Jocko Underground: Keep Your Insanity In a Frustrating World

>Join Jocko Underground Full Episodes< https://app.redcircle.com/shows/64a89f88-a245-4098-8d8d-496325ec4f74/exclusive-content How to Keep Your Insanity In a Frustrating World. Uncontrollable hygiene issues on the Jiu Jitsu mats? Moral-driven altercations in public. What to do. Feeling aimless in life, here's what to do. Rebuilding your life after you messed it up. 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 223, sitting here with Echo Charles. We have some questions from the front lines, from the trenches. And we will provide, well, provide some answers, if possible. If not, some recommendations. And at a minimum, we will provide some courses of action that you can take to move you in the right direction on the path.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  Also too, it's a benefit to know that if you have a question, specific or general,

• 0:36Speaker 01

  and you want them answered on this outfit, send your question, email your question to [email protected].

• 0:44Jocko Willink?

  There you go. The word has been spoken.

• 0:46Speaker 01

  Here's a tip, actually, this is a good tip, insider tip. Don't make it super long. If you make it like medium to short, that's gonna be beneficial in many ways.

• 0:59Jocko Willink?

  Okay.

• 1:01Jocko Willink?

  Okay, fair enough. But you have to provide enough context.

• 1:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly right.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  But sometimes, a lot of times when they get long, it's like, it's details that are less relevant to the concept of the question, you know? Because a lot of these questions, I mean, I get it, like, these are all personal, like, things that, that happen to, to us as individuals. But the idea and the concept of the question applies to many, many people. See what I'm saying? So, in that spirit.

• 1:25Jocko Willink?

  Fair enough.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  You know, keep it brief, keep it simple. I learned that one time, you know, this thing called the four laws of combat, simple. It's one of those, it's one of those deals. All right, first question. I don't want to complain, but some days I feel like I'm losing my sanity and at my breaking point. Working a job where, where the customers, coworkers, and a boss that are coming at me all day, every day with their problems. Driving in rush hour traffic, where there is certainly going to be two to three accidents that make the commute take forever. Going home to a family I love dearly, but have a whole list of problems themselves, among other things. I ask because you guys always seem to, seem so good to go, as you say.

• 2:10Speaker 01

  I understand the principles, detach, check your ego, trust, influence, listen, respect, and care, balance, et cetera. I apply them every day to my life. I believe I shoulder a lot of the problems because I always, I've always been steady and reliable. Training jiu-jitsu is the only thing that seems to keep me sane at the moment. Hell yeah. My question comes down to, what is the protocol when life just starts to feel exhausting? When the problems don't seem to let up? Do you guys ever feel this way? I really appreciate everything you do. Thank you.

• 2:43Jocko Willink?

  Well, it sounds like you're getting after it. And by getting after it, I mean, it sounds like you're getting after it. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes you're getting after it when you don't want to be getting after it. This is the way life is sometimes. And, you know, obviously, there's like, hey, you know, sometimes you just gotta suck it up and power through, right? Obviously, we know that, we get it, you get it, you're doing that.

• 3:09Jocko Willink?

  Here's the thing, you've been, it sounds like you've been doing it for a while. And after too long of a while, you have to recognize that this is not what we're doing. This is not what, this is not what life is supposed to be, right?

• 3:25Jocko Willink?

  It's, look, I would say it's unsustainable, but I'm sure you actually could sustain it if you had to, right? If people can go in a, in a prisoner of war camp for seven years, eating, you know, bugs, you know, we can sustain a lot. But there's a difference between needing to bear a lot because there's no other choice in the world, like you're in a prisoner of war camp, and bearing a lot because you're kind of stuck.

• 3:52Jocko Willink?

  Right? You're stuck and you're, and you're not making a change.

• 3:58Jocko Willink?

  So, at this juncture, what I would be doing, if I were you, is I would be trying to come up with a long-term strategy to change your situation.

• 4:10Jocko Willink?

  I don't know what kind of industry you're in.

• 4:13Jocko Willink?

  I can tell you that every industry is gonna have customers, coworkers, and bosses that are coming at you all day with different problems. That's just, that's, that's, that's, doesn't matter what industry you're in, but maybe you don't particularly like this industry, maybe you don't particularly like the type of people in this industry, because there are different types of people and different types of industries, so the problems are a little bit different. Maybe you don't like these types of problems.

• 4:35Jocko Willink?

  Maybe there's something else that you could do that has less interaction with people.

• 4:40Jocko Willink?

  Or better, you're involved, engaged with better people that are, that you get along with more.

• 4:46Jocko Willink?

  So, is there an industry, or is there a job that you look at, you go, man, I'd really like to do that? You know, I, I, one day I was building a, a wall in my backyard, and I told my wife, hey, when I get out of the Navy, I'm gonna become a mason. I was gonna, I'm gonna be a bricklayer. Because the bricks don't, they don't really like interact with you. You know, you put the brick there, it's going there. And when, when you put the brick where it's supposed to be, the brick is where it's supposed to be. People, people are reading, you know?

• 5:20Speaker 01

  They're not like that.

• 5:20Jocko Willink?

  They're not like that. You, you tell a person to go there, bro, there's a, we don't know what they're doing, we don't know what they're thinking, there's all kinds of chaos going on. And so, having been in the military and, and just interacted with people for so long, I was like, oh yeah, when I get out, when I retire from the Navy, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna become a mason. I'm just gonna lay block, carry bricks, lay block, carry bricks, that's what I'm doing. Now, I ended up, you know, getting involved with even more people when I got out of the Navy. But you need to look around and say, okay, what job can I get into that will get me in a better situation, something that I enjoy more?

• 6:01Jocko Willink?

  So, and, and by the way, while you're doing that, find something that's gonna mitigate your commute.

• 6:09Jocko Willink?

  Because spending, look, some people don't mind driving. JP Denell, he'll be like, oh yeah, I gotta, I gotta events in so-and-so. And I'd be like, oh cool, what time's your flight? Oh no, I'm driving. It's a 12-hour drive. He just gets on the road and drives. He likes driving. He likes it. Dude, I get, I get kind of frustrated when I gotta drive eight minutes to go to a nice restaurant. You know what I mean? I'm like, God, you know what, maybe can we just order it? You know what I mean? That's, that's where I'm at. So if you're getting traffic and you got two to three accidents, and you don't know what time you're getting home, like, that's a problem. Find some kind of a job, or some kind of a location where you don't have to do that.

• 6:49Jocko Willink?

  So, so that's what you need to do. You need, you need to come up with a plan right now. And look, this might take a year, this might take 18 months of, you gotta get some kind of schooling, you gotta get some kind of training, gotta put your resume out there. But if you're that miserable in your current job, you, you gotta make a change. And maybe you just gotta make, go some entry level position somewhere. Again, I don't know your financial situation, but there's all kinds of companies you go work for, and you can move up through the ranks. Home Depot, go kick ass at Home Depot, you can move up the ranks. Walmart, go kick ass at Walmart, though, these are, these are companies that hire from within. I meet people from companies like this, Costco, In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A, people that started

• 7:33Jocko Willink?

  there, you know, as a whatever, a stock boy. And now they're a store manager. Again, the entry level positions, entry level construction positions. Be a laborer.

• 7:48Jocko Willink?

  Work 12 hours a day. You know, you gotta figure out what it is you want to do.

• 7:54Jocko Willink?

  Look, you know, go be a laborer for, for an electrician, or a plumber.

• 7:59Jocko Willink?

  Go see what that's like. Those are skills you can learn. And those, again, these are all just options. I don't know sure what you like doing. But if you hate what you're doing right now, you gotta figure out a way to stop doing the thing that you're hating doing. So, changing your job over the next 12 to 18 months is a strategic move that you need to look into. And again, I don't know what you have for, you say, you, you say you love your family dear, I don't know what you have for kids, I don't know what you have for a mortgage, I don't know what you owe for rent, I don't know if the kids are taking ballet lessons that cost 300 bucks a month, like, you know, this could be problematic.

• 8:36Jocko Willink?

  Maybe then, you, what you gotta look is, how can you minimize the commute? Is there somewhere you can move? Is, can you get a different job in the same industry that's a little bit closer? You gotta figure something out, dude, because you're, you're, you shouldn't be, you shouldn't be in this kind of breaking point scenario. And part of, look, you can, you can make it through a longer time of breaking point, as long as you know, hey, look, I got a plan, I'm coming up with a plan, I'm gonna get out of this.

• 8:59Jocko Willink?

  The other thing I'll mention that, since you mentioned it, is that you say you are steady and reliable. And what that means is people can count on you, and what that means, if you're not careful, you can be taken advantage of. And you end up being responsible for things that you don't, you don't have the capacity for, or you're taking away from your own self and family to, because other people are counting on you to do things for them.

• 9:29Jocko Willink?

  And you end up, you're not able to move forward, you're not able to study for a new job, you're not able to get your resume out there because you're too busy putting out fires around you that all these other people are bringing into your world.

• 9:40Jocko Willink?

  Echo Charles is a master of not being involved in other people's stuff. Yes or no? Echo Charles?

• 9:47Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 9:48Jocko Willink?

  Confirmed?

• 9:48Speaker 01

  Accurate.

• 9:49Jocko Willink?

  Like, there's some stuff, you go, oh no, that's, that's not, that's not your thing.

• 9:54Jocko Willink?

  Echo Charles does not do this kind of thing. You know what I mean?

• 9:57Speaker 01

  Echo Charles is not required for this.

• 9:59Jocko Willink?

  Yes, Echo Charles is not required for this scenario, you know? No, no one's, no one's got your, no one's got your number on speed dial for, for, you know, random stuff. Like, I, there's some people that go, you know?

• 10:14Jocko Willink?

  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 jacowunderground.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, and we're doing it so we can give you more control, more interaction, more direct connections,

• 10:58Jocko Willink?

  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 jacowunderground.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.