Jocko Underground: The Cure to Being Overwhelmed, Inadequate, and Afraid.

Summary

Jocko Podcast Underground 186 Summary

Episode Title: The Cure to Being Overwhelmed, Inadequate, and Afraid
Release Date: October 20, 2025
Hosts: Jocko Willink, Echo Charles

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jocko Willink and Echo Charles tackle listener-submitted questions centered on overcoming negative self-talk, discipline, and personal growth. The main theme is about shifting your mindset to avoid self-defeating thoughts and instead focus on your actions and progress. The discussion uses real-life anecdotes to highlight the pitfalls of dwelling on perceived inadequacies versus celebrating actual steps forward.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dealing with Negative Self-Talk and Measuring Progress

(00:20 - 01:15)

• A listener describes increasing their plank time by 10 seconds but finds themselves mentally minimizing their progress with sarcastic, self-deprecating thoughts.
• They ask why it’s so difficult to be satisfied with growth and disciplined actions.

Jocko’s Response:

• Jocko points out the mindset trap: focusing on what you haven’t done or could have done better, instead of acknowledging current progress.
• Using self-deprecating language (“less pathetic”) undermines self-appreciation.

Quote:

"If you're constantly looking at all the mistakes that you've made and all the times you lack discipline... that's not helpful. That's not helpful for anyone."
— Jocko Willink (01:28)

2. Focusing on Action Over Regret

(01:30 - 04:55)

• Jocko shares personal stories about missed opportunities (not buying real estate in 1994, missing out on investing early in Microsoft) to illustrate how it’s easy—but unproductive—to dwell on the past.
• He emphasizes learning from the past, but not becoming fixated on it.
• The important thing is what you’re doing now; actions, not past regrets, create change.

Quote:

"The actions that you're doing right now, those are real. That's what's real. And when you're doing the thing that you're supposed to be doing right now, that's real."
— Jocko Willink (04:57)

3. Redefining Self-Perception During Discipline

(04:57 - 06:13)

• Jocko reinforces that being engaged in disciplined, positive action contradicts any label of being “pathetic.”
• Encourages taking ownership of your progress and focusing on controllable actions.
• Suggests that the voice inside your head is under your control. Reframe self-talk to reflect your committed actions.

Quote:

"You cannot simultaneously be pathetic and working out at the same time. You can't do it. You can't do it. It's impossible."
— Jocko Willink (06:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On learning from the past without fixation:

  "Did I learn from that? Sure. Learn from that... But we don't want to focus on the things that we've done in the past, focus on where we were, focus on what we could have been like. None of those things help you. They're freaking waste."
  — Jocko Willink (04:55)

• On self-talk and control:

  "You control the voice that's in your head. You get to tell it what to say. You dictate the situation. You dictate the words you want to hear. And that's where you got to be at."
  — Jocko Willink (06:09)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:20 – Listener Question on Negative Self-Talk
• 01:15 – Jocko’s Initial Reaction
• 01:28 – Shifting Perspective: Focus on Progress
• 03:23 – Jocko’s Personal Stories: Missed Opportunities
• 04:57 – Taking Action: What Matters Now
• 06:08 – Self-Perception and Discipline

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Summary Takeaways

• Progress, no matter how small, is valuable and deserving of recognition.
• Negative self-talk is often a habit of focusing on the wrong things; shift your mindset to the positive, actionable aspects.
• Accepting and acting in the present is more important than regretting the past.
• The way you talk to yourself frames your reality; you have the power to make this positive and supportive.
• You cannot be “pathetic” while actively working to improve—action negates inaction’s labels.

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Tone:
Assertive, practical, empathetic, and encouraging – direct advice flavored with Jocko’s characteristic blend of discipline and support.

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This episode is a must-listen for anyone struggling to acknowledge their own improvements and seeking strategies to push back against internal negativity with discipline and action.

Transcript

[A]

This is the Jocko Underground podcast number 186, sitting here with Echo Charles. We've got a bunch of very interesting questions from you all, and we will provide answers in some cases, recommended courses of action in other cases, and maybe just overall guidance. Yeah, that's where we're at.

[B]

Helpful guidance.

[A]

Yes, indeed.

[B]

All right, first question. Good evening. I listen to your podcast a lot, and it helps me stay disciplined in many areas of my life. In my. In my mid-20s and after starting to work out consistently for the first time in seven years, I decided. Decided to increase the plank time I was doing by 10 seconds after about a week and a half. So, plank is, you know, when you go on your elbows, your feet, you know you're rigid anyway, you time yourself. It's a thing. So for a week and a half k, the first time I tried this, I found myself engaging in all this negative self talk, like, wow, congratulations, sarcastically, you're now 10 seconds of planking less pathetic than you were a week ago. My question is, why can some of us struggle so hard to be happy with growth and acknowledge when we are acting with discipline and commitment in other ways as well? Beyond my planking, sincerely and with appreciation.

[A]

I. I was kind of wondering how that was negative until you read it in a sarcastic voice, you know, because in my mind, it's like, oh, yeah, you actually are better there than you were a week ago.

[B]

No, he said less pathetic. See what I'm saying? Like, he's.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I get it. But it's like, bro, wow, congratulations, you are less pathetic now. You know what I mean? Like, that's a positive thing. And look, do you need to use the word pathetic? Probably not. I can tell you've been called things a lot worse than the word pathetic, especially in, like, basic SEAL training, they're telling you they're calling you, you know, all kinds of words that are way worse than pathetic. But here's the thing, man. I think what you should actually just focus on. And to answer the question of how can you struggle so hard, well, it's because you're focusing on the wrong thing. You need to focus on where you're going and what you're doing. Good. If you're constantly looking at all the mistakes that you've made and all the times you lack discipline and all the places where you went off the path, that's not helpful. That's not helpful for anyone. It's not helpful for me right now. I can tell you about a freaking house that I should have bought in 1993, that if I would have bought this house in 1993, maybe it was 1994. If I would have bought that house in 1994, I would be a freaking real estate mogul right now. You see what I'm saying? I think about that probably once a year. I don't dwell on it. You know what I did do in 1998? I bought a house. It took me another five years before I was like, okay, I gotta buy a house. But that five years is a big timeframe. You know, when you take away the compounding progress I would have made by buying a house five years earlier in a clutch zone. You see what I'm saying? It could have been a game changer. My dad used to work, used to work on computers in the, in the early 80s. Early 80s, okay. We had a Commodore Vic 20. Have you ever heard of that before?

[B]

Yes, I have. Well, not the Vic 20 part, but Commodore.

[A]

The first one they made was called a Vic 20. And my dad got a Commodore Vic 20. And I think it came with 2.4 kilobytes of memory. And then we had a cartridge that brought it up to like 8 kilobytes of memory. And I remember I was at school and when you turned on the computer at school, it's like, came up with a screen and it said like, Ms. Dos.

[B]

Yeah, Ms. Dos. Hell yeah.

[A]

Okay. That computer was a Texas instrument. And when I came home and I was on a Commodore Vic 20 and you turned it on, it said, Ms. DOS. And I remember asking my dad, hey, dad, why do both these computers that are made by different companies? And I'm like 10 years old, 11 years old, maybe 12 years old. These computers are made by different companies. Why do they both say Ms. Dos? What is Ms. Dos? And he's like, oh, that's Microsoft Disk operating system. And I said, what's that? And he said, it's the thing inside the computer that makes it all work. And I said, that seems like it's a good company.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if my dad would have said, yeah, you know what? You're right. Let's buy a hundred dollars worth of stock. The whole, whole life would be different. It's different. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, but we didn't buy that.

[B]

Brutal.

[A]

So am I dwelling on that? No, I'm not dwelling on that. I'm. I'm thinking about what we're doing here, what we're doing now, what we're going to do in the future. Did I learn from that? Sure. Learn from that. Did I learn from the real estate gig. Learn from it. So there's nothing wrong with learning from things in the past. But we don't want to. We don't want to. To focus on the things that we've done in the past, focus on where we were, focus on what we could have been like. None of those things help you. They're freaking waste. The actions that you're doing right now, those are real. That's what's real. And when you're doing the thing that you're supposed to be doing right now, that's real. And no one can call you lazy when you're taking action. And no one can call you pathetic when you're taking action. No one can call you pathetic when you're improving. No one can call you pathetic when you've taken ownership of your life and you're making things happen when that's the situation you're in. Doesn't matter. What. What am I doing right now? You call me pathetic. You call me pathetic. Cool. Look what I'm doing right now. I am. I am factually not pathetic because I'm in the game now. When I talk about. People can't call you that. It includes you. Because if you're taking action and you are doing the things you're supposed to be doing, you can't call yourself pathetic. You're not. What do you mean, pathetic? I'm here doing planks right now, and I'm getting stronger and I'm getting fitter and I'm getting better, and I'm disciplining my mind and I'm disciplining my body. You control the voice that's in your head. You get to tell it what to say. You dictate the situation. You dictate the words you want to hear. And that's where you got to be at. There's no pathetic activities going on here. You cannot simultaneously be pathetic and working out at the same time. You can't do it. You can't do it. It's impossible. So keep that. So that is a little excerpt of what we are doing on the Jocko Underground podcast. So if you want to continue to listen, go to Jocko underground.com and subscribe. And we're doing this. We're doing this to mitigate our reliance on external platforms so we are not subject to their control. And we are doing this so that we can support the Jocko podcast, which will remain as is free for all as long as we can keep it that way. But we are doing this so we don't have to be under the control of sponsors. And we're doing it so we can give you more control, more interaction, more direct connections, better communications with us. And to do that, we're building a website right now where we'll be able to utilize to strengthen this legion of troopers that are in the game with us. So thank you. It's Jocko underground dot com. It costs $8.18 a month. And if you can't afford to support us, we can still support you. Just email assistance@jocko underground.com and we'll get you taken care of. Until then, we will see you mobilized Underground.