Jocko Podcast - Standard Directive 002: You're The General. You Give The Orders.

Episode Date: October 3, 2023

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You are the general that is in charge of your life, in charge of the war, the war of your life. Some people talk about being the CEO of your life. I'm telling you you are the general of your life because it's a war. It's a war going on. The battle that's going on in your life to be stronger and smarter and faster and better. So that means as the general, you're the one who decides what you do. and how you're gonna do it. You come up with a strategy.

It's on you. You create the tactics. You, as the general in charge, you make the plan and you give the orders to the troops. That's what you do. You direct them because you are the general. But you gotta remember this. You are also the troops.

You are also the troops. in your life, you have to both plan and you have to execute. The ideas that you come up with as the general in charge, you're also the troops that have to make those plans happen. Just like on the battlefield. Sure, the general comes up with a plan, but it's the soldiers that fight. For you as a person, you have to do both.

And we often forget that. We often forget that. We don't remember that we actually have to execute the plan. A lot of people forget that. So I have a thing that I do that I find makes it easier to do this. If I separate those two elements in my head, right? I separate those two elements in my head. How do I do that?

I write down things that need to happen. I write the orders to me. myself task lists that's the general in me that's the general in me doing the writing this is what we're going to do here's the plan here's what we got to make happen and then the soldier receives the orders the soldier sees them the soldier reads them and then the soldier executes the soldier doesn't ask questions the soldier doesn't complain the soldier doesn't hesitate the soldier executes part of your brain working. That's what the soldier's supposed to do.

Execute. So that's what you need to do. You need to separate and clearly understand those two parts of your brain. The general and the soldiers. And when the general and the soldiers both do what they're supposed to do, that's a united front. And that's an unstoppable force. That's discipline up and down the chain of command.

And that is how wars are won. are won. So, be the general, be the soldiers, and go win the war.