One of my direct subordinates, one of my guys that worked for me — he would call me up, he would pull me aside with some major problem, some issue that was going on, and he’d say, “Boss, we got this and that and the other thing.”
And I’d look at him and I’d say, “Good.”
And finally one day he was telling me about some issue that he was having, some problem, and he said, “I already know what you’re going to say.”
And I said, “Well, what am I going to say?”
And he said, “You’re going to say, ’good.’” He said, “That’s what you always say. When something is wrong and going bad, you always just look at me and say, ’good.’”
And I said, “Well, yeah. When things are going bad, there’s going to be some good that’s going to come from it. Didn’t get the high-speed gear we wanted? Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better. Oh, mission got canceled? Good. We can focus on our other one. Didn’t get funded? Didn’t get the job you wanted? Got injured? Sprained my ankle? Got tapped out? Good. Got beat? Good. You learned. Unexpected problems? Good. We have the opportunity to figure out a solution.”
That’s it. When things are going bad. Don’t get all bummed out. Don’t get startled. Don’t get frustrated.
If you can say the word, “good.” Guess what? It means you’re still alive. It means you’re still breathing. And if you’re still breating, well then hell — it means you’ve still got some fight left in you. So get up. Dust off. Reload. Recalibrate. Reengage. And go out on the attack.
Jocko Willink