Jocko Underground: Try Not Having an Opinion About EVERY FREAKIN THING.

You don't have to have strong opinion about everything. How to implement a system change within a group without ruffling feathers. Dealing with someone who always "has to be right". Should "loyalty" to a group Hold you back? How to manage a weak boss. Family not supporting your Jiu Jitsu training schedule. 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 the Jocko Underground Podcast number 87, sitting with Echo Charles and me. My name is Jocko.

• 0:08Jocko Willink?

  Here's something that can help you.

• 0:11Jocko Willink?

  It can actually help you a lot in life. Try not to have an opinion on every freaking thing. This is, this is, just put this in your brain.

• 0:27Jocko Willink?

  Cause so many people, and this is an easy trend to fall into. So many people have an opinion on everything.

• 0:37Jocko Willink?

  They got an opinion on politics. They got an opinion on American politics. They got an opinion on foreign politics. They got an opinion on sports. They got an opinion on food. They got an opinion on diet. They got an opinion on working out. They got an opinion on everything. And I'm talking like a strong opinion that they're arguing with other people about. What do you actually know about any of this stuff? Right? What do you actually know? What do you actually know that you have this big opinion? That you formulated this big giant opinion? What do you actually know about that?

• 1:09Jocko Willink?

  Like, they have an opinion about all these things in the world. Then they also have a big opinion about something going on at work. Now, maybe they do know more about what's going on about work, but is it really, you know, this, this new plan at work? You got this big opinion about it? No one's tried it yet. The plan hasn't been executed. It's just an idea and you have a big giant opinion about it. And it's letting you, it's, your opinion is affecting your emotions. It's affecting your attitude. It's affecting your, your mindset. So you have this big opinion about all these different things. And by the way, at work, you got an opinion about Fred.

• 1:43Jocko Willink?

  Right? You've got an opinion about Fred. And what he should do and what he shouldn't do and why he should do it or why he shouldn't have done it. You have a big opinion about that.

• 1:56Jocko Willink?

  And by the way, Jessica, who's involved with Fred that we know about, you got a big, a big opinion on that. Right? Because of course you do, because you got to, you're thinking about it. You think it matters. You think your opinion about Fred and Jessica and what they've got going on. You got a big opinion about that.

• 2:15Jocko Willink?

  And for some reason, at this juncture in time, and you know what? Maybe it's always been this way, I'm not sure. But it certainly seems like people are over opinionated right now. And here's what, here's the thing that you gotta watch out for. The stronger opinion that you have, the less that you know. I'll say that again, in case you missed it. The stronger opinion you have, the less you know. And by the way, if you're talking to me with your big opinion, I know that the bigger opinion you is, the less you, the bigger opinion you have, the less you actually know about what you're talking about. Because if you really know a lot, you realize there's nuances. If you really know a lot, you realize it's like someone that has a big opinion

• 2:59Jocko Willink?

  about a position in jujitsu. When it's like, hmm, well, if someone that actually knows a lot of jujitsu goes, well, there's another way to do that, and there's another way, and there's a thing that counters that, and you also gotta be careful of this, and also in MMA, it doesn't transfer very well. There's, there's a whole, there, a person that knows more in jujitsu has a more open mind. Than someone that's a blue belt instructor, and they're like, no, you gotta do it this way. No, actually, that's not completely untrue. I mean, sorry, that's completely untrue. You don't need to do it that way. There's a point when someone in jujitsu as an instructor, there's a point when people start going, yeah, for me, this works well. For other people, this is not a great move.

• 3:43Jocko Willink?

  There's a previous point, a less mature point, where it's like, this is the way you do the move. That's a less knowledgeable person. Less opinion, more knowledge, more opinion, less knowledge. So, the more opinionated you are, the less you listen, the less you learn, the less you know. And by the way, the less time you spend arguing over stupid things, the more time you spend understanding them. What's better, to understand something or to argue about it? It's better to increase your understanding of something.

• 4:18Jocko Willink?

  But you've got a big opinion about everything, about things that are so complex and so complicated, that there are people that study those subjects for their entire lives and they don't have them figured out. And yet you do, because you watched a YouTube video, or because you read two books on the subject. If you read four books on the subject, you're going to realize that, oh, the first two books that I read on that subject indicated this, then the next book actually countered that, and the next one countered it even further.

• 4:49Jocko Willink?

  So even the people that write books on this subject can't agree to what's correct and what's not correct.

• 4:56Jocko Willink?

  But you do. You, you do. You know, for a fact.

• 5:05Jocko Willink?

  Because you want to have this big opinion. Because the big opinion makes you feel like you know something, when in fact you don't. And, and you end up in dumb arguments, and you end up saying dumb things.

• 5:21Jocko Willink?

  And you're not helping the team, you're not helping the mission, you're not helping your community, you're not helping your family. By the way, how well, when you, when you attack someone with your big opinion, how does that impact them? Does it make them say, oh, thanks, you feel strongly about this, you must be right? No. They say, you feel so strongly about this that you're blind to the facts, or you're blind to this other perspective. That's what they think.

• 5:46Jocko Willink?

  So instead of going into the world with this big giant opinion, which by the way, just is a reflection of your big giant ego, instead try, try consciously to actually not have a big giant opinion about everything.

• 6:01Jocko Willink?

  Instead of saying, you know, I think, or in my humble opinion, instead of saying that, say, you know, I've never really thought about that perspective before. Say, try saying that.

• 6:16Jocko Willink?

  Try saying that. Or try and say, you know, that's, that's out of the scope of my knowledge, but that's very interesting. Hadn't heard that before. Try saying that. Or try saying something as, as rare to leave the human mouth as I'm not sure, or I don't know, or I have no idea.

• 6:36Jocko Willink?

  And if you can say those things, if you can say, I'm not sure, or I don't know, your mind will actually open up.

• 6:45Jocko Willink?

  Your mind will actually open up and then you can learn. And you can find areas of agreement and then you can have actual discussions with people, open-minded discussions with people. And that will allow you to become a better, more productive and more useful human being.

• 7:05Jocko Willink?

  Instead of just

• 7:08Jocko Willink?

  a person with a big ego and a big opinion.

• 7:14Jocko Willink?

  So there you go. Just a different way to approach things could be useful for you.

• 7:22Speaker 01

  Obviously, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm never guilty of that scenario. However, though, it is, it, it sometimes can be one of those things, if not every time, one of those things where it's so super easy when you see someone else doing this.

• 7:36Jocko Willink?

  Oh, yeah.

• 7:36Speaker 01

  And, you know, and it's also super easy for you to miss when you do it.

• 7:40Jocko Willink?

  Yeah.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  But, okay, that being said,

• 7:45Speaker 01

  it is one of those things, if you can kind of reflect on yourself, you'll notice that there's going to be a big question mark as to like, what, what are we trying to get out of this whole thing? And I know this scenario quite well, I think, because I run into it from time to time where it's, you can almost sense that the person is maybe trying to express how smart they are or express their knowledge, you know, and impress you kind of a thing. Like, I know this much and I'm, and kind of sometimes it can come down to like, hey, I'm, I'm smarter than you. Like, that's kind of the underlying message, you know, I'm smarter than you. But

• 8:28Speaker 01

  I don't think it ever can land like that, that there, you know, like, oh, if someone's doing it to you, it's, it's unlikely you're going to end up with the idea like, oh, damn, you're, you're so smart, you know? When you have this huge, like, fired up opinion or whatever, it's more, you're probably going to leave the person with that guy sounds kind of ignorant, you know, like he got all fired up, bruh, it's not even that serious, you know, kind of a thing. Like, none of us know about this stuff.

• 8:53Jocko Willink?

  It's weird that you can develop such a strong opinion on things that are so unsure.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:59Jocko Willink?

  Like, things that are, things that are unknown.

• 9:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:02Jocko Willink?

  Like I said, a real obvious example is like a plan to do something.

• 9:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:07Jocko Willink?

  You know, like a mission or a project that you've got. And Echo comes to me. So, 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, 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, but we are doing this so we don't have to be under the control of sponsors.

• 9:51Jocko Willink?

  And we're doing it so we can give you more control, more interaction, more direct connections, better communications with us. And to do that, we are, we're building a website right now, where we'll be able to utilize to 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 care of. Until then, we will see you mobilized underground.