John Gretton "Jocko" Willink is an American retired United States Navy SEAL, podcaster, and author. Here are 40 Motivational Jocko Willink Quotes.
Jocko Willink Quotes
1. “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.” – Jocko Willink
2. “A leader must be attentive to details, but not obsessed with them. They must be strong but have endurance. A leader must be humble, but not passive. They must be close to subordinates, but not too close. A leader must exercise ‘extreme ownership’, but employ ‘decentralized command’. They must have nothing to prove, but everything to prove.” – Jocko Willink
3. “There can be no leadership when there is no team.” – Jocko Willink
4. “There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline.” – Jocko Willink
5. “Set your alarm clock and get out of bed when it goes off.” – Jocko Willink
6. “Good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get things done.” – Jocko Willink
7. “How do you become better? There is only one way – The way of discipline.” – Jocko Willink
8. “Discipline Equals Freedom” – Jocko Willink
9. “You have to do the work. You have to hold the line. You have to make it happen.” – Jocko Willink
10. “People who are successful decide they are going to be successful. They make that choice. 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.” – Jocko Willink
Jocko Willink Quotes
11. “A leader must lead, but also be ready to follow. They must be aggressive, but not overbearing. 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
12. “Human beings are generally not capable of managing more than six to ten people, particularly when things go sideways and inevitable contingencies arise.” – Jocko Willink
13. “Don’t just think. Don’t just talk. Don’t just dream. None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that you actually do. So: DO.” – Jocko Willink
14. “Get up. Dust off. Reload. Re-calibrate. Re-engage – And go out on the attack. ” – Jocko Willink
15. ”Most of us aren’t defeated in one decisive battle. We are defeated one tiny, seemingly insignificant surrender at a time that chips away at who we should really be.” – Jocko Willink
16. “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
17. “Get creative. Get aggressive. Get it done. When you are on the road, STAY ON THE PATH.” – Jocko Willink
18. “Fear is normal. Every person feels fear at some point. Step aggressively towards your fear – that is the step into bravery.” – Jocko Willink
19. “Overconfidence was risky in such a hostile environment, a mistake most often made by warriors who had never truly been tested.” – Jocko Willink
20. “When you think you can’t take any more… Guess what? You can – It’s PROVEN by the stories of ORDINARY PEOPLE in war.” – Jocko Willink
Jocko Willink Quotes
21. “Extreme Ownership is a mindset, an attitude.” – Jocko Willink
22. “Everyone wants some magic pill—some life hack—that eliminates the need to do the work. But that does not exist.” – Jocko Willink
23. “It is essential to develop a standardized planning process.” – Jocko Willink
24. “Leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors.” – Jocko Willink
25. “Extreme ownership. Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.” – Jocko Willink
26. “When your feelings are screaming that you have had enough when you think you are going to break emotionally, override that emotion with concrete logic and willpower that says one thing: I don’t stop.” – Jocko Willink
27. “The only person you can control is you. So focus on making yourself who you want to be: Faster. Smarter. Stronger. More humble. Less ego.” – Jocko Willink
28. “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
29. “The Darkness cannot extinguish your light. Your WILL. Your determination. No matter what is happening—no matter how hard the fight is. As long as you keep fighting—you win.” – Jocko Willink
30. “Leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors.” – Jocko Willink
Jocko Willink Quotes
31. “In chaotic, dynamic, and rapidly changing environments, leaders at all levels must be empowered to make decisions. Decentralized Command is a key component to victory.” – Jocko Willink
32. “But my glory, it doesn’t happen in front of a crowd. It doesn’t happen in a stadium or on a stage. There are no medals handed out. It happens in the darkness of the early morning. In solitude. Where I try. And I try. And I try again. With everything I have, to be the best that I can possibly be.” – Jocko Willink
33. “Once the wheels were in motion and the full resources of the team were engaged in that highest priority effort, I could then determine the next priority, focus the team’s efforts there, and then move on to the next priority.” – Jocko Willink
34. “Leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory.” – Jocko Willink
35. “When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable — if there are no consequences — that poor performance becomes the new standard. Therefore, leaders must enforce standards.” – Jocko Willink
36. “When setting expectations, no matter what has been said or written, if substandard performance is accepted and no one is held accountable — if there are no consequences — that poor performance becomes the new standard. Therefore, leaders must enforce standards.” – Jocko Willink
37. “When personal agendas become more important than the team and the overarching mission’s success, performance suffers and failure ensues.” – Jocko Willink
38. “Some of the boldest, most successful plans in history have not come from the senior ranks but from frontline leaders. Senior leaders simply had the courage to accept and run with them.” – Jocko Willink
39. “I had to take complete ownership of what went wrong. That is what a leader does — even if it means getting fired. If anyone was to be blamed and fired for what happened, let it be me.” – Jocko Willink
40. “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” – Jocko Willink