Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual Mk1-MOD1

by Jocko Willink

THERE IS NO EASY WAY. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline. DISCIPLINE.

Over and over and over again, I am asked: Why? What drives me. When I was younger, I was preparing for war. I knew that somewhere out there, another man was also preparing. That man was my enemy. He was working, training, planning, and preparing to meet me on the battlefield. I didn’t know when. I didn’t know where. But I knew that at some point: We would meet. And I wanted to be ready. Ready mentally. Ready physically. Ready emotionally. So I trained. And I prepared. And I did everything I could to be ready for that day.

So. Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective.

It takes both emotion and logic to reach your maximum potential, to really give everything you have, to go beyond your limits.

Waking up in six days or six weeks or six years or SIXTY YEARS and being no closer to your goal… You have made NO PROGRESS. That is the horror. That is the nightmare. That is what you really need to be afraid of: Being stagnant.

I want that long-term goal to be so embedded in my mind, that I never lose sight of it. EVER.

Hesitation allows the moment to pass, the opportunity to be lost, the enemy to get the upper hand. Hesitation turns into cowardice. It stops us from moving forward, from taking initiative, from executing what we know we must.

That’s it. When things are going bad: Don’t get all bummed out, don’t get startled, don’t get frustrated. No. Just look at the issue and say: “Good.”

Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished—you will likely fall short. So. Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.

I’m working hard. I’m taking things to the next level. You keep gossiping—I’ll keep working. You keep talking smack—I’ll keep working. You keep chattering about things—I’ll keep working. You keep focusing on what everyone else is doing wrong—I’ll keep focusing on what I can do RIGHT.

Binary Decision-Making. Are you going to be weak or strong? Are you going to be healthy or unhealthy? Are you going to improve your life? Are you going to make it worse? Are you going to sacrifice long-term success for short-term gratification? You know the right answers. You know the right decision. Don’t overcomplicate. Binary Decision-Making. Make the right decisions.

Do what challenges you. Do what pushes you. Do what sets you up for long-term strategic success. Don’t do what makes you happy. Do what makes you better.

“Real Defeats, other than death, are psychological in the end.” That’s right. Unless you are dead, the defeat is only psychological. It is only in your head. You can go on. And you must go on. Defeat only really counts if you are dead. NEVER GIVE UP.