Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink Book Summary, Notes, and PDF

Last Updated on November 16, 2020

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Jocko Willink was born into a military family. He spent most of his adult life rising through the military ranks. He managed to take part in a particular operation military unit during wartime in Iraq.

With his book, Discipline Equals Freedom, he became one of the best selling self-help authors. He teaches people to achieve freedom in different aspects of their lives.

His books give people advice on overcoming obstacles and attaining their goals. However, he considers guidance is not good enough if there is no element of discipline in it. Without proper training, you simply do not progress.

Contents

Part 1: Author’s Thoughts

You need to overcome procrastination and know when you should get started.

Unless you are a hero from Marvels Comics, you know what procrastination is all about – instead of preparing for your Physics exam tomorrow, you are reading a book summary that you never knew existed until today.

This is not an event that merely occurs one time. It happens over and over again.

So how do you stop it from happening over and over? How can you stop procrastinating?

In other words, the reality is that books don’t evolve into a book by themselves; someone has to write them. Ideas don’t come from the universe, and weights are not moved unless you attempt to lift them.

It doesn’t sound complicated, so you don’t have to research and debate about this concept.

Just do something, get started!. Take the first baby step, and prompt things to begin happening.

The Person That You Can Control

The only person that you can control is yourself. So it’s your duty to turn yourself into a version that you dream of.

Faster, stronger, or less prideful. Give your body discipline. Free up your mind. Wake up early each day and go to work. Keep chasing your goals and become the dream person you envisioned. You will soon transform into that person—one small step at a time.

Our Weaknesses

I am always a fighter. I struggle like mad, and I kick away those weaknesses. I intend to throw away these weaknesses and change them into a strength. Sometimes I win. Sometimes I lose. But each day I feel like giving up, I get back up and force myself to move forward. I clench my fists, with sweat down my brow, but I never give up. I go towards each battle with a lot of struggle. I fight with everything I have. To overcome these weaknesses and the flaws that I have, hoping that I am a little bit better than yesterday.

The Stress That We Feel

Humans can withstand a high-stress level – and you can too. The first step in facing stress is to gain perspective. To make a critical decision, you need to detach.

No matter what stress or problems you are facing, you just need to detach yourself from these things. The pressure is created by something that you cannot control or predict.

If you can control your stress, but you are not doing so, that means that you lack discipline. You must find a way to control it. Make it a point of strengthening your willpower to make it happen. Solve the problems and get rid of the stress. If you cannot manage your pressure, then just embrace it.

You might not be able to control the stress, but you can still look at it from a different perspective. Therefore, you can also use it to your benefit.

Do not fight your stress; just embrace it. Use the pressure to sharpen your mind and become more alert. Use the stress to help you think and learn better in a more effective manner.

Overdrive Annihilator Mode

Where does this switch flick from? In the overdrive mode – you are going berserk. Becoming a destroyer that never stops. This is something that can be learned. It is a painful lesson, and not everyone can learn it. However, it is a critical lesson to improve your daily life. It is also a damn crucial lesson. Upon discovering it, you can go the extra mile.

You need a combination of emotion and logic to reach your full potential, to give it your all, and to break your limits. Both emotion and logic will reach their limits. When one of them fails, you can only fight with the other one.

When there is no logic left to go on, use your emotion to drive yourself further. Feelings like fear, anger can push a person a lot. The thing is never to stop. Don’t ever stop.

When you feel like you are screaming, like you cannot take it anymore, and you are going to break, override this feeling with logic and willpower, stating that you will never stop.

Fight emotions with logic, and fight your logic with your feelings.

When you can balance these two, you will find the strength and tenacity to tell yourself that you will not stop, no matter what happens.

Applying Discipline Into Your Life

Discipline starts with waking up early each morning. It is just the starting point, but you need to use it as a kicking start.

It is working out each day, creating a more energetic and healthier version of yourself. Eat the right foods and fuel your system in the right manner. You can discipline your emotions and make proper decisions. You need to have the discipline to control your ego as well so that you will not lose control of it.

Moreover, you should treat people the way you would want people to treat you. It is about doing all the tasks that you don’t want to do, but you know it will benefit you later.

Discipline is about facing any fears so you can conquer them. Take the right road, and you will find your medal waiting for you at the end of the way.

You need to do the right thing as well. This is for you and other people around you. Sometimes, we end up taking the most natural path. We become weak and break down at that moment. We give in to desire and gratify ourselves.

Discipline will not allow people to submerge in gratification. Training will make sure that the person has willpower and strength. It doesn’t accept any signs of weakness. It doesn’t tolerate willpower breaking down. Discipline might seem like your worst opponent, but actually, it is your best buddy.

It takes care of you as nothing else can.

Willink states that discipline is the base of all good qualities and executes all daily tasks. This overcomes a person’s laziness and excuses, turning them into someone successful.

It is not complicated and straightforward if you begin to think about it. Want to become an excellent pianist? You need to have the proper discipline to practice your instrument every single day for hours.

Compromising Helps The Person

When you are working with other people in different situations or as a leader, you must learn to compromise. In many cases, if you fail to compromise, you will fail to succeed. These are external compromises, and other people have their unique personalities and agendas. Therefore to unite everyone, you need to compromise. To work as a team, you must learn how to negotiate.

However, when dealing with it internally, you must hold the line. There are areas in yourself that cannot be compromised. I need to work hard and train hard. You must keep improving yourself and allowing yourself to break down.

If you make some mistake, then confront them. Tell yourself, “I am going to face my demons and not give up. I am going to sustain my self-discipline. All these points up there means that I will not compromise on myself.”

Default Mode: Aggressive Mode

I view aggression as a personal character trait. Strong firepower in your mind that states that you are going to win.

Nature Vs. Nurture

Which is more important in your point of view? Nature or Nurture? The answer is neither.

Successful people decide that they are going to be successful and choose to be successful. These people make other choices. They want to study hard and work hard. These people are the first person to get to the office and the last to reach home. They take on the hard jobs and face many challenges. They turn themselves into leaders when no one else wants to take over.

It is never too late to choose to become a successful person.

Do not think of what you have gone through or where you once were. Think about where you are headed and make a choice.

Fear of Failure

You should not learn to overcome the fear of failure. You need to be afraid of failure. Therefore, you must become horrified at failing and doing nothing to improve.

Lies That Have Been Sugarcoated

Unless you go for an extended period without food, you do not need to eat. It is poison. You do not need to eat! So while the meals are tempting you and enticing you, get aggressive and say no to the food. Fried chicken is tempting, and so is ice cream. I know what you are thinking. Why are you doing this thing to me? I need a burger right away!

You feel that it is one treat for the day, and it is a highlight. You are hungry, and any food is better than none. You are entirely wrong. First of all, all those chocolate chip cookies and potato chips are not food. They are poison. They don’t make you healthy or more durable, they turn you into something that is the complete opposite. Even when you are starving, it’s better to avoid this junk food. Believe it or not, human beings can live without food for a whole month. You just need to avoid snacks and junk meals.

Terrible Instincts

This is the sixth sense that states: I have had enough of this crap.

Destroy that sixth sense. Replace it with a new thought that says, and you must fight on, keep fighting!

Not Feeling The Motivation

How do you cope with it when you are not feeling motivated? What do you do then? Go anyway, and get the stuff done. When you are going through the motions – everyone and everything goes through the motions.

Now might be the few signals that you need a break, and those signals might be right, but don’t take an off day today. Wait till tomorrow to take the break off. Do not give in to immediate gratification.

Feeling of Regret

The most important thing that you need to know about regret is that it is worthless. It doesn’t benefit you at all. The only thing that you need to learn about grief is that you learned the lesson, and you gained knowledge.

Maintaining Focus

The long-term goal is supposed to be integrated into your mind so that you never forget about it, ever.

Embed the objective in your mind, and burn it right into your soul. You need to keep thinking about it, writing about it and talking about it. Hang your objective on your wall.

However, there is something even more critical. You need to do something that drives you towards your goal that allows you to keep it alive and keeps you motivated.

Do Not Hesitate – It Is A Big Enemy

To win, you need to overcome that big moment of waiting and hesitating. All you need to do is to keep moving and take action. Make sure to get out of bed and eat your breakfast, and start working. This is a winning formula, and you must go forward.

Draw Fire

This might not be a big thing, but we need to draw fire. Bring on the pain to yourself, tell yourself that you can handle it when other people can’t. When bad things happen, there is a good thing that you can rely on.

The Good

How do you deal with failures and other disasters? There is a silver lining, and when dealing with these problems, you must find it.

Take the issue that you are facing and turn it into a good thing. Make sure to move forward, and your right attitude will affect the others as well.

Death

Instead: Laugh and love and embrace all the good memories that we have had with our loved ones. Live in a better way to honor the ones that are dead.

Every Day

Everyday tell yourself: “Today, l am putting pressure on myself, and I am aggressive, and I’m on attack mode. This will not make me stop.”

No More

Do not give in to excuses, and do not tell yourself that you will start tomorrow, or give in to the words, “just this once.”

Stay Motivated

Motivation is not stable. It comes and then disappears. It is not reliable when you count on it to accomplish your objectives. Soon you will fall short of motivation.

Do not rely on motivation, count on discipline.

Me Versus Me In The Mirror

My glory does not show in a crowd. It happens when I wake up in the darkness every morning, in solitude. That is when I try and try, and I work on improving myself all over again. With everything that I have to become the best person that I can be.

You need to become faster and more reliable. Claim a victory that no one can take away from yourself. A small win is earned every single day. Being determined and disciplined is a victory achieved because you did not give up.

Remain As a Vigilant Person

Most of us are not taken down by one big battle. We are defeated at one small surrender. It chips us away from who we should be. It is a slow incremental process, and it chips at your will and your discipline. We sleep at a later time and miss out on a workout etc.

You need to be vigilant and keep on guard all the time. There has to be a line to be kept on some small things, things that seem like they don’t matter, but in fact, they do.

Fear

Do not wait anymore or think anymore.

Do not plan or contemplate; just take action. Become aggressive and take action immediately. What is the first step that you need to take? Take the first step and keep moving.

The Darkness

As long as you go and continuously fight onwards – you win. If you surrender, you are defeated. Quitting is the end of everything.

Overwhelmed

Life can overwhelm us. We need to line up those issues and confront them slowly and fight these problems. Let these challenges raise you and make you a better person.

So in the future, look at these problems and tell them that they make you a better person.

Ignore negativity from negative people

What do you do when a negative person is backstabbing you and bringing you down?

Ignore them and outperform them.

Hold The Line

Defy weakness and rebel against decay. Do not surrender to anything. Ever.

Begin

When the alarm rings, it is time to rise. Despite any fatigue or soreness. Rise from the warmth of the bed and ignore the comfort of the pillow. Fight the temptation of going back to sleep. Wake up and go.

Do it fast, without thinking twice. Never reason with weakness. You cannot, or you lose. You need to take action immediately. Rise and start moving.

Engage

Fighting against fatigue and weakness. Keep telling yourself that you will not give in, and you will continue fighting.

Laughter Is The Winner

Despite suffering and challenges, laugh at them all the time.

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Part 2: Going After Actions And Stress

Stress: Good stress and bad stress

So you need to be careful not to overstress the body and the mind. But, you need a bit of stress to keep moving and improving.

When do we need the stress?

The biggest excuse not doing any work out is lack of time. Something always happens. There is a time of the day that no one can steal away from you: Predawn.

Make sure to rise early. It will be hard at first, but soon it becomes routine. After you are used to it, you need to wake up early to make your day a better one. So move towards it.

Psychological Edge

Many psychological benefits come from training early in the morning. One is the subjective winning over the devil. Knowing that you work harder compared to your peers gives you an advantage. It gives you the confidence in knowing that you can beat them in a fight.

Another benefit is waking up early and exercising as it takes discipline to do both.

Before you go to sleep, plan out your workout what you are going to do the next morning. Make sure that you prepare your workout outfit, so you don’t have to figure out what you need to do when you wake up. Write down a few things that you need to accomplish for the next day.

Set the alarm clock at 4.30 am and fall asleep right away.

When the alarm goes off – wake up. Put on your battle outfit and brush your teeth and start to workout. Exercise hard, shower, and get dressed. Prepare for work and finish your to-do list for the day.

It is time for breakfast, and you will consume healthy food.

When you are already on the path, you want to stay on the road. Discipline will produce more control, and more will power.

Sleep

All humans need rest. Failing to get proper sleep has terrible side effects. How much sleep is considered enough? Everyone needs different levels of sleep.

For me, the condition that I am facing is the cleaner the food I eat, the faster I will fall asleep, and I do not require long hours of sleep.

Remember: never choose to sleep in. Don’t let yourself be overridden by temptation. Do not give in to warm blankets and plush. Make sure that you can wake up immediately and get right into the game.

Make sure to wake up early. Since sleep is a top priority to becoming healthy, how do we get adequate sleep and wake up at pre-dawn? The answer is easy, go to sleep at 10 pm and wake up at 5 am. This gives you an excellent seven-hour rest.

People always ask me how to wake up early. I tell them to wake up the minute the alarm clock starts to go off.

Make sure to get up and keep going. The best thing to do is going to sleep early, and it is harder than waking up. Discipline is essential.

Going To Sleep

It can be difficult for some people to sleep early compared to waking up. It is hard.

So if you need some steps to aid you, here’s a short list:

1. Feel fatigued.

2. Turn off the PC. Turn off the smartphone and do not watch any other Youtube video.

3. Read more.

4. More importantly, sleeping early means waking up early. It might not help you this very night, but the next night it will.

5. Make sure to repeat every single day.

Eventually, you will be exhausted at 10 pm and fall asleep immediately.

People ask me if I wake up early during the weekends. My answer is YES for many reasons. The weekend is the two days that I can get up soon and take full advantage of it.

Another reason to wake up early during weekends is to keep the sleep pattern in the right manner. Therefore, try not to break the cycle. Make sure to wake up immediately every day.

You can take a short nap during the day so that you feel refreshed.

Power Naps

During these breaks, I will lie on the floor and put my alarm for six to eight minutes and take a power nap. It is an excellent technique for recharging yourself. If I am exhausted, I will fall asleep fast, and the alarm will go off, and I will wake up and feel fully charged.

Make sure to sleep for only 8 minutes and not 2 hours. If you sleep for 2 hours at noon, you will have problems falling asleep at night, and have trouble waking up the next morning.

The Workouts

Let me say something. The most important thing is to do SOMETHING. Anything at all.

Make progress. Push yourself. Be consistent. Add consistency by going to the gym. If you feel tired or drained out, don’t give up. Go and workout and stretch your body.

Make sure to do some easy body exercises, but make sure to maintain your daily routine.

A lot of people take a day off, and soon the day turns to a few days off. After that, they have gone seven days without exercising. Therefore, stay on track and maintain discipline.

Martial Arts

Everyone should get some form of training in martial arts, like how everyone should eat properly.

There are three categories of martial arts.

One is grappling, the other two is striking, and the third practicing with weapons.

Grappling is using leverage to control your enemy.

Striking means using punching or other body parts to hit your enemy. Martial arts with weapons means using different types of weapons to knock down the opponent.

The most critical self-defense is the human mind. By being smart and aware, you can avoid situations that will lead you to danger.

The first self-defense that you should try and learn is Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The best self-defense that you can get away with is running away. If a mob is attacking you, the best thing is to run away and avoid conflict.

If you cannot learn Jitsu from, then learn judo to replace it. Train hard and start training, and do not think of other things.

Balance

We need to make our way to balance our bodies and mind. Eat fewer carbs to balance yourself properly.

Fuel

When we eat rice, the carbs are turned into sugar in our belly. So we need to eat the diet of the caveman. We should eat foods like beef, fish, veggies, and have some milk. We should not eat rice or potatoes.

Make sure to hold the line and stay on track of what you are supposed to eat.

There are times in life where we need to travel and work where you cannot eat what you want to eat. Going to a business meeting does not give you a caveman food menu. The solution to this is not to eat anything then. Just fast, it’s good for you.

Fasting

Fasting is good for your body. When you fast and not eat, you gain several benefits.

When fasting, you create willpower. Fast for 24 hours regularly. Sometimes I do a 72 hours fasting period once every three months as well.

I drink water, tea, and chew on some seeds and nuts to get by.

Repair and Maintenance: Prevent Injury and Recover From Injury

Stretching

Stretching is a great way to become fit physically. It improves your movement, and you can recover well and prevent any injury from happening. Moreover, you should stretch out during warming up and working out so that you can fully move about during an exercise workout. This also needs consistency, so make sure that you maintain discipline.

Dealing With Hurt and Illness

Do What You Can

If you hurt your leg, exercise the top part of the body. Workout the other leg, and focus on different parts of the body until your hurt leg gets better.

Keep moving on and don’t stop.

Author Biography

Willink was in the Navy for two decades and became a commander in the Task army.

After he retired, he founded a company called Echelon Front and wrote his bestseller book, Extreme Ownership, as well as Jocko Willink was born into a military family. He spent most of his adult life rising through the military ranks. He managed to take part in a particular operation military unit during wartime in Iraq.