While discipline and freedom seem like they sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, they are actually very connected.
If you’re going to wake up early all the time, and you’re working hard, and you’re working out, sometimes you’re going to get tired. It’s OK. It’s acceptable – somewhat. We’re all human, unfortunately.
Just on a practical side, if you wake up early in the morning – like at 4:30 in the morning – you’re going to have some free time to yourself to make things happen, to take care of things that are important to you.
Things won’t get better dwelling on the past. Accept what has happened. Then move forward.
I eat steak primarily. That’s pretty much what my diet consists of. Sometimes I supplement that with other steaks.
Freedom is what everyone wants – to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline.
When a team takes ownership of its problems, the problem gets solved. It is true on the battlefield, it is true in business, and it is true in life.
Every day is a major balancing act that I have to figure out and coordinate.
We named the book ‘Extreme Ownership’ because we really found that when we looked at not only at leaders but at teams that were the most successful, we found that the ones that had this attitude of extreme ownership were the ones that did the best, and it’s definitely an attitude that I had.
If you’re going to wake up early all the time, and you’re working hard, and you’re working out, sometimes you’re going to get tired. It’s OK. It’s acceptable – somewhat. We’re all human, unfortunately.
Perseverance is also key to success in any endeavor, but without perseverance in combat, there can be no victory.
Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better.
Waking up early was the first example I noticed in the SEAL Teams in which discipline was really the difference between being good and being exceptional.
When I checked into SEAL Team One many years ago, one of the things that I noticed was there was this old guy, who was younger than I am today, who I decided that I was going to be like. I wanted to emulate what he was doing, and one of those things was he got to work before anybody else.
Discipline starts every day when the first alarm clock goes off in the morning. I say ‘first alarm clock’ because I have three, as I was taught by one of the most feared and respected instructors in SEAL training: one electric, one battery powered, one windup.
When I was running training, we would fire a couple of leaders from every SEAL team because they couldn’t lead. And 99.9% of the time, it wasn’t a question of their ability – it was a question of their ability to listen.
One of the best mental disciplines for people to implement is simply putting together a schedule or a task list and actually executing it. Write the list or the schedule the night before, and then do what you said you would do. Life becomes much better when you do that.
I don’t pick up toys. I crush them.
Waking up early was the first example I noticed in the SEAL Teams in which discipline was really the difference between being good and being exceptional.
Leadership is hard. It’s a skill. It’s a technique.
Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.
Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in combat.
One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys that worked for me, he would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on. And he’d say, ‘Boss, we’ve got this, and that, and the other thing.’ And I’d look at him and I’d say, ‘Good.’
The more you practice, the better you get, the more freedom you have to create.
If someone attacks me, and they want to punch or kick me, I can just run away. They’re not holding onto me. I can get away from them.
I would venture to guess that the biggest reason creative types don’t produce isn’t because they don’t have vision… or talent… in most cases, it’s a lack of discipline.
We record when I have a hole in the schedule. Sometimes night, sometimes afternoon, sometimes morning – we fit it in when we can. I prep for episodes all the time.
One of the best mental disciplines for people to implement is simply putting together a schedule or a task list and actually executing it. Write the list or the schedule the night before, and then do what you said you would do. Life becomes much better when you do that.
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