1 00:00:02,180 --> 00:00:04,280 There are no shortcuts. 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:06,520 There are no hacks. 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:12,220 If you want to take the easy road, I promise you: it’s longer and more painful 4 00:00:12,220 --> 00:00:13,720 than the hard road. 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:14,940 I know. 6 00:00:14,940 --> 00:00:16,190 I’ve lived it. 7 00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:23,009 I’ve ventured down the easy road at times in my life and it never led to anywhere good. 8 00:00:23,009 --> 00:00:28,320 The positive things in my life always came when I faced the biggest challenges. 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:29,779 I joined the Navy. 10 00:00:29,780 --> 00:00:33,960 I took the hard road in the Navy and made it into the SEAL Teams. 11 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,240 There, I had the honor of leading men in combat. 12 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,360 I learned some lessons along the way, lessons that have been tested on the battlefield and, 13 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,420 when implemented, lead to success in any arena. 14 00:00:47,420 --> 00:00:53,080 One of the best things I’ve learned is that anyone has what it takes to travel the hard 15 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,640 road—to walk The Path that leads to success. 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,840 That includes you. 17 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:01,920 It won’t be easy. 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,160 It will demand everything you’ve got to give. 19 00:01:05,170 --> 00:01:11,260 But you can do it, and I want to give you three key principles I’ve learned that will 20 00:01:11,260 --> 00:01:13,460 help you to get it done. 21 00:01:13,460 --> 00:01:17,820 Principle number one: Discipline. Equals. Freedom. 22 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:20,920 That’s not a contradiction—it’s an equation. 23 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,600 Discipline might appear to be the opposite of freedom. 24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,340 But, in fact, discipline is the path to freedom. 25 00:01:28,340 --> 00:01:31,960 Discipline is the driver of daily execution. 26 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:36,780 Discipline defeats the infinite excuses that hold you back. 27 00:01:36,780 --> 00:01:41,840 Some people think motivation is what will compel them to get things done. 28 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:48,180 But motivation is just an emotion—a feeling, and like all feelings, it’s fickle: 29 00:01:48,180 --> 00:01:49,920 it comes and goes. 30 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:54,460 You can’t count on motivation to be there when you need to get through 31 00:01:54,460 --> 00:01:57,220 truly challenging times. 32 00:01:57,220 --> 00:01:59,800 But you can count on discipline. 33 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,780 Discipline is something you dictate. 34 00:02:02,780 --> 00:02:07,360 Motivation won’t make you exercise every day; discipline will. 35 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:12,920 Motivation won’t stay up late and finish a project for you; discipline will. 36 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:18,440 Motivation isn’t going to get you out of bed in the morning; discipline will. 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:25,600 Make discipline part of your daily life and your daily life will get better. 38 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,320 Principle Number Two: Stay. Humble. 39 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,980 In life, you are going to have to do things that you don’t want to do. 40 00:02:33,980 --> 00:02:40,840 Maybe things that you don’t think you should have to do—things that offend your precious ego. 41 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:45,300 When I got done with Basic SEAL Training and reported on board SEAL Team One, 42 00:02:45,310 --> 00:02:47,220 you know what I was assigned to do? 43 00:02:47,220 --> 00:02:49,740 I was assigned to clean toilets. 44 00:02:49,740 --> 00:02:54,360 That’s right—despite having just graduated some of the most difficult military training 45 00:02:54,370 --> 00:02:59,220 in the world, despite being assigned to an “elite” commando unit—my first mission 46 00:02:59,220 --> 00:03:03,300 at the actual SEAL Team was to clean toilets. 47 00:03:03,300 --> 00:03:06,580 Not exactly a glorious job. 48 00:03:06,580 --> 00:03:08,300 But you know what? 49 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:09,300 I did it. 50 00:03:09,300 --> 00:03:14,160 I did it to the best of my ability and took pride in doing it well. 51 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:19,490 And that attitude got noticed: if I cared that much about how clean the toilets were, 52 00:03:19,490 --> 00:03:23,400 people knew I would do a good job with even more important assignments. 53 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,960 After a short period of time, I got those more important assignments. 54 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,460 But it was humility that opened the door for me. 55 00:03:31,460 --> 00:03:36,640 Now, being humble does not mean that you shouldn’t be confident. 56 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,600 You certainly have to believe that you are a capable person. 57 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,260 But don’t let confidence turn into arrogance. 58 00:03:44,270 --> 00:03:47,780 So keep your ego in check and stay humble. 59 00:03:47,780 --> 00:03:53,080 The third and final principle: Take. Ownership. Of. Everything. 60 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,520 I call this “Extreme Ownership.” 61 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,620 In the military, the best leaders and the best troops were the ones that took ownership 62 00:04:01,620 --> 00:04:06,380 of everything in their world—not just the things they were responsible for, but for 63 00:04:06,380 --> 00:04:10,580 every challenge and obstacle that impacted their mission. 64 00:04:10,580 --> 00:04:15,900 When something went wrong: They cast no blame, they made no excuses. 65 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:19,280 They took ownership of the problem and fixed it. 66 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:25,080 You can implement this attitude as well—not only in your job, but in your life. 67 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,720 Let other people blame their parents, their boss, or the system. 68 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,520 Let weaker people complain that the world isn’t fair. 69 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:39,220 You are the leader of your life: take ownership of everything in it. 70 00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:43,120 So: be disciplined in all that you do. 71 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,260 Don’t subject yourself to the whims of motivation. 72 00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:51,360 Stay humble and be willing to do what needs to be done. 73 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,760 And: take extreme ownership of your life and everything in it. 74 00:04:56,770 --> 00:05:04,229 Then: choose the hard path—the path of responsibility, hard work, and sacrifice. 75 00:05:04,229 --> 00:05:11,840 The Path of discipline, humility, and ownership that ultimately leads to freedom. 76 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:17,540 If you follow these principles, then nothing in the world will stop you. 77 00:05:17,540 --> 00:05:23,260 I’m Jocko Willink, host of the Jocko Podcast and author of Extreme Ownership, 78 00:05:23,260 --> 00:05:25,240 for Prager University.