Standard Directive 012: Think Before You Open Your Pie Hole

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

• 0:00Jocko Willink?

  Think before you open your pie hole.

• 0:06Jocko Willink?

  This is a pretty common thing to hear in the SEAL teams. And I know pie hole is not the gentlest of terms for your mouth.

• 0:17Jocko Willink?

  But believe me, there are much worse terms that get used. But there's a reason behind the hostility of that word. Because it's meant to leave a mark. It's meant to be a little bit hostile. Why? Because someone is trying to tell you, when they tell you to shut your pie hole, they're trying to tell you something that they've likely already tried to tell you in a more polite manner.

• 0:41Jocko Willink?

  And that is think before you talk.

• 0:45Jocko Willink?

  Just think before you talk. We probably all heard this before. Why is that? Why should we think before we talk? Well, it's the same reason you should think before you pull the trigger of a gun. Because once you pull the trigger and the bullet leaves, you can't take it back.

• 1:02Jocko Willink?

  You cannot take it back.

• 1:06Jocko Willink?

  Doesn't work. The shot has been fired. When you open your mouth, the words have been said.

• 1:13Jocko Willink?

  So you should think before you open your pie hole and talk. But here's what I want to clarify for you.

• 1:22Jocko Willink?

  What should you actually think about? What should you actually think about before you open up your mouth and talk? Well, I would advise you to think about what it would sound like if someone else said what you're about to say. And not from your perspective either, from other people's perspectives. Because your perspective doesn't really matter at this point. Because you think you're so smart that what you're about to say is an awesome revelation that you are going to bless the world with. That's why you're about to open your mouth. And unfortunately.

• 1:59Jocko Willink?

  There's a good chance, there's a really good chance that what you're about to say is not a revelation and it's not something to bless the world with. Chances are, what you're about to say, there's a decent chance it's a waste of breath and it's a waste of people's time. So, just think about that. Just think about that before you speak. It's a filter that you can use. It's a filter that you can use and everyone will be better off if you use that filter, including you. Because, in the long run, the less you talk, the more people listen. So go ahead and keep that pie hole shut.