Former Navy SEAL and bestselling author Jack Carr believes that the path to personal dominance in today’s world starts with three simple habits: reading, training, and thinking independently.

During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Carr delivered a passionate message aimed at young people struggling to find focus in an increasingly digital age:

If you learn to think for yourself, you think logically.

If kids today put down that phone and just read – that is a superpower.

The Terminal List author, who spent over 20 years in special operations before transitioning into writing, described reading and martial arts as the ultimate combination for developing both intellect and discipline:

Read, work out, do some MMA, BJJ stuff, do a little boxing – but read.

You’re going to leave everyone else in the dust when it comes to whatever you want to do next in life.

Carr explained that the key isn’t just physical toughness or book knowledge, but the fusion of both, the mental sharpness forged through reading and physical grit developed through combat sports:

You’re going to be a more empathetic, compassionate person, but you’re also going to have this knowledge base that other people are relying on ChatGPT, their phone, whatever it is, to do the thinking for them.

He lamented the decline in deep reading habits, noting that most people consume little beyond short-form content:

It’s amazing how many people just don’t consume any non-fiction or fiction.

They don’t consume anything but TikTok and Netflix.

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