to watch

you have to watch every single second [Music] because those seconds they turn into minutes and minutes turn into hours and hours turn into days and days turn in to years [Music] and so that second that second that just went by that counted and so did that second and so did that one and in those precious seconds your either building or your decaying your either gaining ground or you were losing ground in that second and in every second [Music] every second counts [Music] so make every second how do you stop making excuses this is actually pretty

simple and I said it the other day and you have to realize you have to know you have to accept that all your excuses are lies they are lies all think about the things that you tell yourself the lies you used to rationalize taking the easy road taking the easy road and leaving discipline behind think about them you don't have time that's a lie you don't have support that's a lie you don't have the equipment or the gear lies you don't you don't know the best way who cares that's a lie or you're too old

or you're too young of course you're too old or too young lie and there's you're too busy sure you are that's high and you're too tired or you're too sore or you're just plain not feeling it lies lies lies and the list goes on and on and on then it doesn't stop if you don't make it stop so recognize recognize the excuses are not valid they are they're trumped up they're conjured up they're fabricated their lies then how do you stop the lies you stop the lies with the truth the truth the truth will set

you free the truth will stand and the truth will deliver you from procrastination and laziness and the downward spiral that comes with a lack of discipline so don't believe the lies believe the truth and the truth is you have time you have the skill you have the knowledge and the support and the willpower and the discipline to get it done so cast out the lies burn them down and listen to the truth then live the truth and go out and get it done self-help or self management or self-improvement I don't really like what those words

have come to mean these days because there's a lot of people out there that are constantly trying to improve themselves by looking for the one change the one change right the one change in their life that's gonna make their dreams come true and even worse on top of that there's a lot of people out there a lot of self-help gurus and these hyperactive motivational speakers and these other self-appointed modern Zen yoga warriors that they're trying to sell the one thing they're trying to sell the nine steps or the enlightened path that's gonna allow you to

unlock all of your human potential and fulfill the dreams so you can live the life that you've you've always wanted to if now I'm no guru and I definitely don't claim to be I'm just a man but I will tell you this it isn't one thing and it isn't ten things and it isn't a hundred things it isn't a quick path and there are no shortcuts the meditation won't get you there and neither will a miracle drug or an organic supplement or some superfood [Music] getting better isn't a hack or a trick or all one

change that you need to make getting better is a campaign it's a campaign it's a daily a weekly it's an hourly fight an incessant fight that doesn't stop against weakness and against temptation and against laziness it's a campaign of discipline the campaign of hard work and dedication it's waking up early and going to bed late and grinding out every second in between every single day so you want to get better you want to self-improve stop looking for a shortcut and go find your alarm clock and find your discipline and fling it your guts and your

passion and your drive and find it you will and then and then you will find your freedom those days when I'm tired or worn out or just basically sick of the grind well what do I do on those days I go anyways I get it done even if I'm just going through the motions I go through the motions I don't really want to work out I work out I really don't want a hammer on a project I hammer on the project don't really want to get up and get out of bed yeah I get up

and get out of bed now these could be signals that you need some time off and those signals might be right they could be correct but don't take today off not today wait until tomorrow nope don't give in to the immediate gratification that is whispering in your ear shut that down do not listen to that little voice instead go through the motions lift the weights sprint the hill work on the project get out of bed now as an overall rule I do not like procrastination you need to get things done but if you are going

to rest that is one thing that you should procrastinate on that's the one thing I want you to pull it off until tomorrow and if when tomorrow comes you still feel like you need to rest or you need to take a break then okay [Music] but the chances are you won't you won't need that rest chances are you will realize that the desire to rest was just weakness it was just the desire to take the path of least resistance that downhill path the easy path and by simply going through the motions you overcame that path

and you stayed on the righteous path the disciplined path you stayed on the warpath which is right where you know but you cool I keep getting asked this type of question how do I get discipline or how do I want discipline or how do I maintain discipline and the answer it's it's a simple answer but obviously it's not easy and there's all kinds of little tricks and methods that people talk about and you know they have some merit you know maybe they do work these these things you know do the little things people say and

wake up early I say that and write things down and take cold showers and tell everyone what you're going to do so broadcast it and make promises or or make bets with with your friends of something that you don't want to lose and those things those ideas they're cool I'm sure they're gonna have some impact and if they work for you that's that's awesome but but the fact of the matter is that the reason discipline is hard to maintain is because it is hard to maintain that's what makes discipline hard it's hard and if you

hear me claim that discipline is easy for me then straight up that's just my ego talking that's what that is because I'm unfortunately just as human as everyone else and it is work to maintain the discipline that's what it is work holding the line maintaining the standard giving no slack none that's the discipline that's the discipline and it is hard and if there's one thing I would say that does make it easier it's to envision what it feels like when you're done what it feels like after you've worked out or you've held the line on

your food intake or you've pushed through some monotonous project that you have to do in all those things when they're done that they feel good and contrary to that envision what you will feel like later when you let the discipline slack you know the feeling feeling weak and defeated and you know that you're falling behind so get to know those two different types of feelings and ask yourself which one you want to feel in ten minutes or in a half an hour when when the thing is done when the discipline has Blin implemented remember what

that feels like and then remember that those minutes and those hours they turn into weeks and months and years and holding the line in those critical minutes will put you in an infinitely better place physically and mentally if you maintain the discipline if things go wrong they always seem to happen at once and they just compound on top of each other and it's it's pretty easy sometimes to to feel beaten when you're faced with all those issues and all those problems and they all hit you at the same time but let me tell you that

that doesn't mean give up in fact it means the opposite it means it's time for you to fight harder to dig in means it's time for you to go on the warpath