Jocko Motivation: Good

My brother-in-law shared this Jocko motivation video with me the other day. Warning: be careful listening to it, it’ll get you all jacked up. Transcription below.

One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys who work for me. He would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on. And he would say, “Boss we got this and that and other thing”. I would look at him and say, “Good”.

Finally, one day he was telling me about some issue he was having, some problem, and he said, “I already know what you’re gonna say”. I said, “Well, what am I gonna say?”. He said, “You’re gonna say Good”.

He said, “That’s what you always say when something is wrong or going bad, you always just look at me and say Good”. And I said, “Well, yeah”.

When things are going bad, there is gonna be some good that comes from it.

Didn’t get the new high-speed gear we wanted? Good.

Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better.

Oh, mission got cancelled? Good. We can focus on our other one.

Didn’t get funded? Didn’t get the job you wanted? Got injured? Sprained your ankle? Got tapped out? Good.

Got beat? Good. You learned.

Unexpected problems? Good. We have the opportunity to figure out a solution.

That’s it. When things are going bad. don’t get all bummed out, don’t get startled, don’t get frustrated.

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.