John Gretton “Jocko” Willink is an American retired naval officer who served in the Navy SEALs. He is also a podcaster and author. Profoundly inspirational Jocko Willink quotes will get you through anything when the going gets tough and help you succeed in every aspect of life.
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Famous Jocko Willink Quotes
It’s a lose lose situation to get in a confrontation on the street. If you can break contact and get away, break contact and get away. That’s what you should learn self defense for. Jocko Willink
Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it. Start doing it. Jocko Willink
Instead of letting the situation dictate our decisions, we must dictate the situation. Jocko Willink
Use the stress to make you a better you. Jocko Willink
In war you are forced to see humanity at its absolute worst. Jocko Willink
If you get out there and do your best, you will either win, or you will learn. Jocko Willink
The more you practice, the better you get, the more freedom you have to create. Jocko Willink
Instead of letting the situation dictate our decisions, we must dictate the situation. Jocko Willink
If you get your ego in your way, you will only look to other people and circumstances to blame. Jocko Willink
Weakness is strong. I must be stronger. Jocko Willink
Departments and groups within the team must break down silos, depend on each other and understand who depends on them. Jocko Willink
The people who are successful decide they are going to be successful. They make that choice. And they make other choices. They decide to study hard. They decide to work hard. They decide to be the first person to get to work and the last to go home. They decide they are going to take on the hard jobs. Take on the challenges. They decide they are going to lead when no one else will. Jocko Willink
There was only one person to blame for the confusion, only one person to blame for the wounded men, and only one person to blame for the dead Iraqi soldier. And I knew exactly who that person was. Jocko Willink
Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. Jocko Willink
Stop checking social media and stop watching one more Youtube video. Jocko Willink
When you’re too embarrassed to ask for help, that’s a little knock at your door saying, you’re insecure. Jocko Willink
All animals, including humans, need to see the connection between action and consequence in order to learn or react appropriately. Jocko Willink
Get up and go. Take the risk, take the gamble, take the first step. Take action. And don’t let another day slip by. Jocko Willink
A leader must be humble but not passive; quiet but not silent. Jocko Willink
You already know what the right thing to do is. You just gotta do it. Jocko Willink
A leader must care about the troops, but at the same time the leader must complete the mission, and in doing so there will be risk and sometimes unavoidable consequences to the troops. Jocko Willink
Hesitation is the enemy. It allows the moment to pass, the opportunity to be lost, the enemy to get the upper hand. Jocko Willink
War teaches you about honor, brotherhood, and humility, and leadership. Jocko Willink
Ego clouds and disrupts everything. Jocko Willink
The goal of all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job. This means leaders must be heavily engaged in training and mentoring their junior leaders to prepare them to step up and assume greater responsibilities. Jocko Willink
Extreme Ownership is a mindset, an attitude. Jocko Willink
To implement real change, to drive people to accomplish something truly complex or difficult or dangerous you can’t make people do these things. You have to lead them. Jocko Willink
When personal agendas become more important than the team and the overarching mission’s success, performance suffers and failure ensues. Jocko Willink
A good leader has nothing to prove, but everything to prove. Jocko Willink
Fear is normal. Every person feels fear at some point. Step aggressively towards your fear that is the step into bravery. Jocko Willink
Leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory. Jocko Willink
Get out there and live and strive to be better, because the life you got it is a gift, so live it! Jocko Willink
The leader must pull the different elements within the team together to support one another, with all focused exclusively on how to best accomplish the mission. Jocko Willink
A good leader, a guy that’s tactically sound, a guy that makes good decisions, and guy that’s good under pressure, a guy that doesn’t ever give up on trying to accomplish the mission, those are the things that make a good seal. Jocko Willink
A leader must be calm, but not robotic. They must be confident, but never cocky. A leader must be brave, but not foolhardy. They must have a competitive spirit, but be a gracious loser. Jocko Willink
I know that somewhere out there, another man is also preparing. That man is the enemy. Jocko Willink
Leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities, between one extreme and another. Jocko Willink
If you can say the word good, guess what? It means you’re still alive, it means you’re still breathing, and if you’re still breathing, well then hell, you still got some fight left in you. So get up, dust off, reload, recalibrate, reengage, and go out on the attack. Jocko Willink
A leader must be attentive to details but not obsessed by them. Jocko Willink
There is no growth in the comfort zone. Jocko Willink
When things are going bad there’s going to be some good that comes from it. Jocko Willink
While you continually focus on what everyone else is doing I’ll focus on what I can do right. Jocko Willink
Prioritize your problems and take care of them one at a time, the highest priority first. Don’t try to do everything at once or you won’t be successful. Jocko Willink
Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective. Jocko Willink
Who wants to leave the door open to being dominated physically by another human being? Jiu Jitsu gives you the ability to not be dominated by that person, and to me, that’s real peace of mind. Jocko Willink
Even if you can’t perform at a high level, showing up and doing something is still a thousand times better than not showing up at all. Jocko Willink
War teaches you it teaches you about the preciousness and fragility of human life. Jocko Willink
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. Jocko Willink
The fog of war rolled in with its confusion, and chaos and mayhem. Jocko Willink
All animals, including humans, need to see the connection between action and consequence in order to learn or react appropriately. Jocko Willink
Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team. Jocko Willink
Stop checking social media and stop watching one more Youtube video. Jocko Willink
Step aggressively towards your fear that is the step into bravery. Jocko Willink
Is this what I want to be? This? Is this all I’ve got is this everything I can give? Is this going to be my life? Do I accept that? Jocko Willink
Staying ahead of the curve prevents a leader from being overwhelmed when pressure is applied and enables greater decisiveness. Jocko Willink
No more. No more excuses. No more I’ll start tomorrow. No more Just this once. No more accepting the shortfalls of my own will. No more taking the easy road. No more bowing down to whatever unhealthy or unproductive thoughts float through my mind. Jocko Willink
There was three things that I felt let me transition from being you know mentally insecure about who I was as a person to being okay I’m actually good with who I am. Jocko Willink
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. Jocko Willink
To this day as I can look around and actually overlay the understanding on the way I’ve carried out my life is very helpful to me. Jocko Willink
Another mission. Another task. Another goal. And the enemy is always watching. Waiting. Looking for that moment of weakness. Looking for you to exhale, set your weapon down, and close your eyes, even just for a moment. And that’s when they attack. So don’t be finished. Jocko Willink
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. Jocko Willink
Don’t let your mind control you. Control your mind. Jocko Willink
Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it Start doing it. Jocko Willink
Go out in a blaze of Glory, fighting with everything you’ve got, every ounce of energy, every bead of sweat, every drop of blood until your last breath. And then and only then can you stand down, put down your sword and your shield, and rest in peace. Jocko Willink
Although discipline demands control and asceticism, it actually results in freedom. When you have the discipline to get up early, you are rewarded with more free time. Jocko Willink
There is no shortcut. There is no hack. There’s only one way. So get after it. Jocko Willink
People do not follow robots. Jocko Willink
Keep it simple. Train hard. Train often. Lift heavy. Lift fast. Run hard. Eat steak. Pain is good. Jocko Willink
While you continually focus on what everyone else is doing I’ll focus on what I can do right. Jocko Willink
Go down swinging. And I’ll tell you if you fight with all you have, more often than not, you won’t go down at all. You will win. Jocko Willink
They must believe in the cause for which they are fighting. Jocko Willink
There is no such thing as a weekend. This is an everyday gig Every day is Monday. Jocko Willink
Effective leaders lead successful teams that accomplish their mission and win. Ineffective leaders do not. Jocko Willink
If you allow the status quo to persist, you can’t expect to improve performance, and you can’t expect to win. Jocko Willink
But I learned that good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get it done and win. Jocko Willink
There is no easy way. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline. Jocko Willink
A good leader does not get bogged down in the minutia of a tactical problem at the expense of strategic success. Jocko Willink
What makes you disciplined person is choosing to be disciplined. Jocko Willink
Don’t fight stress. Embrace it. Turn it on itself. Use it to make yourself sharper and more alert. Use it to make you think and learn and get better and smarter and more effective. Jocko Willink
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. Jocko Willink
The most fundamental and important truths at the heart of Extreme Ownership there are no bad teams, only bad leaders. Jocko Willink
The more you practice, the better you get, the more freedom you have to create. Jocko Willink
