DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM: FIELD MANUAL by Jocko Willink

• The shortcut is a lie. The hack doesn’t get you there.
• THERE IS NO EASY WAY.
• Where does discipline come from? This is a simple answer. Discipline comes from within. Discipline is an internal force.
• What you are looking for, what you need, is SELF-DISCIPLINE. Self-discipline, as the very term implies, comes from the SELF. YOU. It comes when you make a decision to be disciplined.
• Were do you start? You start right HERE. When do you start? You start right NOW. You initiate action. You GO.
• YOU HAVE TO DO IT. And you have to do it now. So stop thinking about it. Stop dreaming about it. Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it … Start doing it. Take that first step and Make It Happen. GET AFTER IT. HERE and NOW.
• People, even those people you have put up on a pedestal, are going to be faulted, weak, egomaniacal, condescending.
• People ask me, “How do I get tougher?” BE TOUGHER.
• You have control over your mind. You just have to assert it.
• Whatever problems or stress you are experiencing, detach from them. Stress is generally caused by what you can’t control.
• It is never finished. You always have more to do.
• Discipline starts with waking up early. It really does.
• Thought is what wins—the MIND is what wins—knowledge is what wins. And you gain knowledge by asking questions.
• Which questions should you ask? Simple: Question everything. Don’t accept anything as truth. QUESTION IT ALL.
• When working with other people and dynamic situations and relationships and deals, a person, especially a leader, must compromise.
• The people who are successful decide they are going to be successful. They make that choice.
• You are never too old to decide where you are going to focus your efforts and push to make the most out of every situation.
• Take the risk, take the gamble, take the first step. Take action. And don’t let another day slip by.
• Those donuts aren’t food. THEY ARE POISON.
• Unless you have gone an extended period of time without food, you don’t need to eat. And you definitely don’t need to eat that poison. YOU DON’T NEED TO EAT. You don’t even know what hungry is. Humans can go thirty days without food. You can make it.
• We are the product of our mistakes.
• The most important thing to learn is that we have so much to learn.
• The only thing valuable in regret is the lesson you learned. The knowledge you gained.
• HESITATION IS THE ENEMY.
• Do not hesitate. Do not wait. Go forward: And win.
• Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. I don’t know why. Life is not fair. That is the reality.
• Lead. Step up. Be the one who people look to. Absorb the impact—and the negativity. Draw fire—yes: Draw fire.
• When things are going bad: Don’t get all bummed out, don’t get startled, don’t get frustrated. No. Just look at the issue and say: “Good.”
• Accept reality, but focus on the solution. Take that issue, take that setback, take that problem, and turn it into something good. Go forward.
• Death is part of life, like the contrast between the darkness and the light. Without death, there is no life.
• Don’t worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished—you will likely fall short.
• Don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.
• You know what you have to do. So: MAKE YOURSELF DO IT.
• These notions that you can “be whatever you want to be as long as you want it bad enough” are not true. They are fairy tales. We all have limitations.
• We are defeated one tiny, seemingly insignificant surrender at a time that chips away at who we should really be.
• You have to BE VIGILANT. You have to be ON GUARD. You have to HOLD THE LINE on the seemingly insignificant little things— things that shouldn’t matter—but that do.
• Step aggressively toward your fear—that is the step into bravery.
• We are scared of what we don’t know, and there is but one way to confront that fear: Step. GO. And that simple action, this simple attitude answers so many questions.
• No matter what is happening—no matter how hard the fight is. As long as you keep fighting—you win. Only surrender is defeat.
• Ignore and outperform.
• Do not surrender any ground. EVER.
• Get up and go. Do it quickly, without thought. Do not reason with weakness. You cannot. You must only take action. Get up and GO.
• In order to improve, we need stress. We need to push the body and the mind in order to get better.
• This will be hard at first, but it will become normal. And once you are accustomed to it, early rising is guaranteed to make your day better.  So GET AFTER IT.
• When you are on the path you want to stay on the path. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Once you step off the path, you tend to stray far.
• Discipline begets discipline. Will propagates MORE WILL.
• Sleep is a necessity. Humans need sleep. Failure to get enough sleep has serious side effects.
• Go to bed earlier.
• Going to bed at 10 p.m. and waking up at 5 a.m. gets you a solid seven hours.
• The world is yours when you are up before the enemy.
• People constantly ask me for the secret of getting up early. I tell them it is simple: SET YOUR ALARM CLOCK AND GET OUT OF BED WHEN IT GOES OFF. That’s it. Is it easy? No.
• The key to getting to sleep early is GETTING UP EARLY.
• Get up early every day. If you need extra sleep, take a power nap.
• Power naps. They are real. If you are feeling tired they can be a lifesaver. And if you are feeling tired due to lack of sleep, they can be very powerful.
• Warning: Be careful about letting your six- to eight-minute nap turn into a two-hour slumber. If you do this, you will have trouble falling asleep at night, which leads to trouble waking up in the morning. That means there is a higher chance you will fall off the early morning schedule.
• Exercise doesn’t need to be some complex, multi-level, multi-dimensional, scientifically proven methodology. But it does need to be SOMETHING.
• Maintain the routine. Maintain the discipline.
• Having a gym in your home eliminates all kinds of excuses. There is nothing more convenient than having your gym collocated with your domicile.
• Everyone should train in martial arts, just as everyone should eat.
• There are three broad forms of martial arts: grappling, striking, and weapons.
• Grappling uses leverage and holds to control or submit your opponent. Striking uses punches, kicks, knees, elbows, headbutts, and any other body parts to hit the opponent. Martial arts with weapons obviously utilize a variety of weapons, including sticks, knives, and, in the modern world, firearms.
• Perhaps the most critical form of self-defense is the mind. By being smart and aware, you can avoid situations that are likely to expose you to danger.
• If a person truly needs self-protection in a high-threat area, there is no substitute for the firearm.
• There is no choice but to be prepared.
• Most important, without proper training, possessing a firearm is useless, or even more dangerous to its owner than not having one.
• Learning how to shoot quickly and accurately while under stress is absolutely mandatory if one is going to own a firearm.
• Martial arts are not static. They evolve all the time. If you do not evolve with them, you will be left behind.
• If you are confronted by another person or a group of people, the best thing you can do is run away: avoid the conflict.
• The first goal of a beginner in jiu-jitsu is not to get the fight to the ground, but to get up off the ground and get away.
• Although there is a finite number of basic moves and positions, there is an infinite number of moves beyond the basics, and more are developed every day in this constantly evolving art. Due to this unending depth in jiu-jitsu, it is also the most cerebral of the martial arts.
• Muay Thai is also about pain and the ability to withstand pain.
• The physical grind of wrestling hardens the body and mind without mercy.
• In areas where there might not be any Brazilian jiu-jitsu schools, judo is the next best replacement.
• There is no reason to ever stop training and learning martial arts.
• If the martial art you are training in is easy, it isn’t likely doing you much good.
• Martial arts will make you better.
• Proximity is important. The more convenient it is to get to training, the more often you will be able train.
• Pay attention to your surroundings.
• If you are maintaining situational awareness, you should be very hard to surprise. If you sense something is going wrong or you sense a threat, proactively move away from it.
• If you do get surprised and you are caught in a bad situation: ACT.
• If you can run away from an assailant, do it. If you can’t run because they have a hold on you, attack them. Put all your training to use as quickly and as violently as possible. As soon as you can break free, do it and run.
• If shooting starts, get down.
• If you are carrying a firearm, use it to eliminate any immediate threat to your life or the life of someone else.
• Homeostasis is the tendency to move toward a state of balance.
• In order to use the fat in your body for energy, the body must have gone through its most readily available source of energy: glucose or sugar in the blood. Once that is depleted, the body begins to utilize fat for energy. You can deplete that sugar in the blood by exercising until it is gone, fasting until it is gone, or adjusting your carbohydrate intake.
• Sugar truly is addictive. It stimulates the same parts of the brain as heroin and cocaine. When you have it you want more of it. And you know this to be true.
• Stop eating sugar.
• When we eat grains, they are turned to sugar in our stomachs.
• Do not eat these:
• Grains
• Potatoes
• Refined salt
• Refined sugar
• Processed oils (margarine)
• Legumes
• Eating a paleo or caveman diet flips the Standard American Diet on its head from a macronutrient perspective. Instead of eating mostly carbohydrates with minimum fat, this diet consists of mostly fat, then protein, and finally minimal carbohydrates.
• Now, there are times during travel and work and life when the right foods simply are not available. In an airport or an office party or a restaurant where you are having a business meeting. My solution to that is very simple: Don’t eat. It’s called a fast, and it is actually very good for you.
• Newsflash: YOU DON’T HAVE TO EAT.
• In this age, much of the food around is actually trying to kill you. It is poison.
• YOU ARE NOT STARVING. Humans can survive thirty days without food. You can make it a few extra hours. You can actually make it a few days without any issue.
• fasting isn’t that hard and you will feel better at the end of it. Fasting will recalibrate what hunger is to you. You will realize that you aren’t actually hungry most of the time. You are just bored.
• Stretching is an important part of being physically fit. It improves range of motion, helps in recovery, and also prevents injuries.
• When warming up, go slow and go through the entire range of motion, even pushing a little bit past normal at the top and bottom of the exercise.
• Like anything else in health and fitness, stretching requires consistency, so figure out what movements are most beneficial for you.
• Injuries and illness will occur.
• My theory for overcoming injuries and illnesses is simple: DO WHAT YOU CAN.
• Take advantage of physical injuries and sickness by doing something you don’t normally have time for. In other words: GET AFTER IT.
• Before you start your workout, you need to get warm.
• Many jobs require travel. Travel can make working out difficult. BUT IT DOESN’T MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE.
• So. When you are on the road. Don’t get lazy. Don’t get complacent. Don’t use the road as an excuse. Get creative. Get aggressive. Get it done. When you are on the road, STAY ON THE PATH.
• The muscle-up is a staple of my workouts, and it is a basic movement in gymnastics.
• The only thing that matters is that you actually do. SO: DO.