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I've radically decreased the amount of self-improvement people I read or listen to, and this was good. Not because the people I used to read/listen/watch are wrong - simply because their advice is no longer applicable to my situation (but it once was). 1/10
However, two that stayed with me are @jockowillink and @naval. Recently, a friend of mine said that these two are polar opposites and that he doesn't think Jocko's philosophy is healthy. 2/10
He thought that it was unhealthy, with too much focus on just pushing through, and believed that Naval had the right idea - if you make your work an extension of yourself, you don't NEED to force yourself to do anything - everything just flows naturally. 3/10
I think he's wrong, not in his interpretation of Naval's Taoism (I agree with that), but in the idea that these two are incompatible. I think the two philosophies focus on two entirely different things and very rarely, if ever, get in conflict. 4/10
Naval, in essence, says that over the span of your career, you should focus on your unique set of strengths and preferences, and teaches a specific way of thinking about luck and wealth. If you're not "feeling it", maybe you shouldn't be doing it. 5/10
Jocko, on the other hand, talks about how you execute and how you change. Say that you've decided that you want a new habit, usually physical fitness. There are deep-seated pathways in your brain that will oppose this new discomfort. 6/10
Jocko teaches a mindset of embracing the pain as the essential part of overcoming certain inner weaknesses. He doesn't say that you should stick with things that you're "not feeling", he just says that you should give them an hones shot before you discard them. 7/10
There are certain things you stop doing and then feel bad about, so you start again, and quit again, and feel bad, on and on, into a vicious cycle.
Commit to either sticking with it or discarding it, and don't sap your willpower by constantly switching. 8/10
Commit to either sticking with it or discarding it, and don't sap your willpower by constantly switching. 8/10
In that sense, Jocko's idea of "going through the motions" is very valuable, even for flowy, Taoism-inclined people - it's a simple algorithm to cement a change you want to see. 9/10
And if, after an honest shot, you still think it's not for you, and you're really not feeling it, reassess and decide if that's something you want to do at all. Naval answers the "what", Jockos answers the "how". 10/10
