Jocko Podcast - Jocko Underground: This is How to be a Dependable Warrior.

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

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This is the Janko Underground Podcast, number 229, sitting here with Echo Charles, and we have some questions from the front lines, from the trenches, from where the rubber meets the road. And we have some answers, we have some recommendations, and at a bare minimum,

we have some courses of action that you can follow to navigate through these challenging scenarios that you are facing. All right, let's get to it. First question. I'm 23 and preparing to pursue a Navy SEAL contract in roughly two years. My goal isn't only to earn a trident. It's to become a dependable warrior, husband, father, teammate, and leader. If you're in my position, what three daily non-negotiables

would you build before the Navy ever tested you? And what hard truth do highly motivated candidates usually learn too late? I'm looking for reassurance. I'm not looking for reassurance or shortcuts. I want an honest standard I can live by. Thank you. Yeah, you know, unfortunately there's no formula for being successful in the seal pipeline. You know, there's just, it just doesn't exist. There are people who have done nothing to prepare for the pipeline and made it through. And there's people that done everything to prepare for the pipeline and not made it.

I mean, there's people that trained for a decade, you know, like they started training in when they were 50s. 15 years old or 14 years old and they trained and they wrestled and they did water polo and they did all the stuff and they were jacked and they could do 200 pull-ups and like all the stuff and then they just quit. So me telling you three random non-negotiables would be like me throwing darts with a blindfold on after I've been spun around in circles using my left hand throwing it over my shoulder while it's hanging upside down. It's just irrelevant. It's just irrelevant. because what I might tell you would be a good non-emotion non-negotiable might be bad for you. It might help someone else, but it might hurt you. And what might hurt you might be helpful for someone else. And I'm glad that you're not looking for reassurance or shortcuts because there really are not any reassurance or shortcuts.

You know, you want to get through. You know, if you're talking about being a dependable warrior, husband, father, team. mate and leader, well then take extreme ownership of what's going on in your world, be balanced, and have discipline. That's the first three books that I wrote, right? That's extreme ownership, dichotomy of leadership, and the discipline who's freedom field manual. That's why those, that's my, that's my, that's my, um, me offering my opinion to the world, right?

That's what it is. Yeah. Um, so, you know, there's no and by the way those aren't shortcuts it's not it's not easy you know you and I just talking before you hit record it's like it takes a long time before taking ownership becomes habitual it takes a long time before being balanced becomes habitual it takes a long time before being disciplined becomes habitual and a lot of times if you don't pay attention you'll drift out of all those categories so if that's what you're talking about there's my answer if it's

Getting through the system, getting through the pipeline. Yeah. I mean, run, swim, run, swim, rock, pushups, pullups, dips, and strengthen your neck, right? Try to do things that you're not good at. If you're not comfortable in the water, spend more time in the water. If you're not comfortable running, spend more time running. You ask this hard truth thing, hard truth, highly motivated candidates.

I would say that the hard truth that people need to face. is if you don't want to be a frog man then every moment of every day that you have is going to absolutely suck and you won't make it if you don't want that job then every moment of every day sucks it's cold wet miserable tired stressed cold injured broken uncomfortable uncomfortable uncomfortable cold chafed sunburnt infected diseased cold wet annoyed enslaved belittled aching sore cold claustrophobic tense uneasy dirty wet and cold that's what the days are and if and i liked everything i just said was fun i'm not kidding Like talk to the guys I went through talk to Chris Gifford

I was in I was in Hell Week with him in the same boat crew Like we were having fun it did it suck yeah it sucked it was fun You know why I wanted to be a frogman More than anything else in the world Most people don't really want to be a frogman We got a little saying everyone wants to be a frogman in a sunny day And that is the absolute truth go down to Coronado on a Friday

10 o'clock in the morning Some guys out in the beach doing a beach Run The frockman It's sunny They're getting a tan The girls on the beach Coronado

This is a hotel del Coronado Girls on the beach are watching They're looking They kind of want to clap You know what I mean? They don't really know how to what to do Do you clap for someone Do you just stare at them?

They don't know what they want to show their appreciation But instead they just look there really gawk. And if you're watching the girls that are watching the frogman, you go, that's what I want to do. But that's not what being a frogman is. That's a little, little, tiny, tiny portion

of being a frogman. Being a frogman is a hard job. And it sucks if you don't want to do it. So if you really want to be a frogman, you don't need any daily negotiation, non-negotiables. If you don't, if you really want to be a frog man, you're gonna be fine.

If you don't really want to be a frogman, it doesn't really matter. Because you're also going to be fine, you just won't be a frogman. And that's what I got. You're right about that stuff, because it doesn't sound intuitive when you're like,

wait, wait, does it suck or is it fun? But you're like, no, no, no, I can suck and still be fun

if that overarching, like, reason that you're there is, like, prominent in your head, you know, if you have it in your head, yeah,

remember, uh, he should run track, you know, obviously that's not like, being a Navy SEAL, obviously, But, you know, we all have our P, B enough.

But so track 400 meter run, 400 meter runs for conditioning. Also 300 meters, too, by the way. And 200 meters. They just suck. That's like the worst, you know. And I remember we had to do 10 of them for training for practice. And I'm like, this is like the worst practice ever, right? Or 10 of them.

And then you're like dying, right? At the end of like the first one, you're already dying because it's freaking 400 meters. But then I was thinking to myself, and my coach was super cool. And I remember thinking, bro, this like sucks. This is such a weird dichotomy, how much this sucks, but how fun this is. Because like, yeah, I was with my brothers and my friends and stuff. And like the coach was cool, you know. And it's like physically this sucks real bad, you know.

And the hot sun, you know, it's quite. But it was like super fun because fucking I like track, you know, it's good fun. So yeah, I can dig it. So, and yes, now I'm remembering back, putting myself back in that position. If I didn't like track and I didn't like the track meets and the whole thing, if I was just doing it for like punishment or something like this. Oh, yeah, I wouldn't run track. This is dumb.

Yeah. It was like, I do not want to be here. Not for one second, actually. Yeah. So I take it, man. I get it. And it's really weird, you know, because everybody thinks they want to be a frog man. 100% of people that go to buds think they want to be a frogman.

Only 20% of them actually want to be. The other day, 80% don't really want to be. And unfortunately, somehow they're able to convince themselves externally that they do but then when they get there it's it's it's a long cold wet night and they don't stay so looks like you got some um you know some aspirational goals so good luck man i also you're 23 you're doing a contract when you're 25 two years from now that i'm not 100% sure why you when you're you're 100% sure why you when you you're waiting you know if you're 23 you you should go it's I would say 23 is almost I think

statistically 23 is kind of the the the peak of the bell curve of making it younger like the younger than that is harder and then older than that is harder I think that might be the peak like success rate is like 23 because 24 25 because if you're going we 25. That is a little excerpt of what we are doing on the Jocko Underground podcast. So if you want to continue to listen, go to jocco underground.com and subscribe. And we're doing this to mitigate our reliance on external platforms so we are not subject to their control. And we are doing this so that we can support the Jocko podcast, which will remain as is free for all, as long as we can keep it that way but we are doing this so we don't have to be under the control of sponsors

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