How To Counter Mental Shutdown When You're Overwhelmed - Jocko Willink

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Excerpt from JOCKOPODCAST 30

[scottwalburn]

Lots of people talk, but when Jocko talks I believe every word out of his mouth. That is very rare nowadays.

[doca]

I was training with Rickson Gracie (a mentor) in a class about 12 years ago. He said “today, we not gonna train jujitsu, we gonna train on breathing.” For an hour, that’s all we did. At the end he said, “when a guy is much bigger than you and trying to choke you, you have to breath and not panic first, and you gonna find a way out, there’s always a way out...and I mean that not for just the mat, but for life.”
That lesson has helped me through over 12 years of jiu jitsu, and more importantly with life as a business owner, husband and father of two. That first step of breathing and taking a step back is exactly what Jocko (another great mentor) is saying here.

[yeneter]

"Prioritize and execute" one of the best advice I've ever heard.

[thisguy]

Accidentally woke up early (4:15 am early for me). Using this podcast as part of my balanced breakfast to become a better person. Discipline equals freedom.

[rupertohernandez]

This just happened to me about 2 days ago. I got overwhelmed then I got paranoid about what people were thinking of me. All I had to do was relax... It's all "GOOD." Just got to get after it again. Thanks Jocko & Echo!

[stonem]

I'm on Youtube right now because I'm overwhelmed at work and feel overwhelmed. This is the slap to the head that I needed to snap out of it. I was meant to see this.

[kratoscraken]

When your overwhelmed just put Jocko's voice in your head, problem solved 👍💪

[chasearrington]

This is what I needed man, dealing with work at the hospital, finals, 2 legal cases, Financial deadlines, and Vehicle maintenance urgencies.

[dragon]

I NEEDED this more than anything right now. I just wrapped up a two year program and I'm about to take the cumilitave registry next week and despite not struggling with the academics or clinical rotations I started to get overwhelmed thinking about the test. Thank you.

[UberTankred]

Once I was sad, but then I stopped being sad and be awesome instead. True Story!" - Barney Stinson

[johnouellet]

This literally just helped me right now thank you man

[lukepippin]

What a lot of people don’t realize is that this is 1000 times easier said than done for people with a certain chemical makeup of the mind. So they try it and they don’t know how to do it, it frustrates them, and they just say “they don’t understand” and “it doesn’t work that way”. I’m guilty of this. I’ve been guilty of it for years. I had a shutdown just this last weekend. You won’t be successful every time. But it takes time and it takes a lot of try’s. I’ve made it work. I need to do a better job of taking this advice. At the very last few hours of the weekend I made a big list and got things out of my head and on paper. Today, Monday, even before going through the process of sorting the properties, I felt more confident and put together than I have in months. You just gotta get in the habit and practice it.

[jeffburtonnottheracecardriver]

a lot of that can be addressed with preparation: predict, have a plan & options worked through in your head or based on experience, then execute - like y'all said.

[sgt]

I think sometimes overwhelm can occur because you are focused on too many things at once. So Jocko's solution makes sense. However, if you're a weak person you will get overwhelmed more often. So a longer-term solution would involve putting yourself in stressful situations and adapting gradually.

[levismith]

This is a perfect explanation. Step back and analyze your biggest problem, recognize it, and then smash through it.

[lambdog]

10am this morning at work, saw the pressure building, detached, relaxed, reevaluated, prioritized, executed. Big thanks Jocko.

[Emeticful]

Another thing that may help because it helps me, I find I don't want to do the most important thing because it's the most responsibility, so I'm avoiding it I can become overwhelmed, Jocko's advice in relaxing helps to avoid that aswell.

[brucecalhoun]

I am a weirdo, cuz when shit gets tight, I relax and get into a zone. No matter what it may be, I am there, thinking and acting to resolve the crisis at hand. I am not military nor former. Anytime I am in that mode I resolve the situation. I think it happened because of watching a man die at a bus stop, and he had a car run over him and his legs as he sat at a bus stop. I ran to that scene, seeing alot of folks trying to save wasting time trying shred a sheet yo apply knew to just go in and pinch his femorals off. I pussed out and let shock run me. It was a defining point in my life.

[loup]

Subtitles are amazing... I didnt know that jocko's secret name was Mr. Chocolate

[boertush]

when your overwhelmed you're stuck inside your own head scaring yourself with doom scenarios, so technically all you have to do is recognize that your overwhelmed, focus on the world around you and then do the you're supposed to do.