Jocko Willink wakes up between 3:00-5:00 AM every single day.
Even on Saturday.
I know this because he posts an image of his TimeX Ironman wrist watch every morning on Instagram to prove it.
Jocko is a retired Navy SEAL with 20 years of military service. During that time, he served as the commander of SEAL Team 3 Task Unit Bruiser, the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War.
Upon returning to civilian life, Jocko coauthored the New York Times Bestseller Extreme Ownership in 2015. Since then, he’s published three more books, started a podcast, and runs a successful strategic leadership consulting firm.
The former SEAL commander has a lot to say about the lessons of leadership. But there is one mantra that he always returns to: Discipline equals freedom.
It takes discipline to wake up before the sun rises every morning. Especially when your job doesn’t require it. But in doing so, you earn the freedom to start your day on your own schedule.
This is why I follow Jocko on Instagram. He lives what he preaches. His posts inspire me to question where I need to pursue more discipline.
Because “discipline equals freedom” applies to every aspect of our lives.
Saving more money than you spend leads to financial freedom. And if you want the freedom of good health, then you need the discipline to eat right and workout.
Name any goal and you’ll find that the fastest path to achievement is the one that requires the most discipline.
Now if only it was that easy.
Disciplined choices never are. They go against our default behavior – often requiring us to choose pain over comfort, or what’s important over what’s convenient.
So it helps to be reminded every once in a while that the difficult choices are worth it.
As President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
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