Jocko Underground: Rise Above. How To Get Back On Your Feet in Life.

Rise Above. Helping a friend in need when they might not want help. Getting back onto your feet when life throws a crushing blow. Improving the new culture in a new position. Debating with your spouse. Is joining up worth it now days? Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jocko Willink?

  This is Jocko Underground Podcast, sitting here with Echo Charles.

• 0:05Jocko Willink?

  Kind of going off the last underground podcast that we did. And I was talking about, you know, basically, things are bothering people. You can let things get under your skin. So there's a, a song by a band called Black Flag.

• 0:24Jocko Willink?

  The song is called Rise Above. And the lyrics, I got the lyrics, I wrote down some lyrics. "Jealous cowards, try to control. Rise above, we're gonna rise above. They distort what we say. Rise above, we're gonna rise above. Try and stop what we do. Rise above, we're gonna rise above." That's the general consensus of the song, general theme of the song, right? Uh, Black Flag was sort of the, it's one of the pioneers of making punk rock and kind of turning it into hardcore, which is two small musical genres. And so therefore, Black Flag had a pretty big influence on my life, had a pretty big influence on the music that I listened to.

• 1:07Jocko Willink?

  A lot of the music that I listened to wouldn't really exist if it wasn't for Black Flag. Greg Ginn, um, that, that album that that song came out on, Rise Above. It's called Damaged. This is the first album that they put out with Henry Rollins singing.

• 1:26Jocko Willink?

  Well, I, maybe a couple, a month ago or something. It popped up on my playlist, you know? Hell, yeah. And I was rocking. And I realized how important that idea is for so many situations that we get into now. And, and the idea I'm talking about isn't really what the song is about. What the song is about is sort of like a rebellion song, like, we're gonna rise up against them.

• 1:56Jocko Willink?

  And I get it. I get that that's what the song is about. The song is about, don't let the man keep you down. Don't let the man keep you down. We're gonna rise above. That's what the song is about. And I get it. Cool. But I, I kinda was, heard the song the other day and I started thinking about it from another angle. And it's really the angle that I always took it as. I never really thought about the political angle, which is what it is. And it's us against them. It's a rebellion song. I always, I never really thought about the man. I kind of think of it in a more personal, in a way it applies to our personal lives. And I was talking with Jason Gardner, because Jason Gardner's an old punk rocker hardcore kid like me.

• 2:38Jocko Willink?

  And we were talking about the other day and I was saying that, you know, that song has a lot of application in life. And we started talking about it.

• 2:47Jocko Willink?

  Just because it's a great mantra, rise above. Because in life, if you're not careful, there are an infinite number of things that will drag you down as a person. Whether it's your own ego, whether it's other people's petty egos, whether it's stupid arguments that are taking place, whether it's little slights against you, little shots, random little emotional attacks, either from you or other people. Little political maneuvering that's going on. They're gonna get that thing. They're gonna get that look.

• 3:31Jocko Willink?

  Jockeying for meaningless positions or credit, like all these little things that can absolutely distract you. They can bother you. They can drive you crazy. They can waste a bunch of your time and effort. And all you need to do?

• 3:51Jocko Willink?

  All you need to do is rise above. Just rise above. And that's what I realized as I was listening to this. This has probably been a mantra that I've had in my head since I was a teenager.

• 4:04Jocko Willink?

  Just this idea. And look, and I would say that the, the, the older I got, the more I was actually able to rise above.

• 4:14Jocko Willink?

  But I do it a lot. I try and do it a lot. And it, it will certainly make your life easier and better. If you don't get caught up in little things that you can't control and that don't actually matter anyways.

• 4:31Jocko Willink?

  Rise above. Easier said than done. I know. I get it. But maybe this will help you get there.

• 4:41Jocko Willink?

  Just a little mantra. After I told Jason about it, like for the next three days we were together, like every time I'd see him, he'd be like, rise above, rise above. Cause it is, it's a good song, man. It's a good song. And it's a good song to keep in your head. It's also nice because what's nice about it is it's kind, it's an, it's an aggressive song. So you can get out some of the angst that you're feeling that you have to rise above.

• 5:11Jocko Willink?

  And then, and then it can kind of mellow you out. That's my recommendation.

• 5:18Jocko Willink?

  All right, let's get to some Q and A. Rise above.

• 5:22Speaker 01

  Rise above, all day. All right, first question. Hey guys, I'm writing this note. There are three former Marines driving across the country to pick up a brother in need of help. He's a dear friend and Afghan combat vet. This story starts back a few years.

• 5:37Jocko Willink?

  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 JacoUnderground.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're doing it so we can give you more control, more interaction, more direct connections, better communications with us, strengthen this legion of troopers that are in the game with us. So thank you. It's JacoUnderground.com. It costs $8.18 a month and if you can't afford to support us, we can still support you. Just email [email protected] and we'll get you taken

• 6:21Jocko Willink?

  care of. Until then, we will see you mobilized underground.