Jocko Podcast - DEF 05: How To Stop Procrastination and Stop Laziness

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

Procrastination is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of your success... in anything. This is how you overcome procrastination. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content

This is the discipline equals freedom. Episode 5 sitting here with Echo Charles. As the deaf reset, the discipline equals freedom reset approached, I thought to myself about my life and what helped me with discipline. And there was a juncture in my life when I was, I don't want to say addicted to, but I was kind of addicted to checklists. And if I had to do something, I wrote it down. I didn't, I wanted to be a good seal. And therefore if I got tasked with something I didn't want to not do what I was tasked to do

So I wrote it down with a little I would draw a little box next to it A little checklist box, you know what I'm saying? Did you ever do that? So you could check it Literally check the boxes right did you ever do that? No Okay I kind of really got addicted to checking the boxes and it was a very useful tool for me Especially at that time in my life when I had a lot of tasks that were

Like immediate tactical level tasks like you got to do this you got to prep the radios you got to contact this you got to get this printer cartridge ordered like legitimate things like that in life I have less things like that now a lot less things like that right now in my life because people on my team we have decentralized command and a lot of that stuff's happening so I'm kind of doing more big muscle movement strategic things over time so I kind of know what I have to do but as I was thinking about trying to help people get on a discipline path. I know that that was a huge tool that I used in my life. So I called Jamie and Jen and I was like, hey, and this was maybe, it was

kind of like mid-December, it was way late. And I said, hey, what do you think? Do you think we could get together like a planner to help people with this? And they said, yep, we can do it. I said, how fast you think we can turn around and Jen and Jamie are awesome. They said, yep, we can get it done. We'll get it done. So they got it done. It's a little planner, right? A basic planner.

Which is something cool. Quarterly planner, take action. That's what the thing is about. Inside of it, it has weekly priorities, daily tasks, daily habits. You can track all this stuff. And then there's a section. This was kind of the brainstorm. This is what I really wanted was I wanted you to be able to see.

your strategic goals every day so you don't lose track of those right because as I said on one of these podcasts a while ago it's like you don't see any progress in one day in the gym you don't see any progress with one day of your diet you don't see any progress in one day of practicing your guitar you don't see any progress in one day of jiuitsu but a hundred days you're a different person you can play any song on guitar you look totally different if you've maintained your discipline with your gym and your diet everything else so it's easy to lose track of that so the way we design this thing every day when you look at your daily task you're also going to see your strategic goals so that's what it is and we made it

it's PDF you can get it from PDF you can also get it from just echelonfront.com they sold out really quick we're making more of them but more important as we were talking about the design of the book I said on the cover they were like oh should we just put echelon front which she just put And I said no on the cover just put the words execute execute execute execute execute Just put the words execute execute execute execute execute and that's what we did and they did it in red which I didn't advise but they got it right because it looks badass and those are those are the front colors of the front are black white red maybe some gray in there Sure but it comes the where the execute Xc comes from is from going on missions in the seal teams and you go on you'd conduct a direct action mission Which means you're going to take down a building or a series of buildings or a city block or whatever And when we'd roll up to those targets I'd be if I was the ground force commander

Meaning the overall guy in charge as we approach the target We'd get to a certain point where it's go time and I would get on the radio and key the radio and I'd just say Execute execute execute And that's that meant everything is going that means we're gonna do what we came to do And that's why I wanted on the cover because the biggest problems that we have and you and I were talking about this before we hit record the biggest problem isn't coming up with the plan the biggest problem isn't knowing what we should do or what we shouldn't do the biggest problem is execution that's the biggest problem that people have how to overcome

procrastination how to actually do the thing that you set out to do so we got to watch out for that going to the book here going to the discipline equals freedom field manual real quick here let me read let me let me let me just go talking about Overcoming procrastination when and where to start and this is where I wrote in this book People want to know how to stop laziness they want to know how to stop procrastination They have an idea in their head maybe even a vision and by the way I have that in a italics You know a vision because people have those vision but they don't know where to go they don't know where to start so they ask Where do I start when is the best time to start and I have a simple answer here and now

That's it here and now want to improve want to get better you want to get on a workout program or a clean diet or start a new business You want to write a book or make a movie or build a house or a computer or an app? Where do you start? You start right here when do you start you start right now you initiate action you go Straight forward Look could this be a 13 page chapter in a book? What I just said could it could be? Does it need to be? No, it doesn't need to be. Because I'm telling you what the answer is right now.

I'm not shrouding it in mystery. I'm not trying to convince you that there's some way of making this happen, which isn't true, by the way. Meditating on it isn't going to help you. Continuing to plan and doing branch plans and contingency plans, that's not actually going to help you at all to get started. Back to the book. Here's the reality.

That idea isn't going to execute itself. That book isn't going to write itself. Those weights out in the gym, they aren't going to lift themselves. You have to do it. And you have to do it now. So stop thinking about it, stop dreaming about it, stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it. Start doing it. That is the first step to make it happen.

Get after it and get after it here and now. So that's what I wrote in the book and that's what execute means. In the context of your life, execute, execute, execute, execute means do it now, do it now, do it now. That's what it means. And this is what you have to do. Do it now. You and I were talking before we hit record. Do it now.

That's what you have to do. Do it now. When? Now. Where? Now. Here. Now.

That's how you have to transform your brain. Never mind the fonts. Never mind the plans. Never mind the negotiations. Never mind. the little words, never mind the self-talk and hyping yourself up, never mind the rationalizations. No, do it now, do it now, do it now. Execute, execute, execute, execute, execute, execute, execute, execute.

That's what you need to do. That's what we're doing. That's the discipline. Go to the deaf reset.com, jacofuel.com, origin, USA.com, eschlonfront.com, jocco store.com. Get on the path. We'll talk to you later. Out.