Discipline Equals Freedom

We all want freedom right? We want to be free when it comes to our finances, we’d like to have more free time, we basically want freedom in all the various aspects of our lives. 

How are we going to get there? We get there through discipline. If you want to have financial freedom, you have to have financial discipline. If you want more free time, you have to be disciplined with how you manage your time, your sleep etc. That’s basically what discipline equals freedom means. 

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and it belongs to none other than Jocko Willink, retired Navy Seal, Lieutenant Commander, podcaster, jiu-jitsu black belt and author of 9 books, including Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual. 

One of the main ideas of the book is to rely on discipline instead of motivation to get stuff done and to be free. In his book, Jocko says, “Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on Discipline.” He also states, “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.” 

I’ve been following Jocko Willink for a couple of years and I respect the hell out of him. He values freedom so much, he talks and writes about it all the time but he also practices what he preaches every single day. As an example, this guy wakes up at 4:30 AM every morning, so that he can workout and get stuff done prior to the workday, before everyone else wakes up. He is up working before the enemy as he states. Not everyone has to wake up at 4:30 AM though. We all have different schedules. The important thing is staying disciplined when it comes to our time and sleep. 

Let’s end this with another quote from Discipline Equals Freedom. “The shortcut is a lie. The hack doesn’t get you there. And if you want to take the easy road, it won’t take you to where you want to be: Stronger. Smarter. Faster. Healthier. Better. FREE.”