The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

Most Replayed Moment: Your Excuses Will Destroy You, To Be Disciplined Is To Be Free!

February 27, 2026

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  • The core characteristic tested in extreme training environments like SEAL training is an internal drive to keep going in the face of adversity, regardless of specific physical strengths or weaknesses. 
  • Excuses and blame are the antithesis of extreme ownership and will ultimately destroy one's potential, whereas confronting reality, though painful, is profoundly empowering because it grants control over one's fate. 
  • Discipline equals freedom because the self-discipline required to manage health, finances, and time prevents one from becoming a slave to disease, debt, or a lack of free time. 

Segments

Defining Navy SEALs
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(00:00:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Navy SEAL is an acronym for Sea, Air, and Land, signifying training across all three operational environments.
  • Summary: Navy SEALs are the special operations component of the U.S. Navy, comparable to the SAS and SBS in the UK. The term SEAL stands for Sea, Air, and Land, reflecting their training in diving, parachuting/repelling, and land warfare operations. The speaker joined the Navy at 18 on a contract that led directly to SEAL training, finishing at age 19.
SEAL Training Selection Metrics
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(00:02:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The primary characteristic tested in SEAL training is the will to continue despite overwhelming difficulty, with only about 5% of candidates under 20 completing the course.
  • Summary: The training tests whether an individual will keep going in the face of any obstacle, often simulating combat conditions during ‘Hell Week.’ While physical skills are tested, the training specifically targets and exploits individual weaknesses, such as temper, fear of cold, or lack of endurance in a specific area. The vast majority of those who fail do so because they quit, not due to medical issues or technical inability.
The Nature of Excuses
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(00:10:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Excuses are destructive, appearing as temporary friends that prevent necessary change by allowing individuals to avoid accountability for failures.
  • Summary: Excuses and blame are the direct opposite of extreme ownership. Accepting extreme ownership means acknowledging that personal failures in life, health, or finances are one’s own responsibility, which can initially hurt the ego. This painful realization is also liberating because if problems are self-inflicted, they are self-fixable.
Discipline Equals Freedom
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(00:14:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Lack of discipline leads to becoming a slave to negative outcomes like disease or debt, whereas self-discipline creates future freedom.
  • Summary: The concept ‘Discipline Equals Freedom’ is counterintuitive; discipline is not rigidity but the necessary action taken now to secure freedom later. For example, lacking the discipline to exercise results in being a slave to disease, while having the discipline to save money prevents financial servitude. Achieving freedom requires embracing discipline in areas like work ethic, health, and time management.
Actionable Steps for Resilience
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(00:22:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The value lies in embracing difficult challenges, as succeeding or failing at hard tasks builds preparedness for future challenges.
  • Summary: Young individuals without direction should actively seek out and attack difficult challenges, as this process guarantees improvement regardless of the immediate outcome. Avoiding hard things and choosing comfort (like eating Doritos on the couch) leads only to existence, not living. Repeatedly facing and pushing through things that ‘suck’ builds resilience, ensuring one is better prepared for the next challenge.