Transcript
A (0:00)
This is the Jocko Underground podcast number 198, sitting here with Echo Charles. We have got some questions from you troopers out there in the field and we're going to provide some guidance, provide some answers possibly, and at a minimum, provide some courses of action that you can follow to get on the right path. That's what we're doing. Let's get into it.
B (0:19)
All right, first question. I was supposed to be more than I am. I'm 27 now. At 17, I tested high, was good at science and writing. The people believed in me. I even recognized the significance of AI early, but failed to act on it. Even then I felt time was running out. Ten years later, I feel stuck. I've worked jobs that build care, that built character construction and long term grunt role at psych hospital, at a high at a psych hospital. But I still live with my parents, paycheck to paycheck. I help care for them, which I value. But I struggle with depression, distraction, obsession and media addiction. I have a plan. Mma, gym, cutting media, building businesses, reading. But I've always had a plan. After a decade of failed follow through, I've stopped believing in myself. I've collected unused habit trackers, abandoned routines and gear for pursuits that never stuck. I want to say I'll execute despite the lateness and doubt, but another voice says, I've been saying that for years since I'll say it one more time or still I'll say it one more time. What's wrong with my thinking though?
A (1:34)
Okay, so you're in a rough spot that probably a lot of people have been in and there's a little bit of event horizon. You know what that is?
B (1:47)
Yes, I do.
A (1:48)
An event horizon is, it's an, it's a, it's a point or a line on a black hole where once you go past that line, you never get out. So at a certain point in life, I hate to say this, at a certain point in life, you go over the event horizon and you're just, that's what's, that's what's happening. You're going to go down that black hole. I'm going to say that at 27 years old, you're not even close to the event horizon. So we got that going for us. Now my assessment in this situation is it kind of sounds like you are lying to yourself in what could be a couple of different ways that you're lying to yourself. The first way of lying to yourself is that you say you want to do all these things, but you really Don't. It's kind of a lie. You actually are satisfied with the long term grunt roll at the psych hospital. You make enough money to get by, and that's kind of okay. And you don't really have any responsibility because you still live at home. So you don't really have any. I mean, you're not going to be homeless because you live at home. Whatever money you make, you can kind of just put towards whatever you want. And this is where you are, and this is where you're going to be. And you're. You're. The truth is you're okay with that. The truth is you're okay with that. And it's a lie to say you're lying to yourself when you say, you know, I'm supposed to be more than I am, right? Does that make sense? I know it's a little hard to follow what I'm saying, but so far, so good. Yeah, I'm supposed to be more than this. But really, you're actually pretty happy with what you, you know, with what you got. Like, you're. You, you have some test at school and you're, you're not ready for it, and you roll in there and you get an 82. And some girl, the smart girl in the class, like, oh, how'd you do on the test? You're like, oh, I got an 82. I wish I would have. I. I could have done better. I wish I would have done better. I can do better. But in reality, in your heart, in your soul, you're like, man, I'm glad I got an 82. So you're kind of. This could be the lie that you're telling yourself. Kind of like you would tell that girl, like, I could have done better. You know, I should have done better. When re like, your heart, you're like, man, I'm so thankful I got it at 82. So that could be you. That could be the lie you're telling you. And here's. Here's what. There's a little bit of evidence to that, right? Here's the evidence. The evidence is when you really want to do something, you do it when you really want to do something. When it's. When it's. When it's just boiling up inside of you. Then you wait, you can't. Never mind. Like, oh, I gotta get up in the morning. You can't sleep in the morning because you got stuff to do. So that's a little evidence that that could be the truth. Now. That could be the lie that you're saying, right? The other, another lie that you could be telling yourself is all these things that you're quote unquote dealing with, right? The distraction, the obsession, the media, media addiction. Let's, let's think about that. We're not gonna do what we want to do with our one shot at life because I want, I'm gonna spend four hours a day on, on the gram. That, that's what we're saying. That's a level of addiction, right? I, I'm going to throw away my dreams because I want to look at a screen obsession. Obsessed with what? Distraction? Distracted by what? Depression. Depressed about what? Your 27 year old healthy male human that lives in America. I'm assuming he lives in America, which means you can, which means you can do anything. And, and it's like an excuse. This is a weird, a weird concept. But the excuse is I fail to follow through. You see what I'm saying? Isn't it weird to say my excuse is I fail to follow through. My excuse is. Ah. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, jocko. How's that new workout program going? You know, it was going good, but I always abandoned my routines. That's like. Isn't it weird to take something that you control and use it as an excuse?