Discipline Equals Freedom
The first time Jocko Willink appeared on my radar was on a Tim Ferriss podcast episode that aired in September of 2015. I was unaware at the time that this episode would dramatically impact my life in ways that remain relevant four years later.
Jocko, who I just recently learned actually has a real first name (John), is a retired and highly decorated Navy SEAL officer who hit the mainstream after his interview with Ferriss. Though at the time he was a legend within the Special Operations community, he was largely unknown to the majority of Americans.
Prior to his interview with Ferriss, Jocko rarely did interviews, he had not yet published any books, and he was certainly not on the social media scene. Fast forward to today and we see all of that flipped 180 degrees. Jocko has since published multiple books (almost all of which I have read), he does a lot more interviews, and has over 80k tweets.
Most notably, he now has his own podcast, creatively titled Jocko Podcast, in which he commonly conducts interviews of his own, often featuring other decorated combat veterans.
By virtue of the fact that I first came across him on a podcast, I heard his voice, his tone and got a sense of his intellectual ability before I ever saw his picture.
I was driving home from an evening hunt when I was listening to the podcast so I did not get a chance to look him up until after I arrived home. I have to admit after listening to him for over an hour and then seeing his picture on Google, I was slightly taken aback. Not that it is any skin off Jocko’s back, but I felt a lot more relieved when the episode began to wind down and he made a joke referring to the exact experience I had in listening to him and then seeing his picture.
Ferriss sparked a humorous exchange by posing a question to Jocko about what most people would be surprised to know about him. To which Jocko prefaced his response with:
“I have a certain look to me… I look like kind of a serial killer combined with some kind of a psychopathic steroid mutant.”
He then concludes:
“I think there’s some kind of surprise when people hear me string a sentence together.”
Contrary to what a faulty first impression may indicate, there is more to Jocko than lifting a heavy bar and leading our nation’s greatest warriors through a war zone — he is quite thoughtful and intelligent.
A Philosophical Framework
As a long time follower of his work — from reading his books and listening to his podcasts to seeing his tweets on a daily basis — I think what most differentiates Jocko from anyone else is his mastery of discipline.
To give one example, he wakes up at 4:30am every single morning and works out, regardless of when he goes to bed. He tweets a new picture of his watch every single morning with a short “inspirational” message for all of his followers, followed by the “aftermath” photo of a sweaty mat.
I have to say, even more intriguing than his personal commitment to discipline is his philosophy surrounding the idea. His mantra, “discipline equals freedom”, is a seeming oxymoron that is packed with meaning below the surface.
In a Forbes article from 2017, when asked about the connection between discipline and freedom, Jocko responds:
“While Discipline and Freedom seem like they sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, they are actually very connected. Freedom is what everyone wants — to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline.”
In my own case, I have woken up between 4:55am and 5:00am for roughly the past eight months and have never been more productive in my life. The first two hours of my day are usually my two most productive.
Further, as Jocko rightly proclaims, it sets the tone for the rest of your day. That is a lot of power that we wield considering it is a decision that is entirely within our control.
To be clear, he is aware that he is not the first person to discover the benefits of being an early riser nor does he claim to be. That is merely the foundational element to Jocko’s way of life that inspires so many every day.
He also acknowledges there are times he would probably be more effective if he slept in another hour or two. As I mentioned previously, he is a master of discipline, even to a fault occasionally.
To diversify the theory, if we want financial freedom, we need to have financial discipline. This relates back to a previous article I wrote about becoming financially independent — nearly impossible to do without discipline.
Getting good grades requires the discipline to study when we do not feel like it. As is the case for learning a new instrument, sport, or foreign language, we must put in the hard work to get to where we want to be.
Discipline is different from motivation because motivation, like feelings, is fickle — it comes and it goes. Discipline is waking up early, studying, practicing, fasting, reading or writing especially when we do not feel like it.
Jocko then puts forward another tenet of his understanding of discipline saying, “You also have to have the discipline to say ‘no’ to things that eat up your time with no payback.” An interesting concept indeed, namely, in saying yes to one thing, we are necessarily saying no to another.
A “yes” to waking up early means sacrificing potential hours of sleep. Saving up money for things we genuinely want means saying “no” to purchases of lesser value to us. As a former collegiate athlete, my “yes” to my teammates, coaches and university was an intrinsic “no” to the standard college experience.
Jocko finally concludes:
“Discipline equals freedom applies to every aspect of life: if you want more freedom, get more discipline.”
One Step Further: A Theological Framework
Discipline
The audience that Jocko reaches is vast and diverse. Perhaps what I admire the most about Jocko is that he inspires so many men and women to be intentional in their lives and take a stand for something, thereby taking an inherent stand against something else.
In the midst of a “meh” culture where so many are floating through life trying not to rock the boat, this is a much needed breath of fresh air.
I do not know if Jocko is a spiritual or religious man, but the essence of his philosophy has been echoed throughout the centuries by some of the most profound philosophers and theologians in the Christian Tradition.
The great Saint Augustine who lived between the third and fourth centuries, has a famous quote of his own:
“Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.”
What is discipline if not the concept of conquering yourself? And is not the idea of the world lying at your feet exactly what we view as freedom?
The following is an example of another great, and admittedly my favorite, Christian theologian, Saint Thomas Aquinas, writing about discipline and freedom in a subtler way.
“The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.”
In other words, human beings are most free when we are in control of our own actions and desires. When we are controlled by our desires, good or bad, we are nothing more than a form of slaves.
By my estimation, Jocko is affirming in today’s day and age the same thing that both Augustine and Aquinas had come to understand in their respective lives and previous centuries — albeit, in a less blatantly theological manner. Discipline, choosing to take control of ourselves, leads to freedom.
What that freedom is and entails we will discuss later, but discipline is the necessary first step — it is also an incredibly difficult one.
Notice the things we have talked about “sacrificing” in the name of discipline are also things that we desire to some degree, for better or worse. Extra sleep, more toys, the ability to go out drinking with friends five nights a week during college, even the option to sit on the couch and do nothing at all.
In all these instances, we are making a conscious decision that what we ultimately desire is more important than these lesser desires along the way, and that we cannot have both. What’s more, we are constantly tempted to stray from our path, the warpath as Jocko often calls it.
Without getting deep into the weeds, that is precisely the spiritual life in a nutshell. Having the discipline to stay on the path is of the utmost importance because almost every decision we make is either bringing us closer to our destination (God), or taking us further away from it (God).
Discipline, choosing one thing at the expense of another, is what keeps us on that upward trajectory. However, in order to have discipline, we have to establish what we are after.
On a lesser scale, we may want to be healthy, save for retirement, or learn a new skill. On the grandest scale, we know we want to pursue God — which does not exclude those lesser goals.
As with most things, we must remember that discipline is a means to an end, not the end itself. Having discipline is hard, oftentimes painful and seemingly unrewarding. Hence nobody, save for those who enjoy creating their own suffering, would willingly choose a life of discipline for its own sake.
The spirit of “discipline equals freedom” is as true in modern society as it has been throughout the ages. In choosing to have discipline, we are developing a framework of clarity in our lives that will serve as our guiding light in our pursuit of freedom — but exactly what type of freedom?
Freedom
“Freedom is what everyone wants — to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline.” What does mean Jocko by freedom, and how do we know?
When we examine the context in which Jocko speaks of freedom, it strikes me as different than what most of us imagine when we hear the word. In fact, it takes me back to a college theology course when we learned about two distinct definitions of freedom.
The first type of freedom, called “freedom of indifference,” is what we Americans tend to romanticize when we hear the word freedom. The freedom to do whatever we please, so long as we are not encroaching on someone else’s freedom in the process.
Most of the time this type of freedom views rules and guidelines as the enemy. We often hear some iteration of the phrase “don’t mess with my freedom” in relation to freedom of indifference.
To give an example, freedom of indifference would be akin to the freedom a person with no musical training would feel while sitting at the piano. They have access to all the same keys as Mozart, as well as the freedom to play any of them however they choose. But how free do they really feel? How good will the sound they produce actually be? You could say they are free to make noise, but I would argue their freedom to play music is limited.
Another example would be a native-English speaker picking up a German dictionary and heading off to Germany for a month. They are free to use any of the words in the dictionary in any combination and manner in which they please. Once more, their freedom is severely limited.
“I am going to do whatever I want because I have the freedom to do so.” That is the overwhelmingly popular American ethos. It is no wonder that freedom of indifference is more prevalent in modern times, even though it is the inferior of the two types.
The second and more fulfilling type of freedom is called “freedom for excellence” and it can be boiled down to the freedom we achieve and feel by doing what is right, what is good.
Going back to our examples above, freedom of excellence is what the trained musician experiences when he or she sits down at the piano. Their ability to read music and recognize the governing rules and principles involved is what finally gives them the freedom to play wonderful music, to play the way a piano ought to be played.
In the case of the person learning German (or any new language), they will only be free to fully express themselves through the language once they understand and abide by the fundamental mechanics and rules of the language. Until then, while they may be free in one sense because they have a dictionary full of words, their freedom is limited because they have no understanding of how those words are to be properly constructed. Essentially, it is a matter of apparent versus true freedom.
“Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules. It is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.” This quote from the late English writer and philosopher, G.K. Chesterton, sums up part of the phenomenon that Jocko is combating.
I cannot speak to whether Jocko is aware of the two types of freedom and their distinctions, but he is clearly advocating for freedom for excellence and it seems to resonate among his followers.
What Do We Make of All This?
Even if Jocko does not identify as being a religious man, which to reiterate I do not know nor am I claiming that he is or is not, he is making sense of and re-popularizing a philosophy that has been championed by some of Christianity’s most influential thinkers.
Taking it a step further, Jocko is inspiring thousands to challenge themselves and take a stand for something. He is leading by example in how we ought to take control of our own lives, instead of letting ourselves become slaves of our own desires.
To close out the previously mentioned Forbes article, Jocko asserts the following:
“And that is the real message: If you want to transform your life in a positive way, that transformation will not happen by itself. You need to make it happen. You need to do the work. You need to put in the hours, the days, the weeks, the months, and the years. You need to get on the path and stay on the path — the path that leads to the positive transformations, the path that leads to a better you, the path that leads to freedom.”
If Jocko is inspiring thousands of people to learn how to control what they can control in their lives, that is certainly a step in the right direction as far as I am concerned.
I do believe, however, that discipline leads to freedom nowhere more fruitfully than in the pursuit of Christ.
Jocko is teaching many how to live out what it is they believe in. It is then up to the Christian to show them that their discipline is best served in attempting to attain the freedom that God desires for us in Christianity.
Jocko may or may not be an outspoken Christian disciple, but he is orienting people in the right direction and that is just one more way in which we see God made manifest in the world.
Sometimes the best way to evangelize is more subtly, in an undercover manner — especially when so many people are resistant to the message.
I always chuckle when actual or seemingly nonreligious people turn out to be some of the most effective Christian evangelists. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?
