An Era-Shifting Speech on Education (VI)

PART 12: Restoring American Patriotism & Greatness

The call and goal of Self-Action Leadership is self-renewal which inevitably leads to organizational, national and then international renewal.

I am under no illusions about the difficulty of the task. Transformations of entire cultures do not happen overnight. It took many decades for postmodernism to become firmly entrenched in the academy and pollute our culture to the point it has today. Likewise, it will take many decades for the Age of Authenticism to fully blossom in the hearts of ourselves, our families, classrooms, universities, governing bodies, Nation, and the world-at-large.

The best way we can make the world a better place is to make America a better place, and we begin making America a better place by loving, serving, and rooting for our own country. Once again, in the sage words of President Teddy Roosevelt:

“A [person] must be a good patriot before he can be … a good citizen of the world. Experience teaches us that the average man who protests that his international feeling swamps his national feeling, that he does not care for his country because he cares so much for mankind, in actual practice proves himself the foe of mankind…

"Now, this does not mean in the least that a man should not wish to do good outside his native land. On the contrary, just as I think that the man who loves his family is more apt to be a good neighbor than the man who does not, so I think that the most useful member of the family of nations is normally a strongly patriotic nation.”[2]

Let us not fear, my fellow Americans to shower upon our homeland all the authentic love and patriotism she deserves, and let us not aspire toward the mean or mediocre out of a concern for offending other nations.

Indeed, other nations are great in large measure because the United States was first great, and many nations are presently floundering in part because the United States is currently floundering.

May we take great pride in the unapologetic exceptionalism of our August Nation, and may we choose to be self-action leaders who improve ourselves that we may lay hold more authentically on this singular claim and thereby enjoy the countless blessings derived of excellence.

Many years ago, I chose to dedicate my life and career to the Cause of Freedom. Fortunately, I am still a young man with the greater portion of my life and career still before me. But I cannot accomplish it alone.

Indeed, I, of myself, can do but little, but together, we can do much. I call upon everyone within the sound of my voice—literally or virtually—to rise up and reclaim the right of self-sovereignty our Creator and Founding Fathers endowed upon us as Americans.

Then, as each of us improves individually, one-by-one, organization-by-organization, governing body-by-governing body, may we each rise further to help our fellows do the same, in a united effort to restore American Greatness and Strength. I do not say this in any attitude of existential superiority; Americans are no better than anyone else inherently. I say this out of historical fact—and in my present hope for a better future for everyone in the world.

Along the way, may we strive to be a little more tolerant of and loving towards our neighbors and fellow citizens—regardless how they choose to vote or live their lives. May we, in the inspiring words of Stephen R. Covey, choose to be a light, not a judge.

And the next time you see the Stars & Stripes flutter majestically in the wind at your local school, church, or car dealership, I invite you to place your hand over your heart, bow your head, and allow the sensations of gratitude for all this Country has provided you to drown out whatever erstwhile angst may have simmered over past grievances. I assure you that your day will go a little better, and your heart will be a little lighter, if you do so.

No matter who you are, and regardless what your race, culture, political persuasion, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, etc., may be, I invite you to cultivate the desire to learn, the will to work, and the integrity to adhere to conscience—in short, to unite in an embrace of the true and virtuous principles of self-reliance, self-respect, and self-government upon which our Nation was founded, and upon which it became the greatest Nation on Earth. Such unity is our only real hope for collective success & prosperity.

May God Bless the United States of America by blessing each of us in our individual pursuits of self-renewal that we may yet honorably fulfill the sacred responsibility we all have of lifting and leading the rest of the world into the welcomed arms of safety, security, liberty, freedom, & peace.

PART 9: The Golden Mean

One worldview that harmonizes particularly well with SAL is Aristotelian philosophy, and more specifically, Aristotle’s concept of the Golden Mean. This concept holds that virtue, or the good, is to be found in a balance between extremes.

Aristotle’s famous philosophy posits that right thinking and doing cannot occur in the presence of either deficiency or excess. The implication, of course, is that virtually all extremes can be labeled, in the very least, as incorrect, and at the very most, as downright evil.

As President Theodore Roosevelt once put it, “We can just as little afford to follow the doctrinaires of an extreme individualism as the doctrinaires of an extreme socialism.” [1] Therefore, according to Aristotle and Roosevelt, the happy medium between or among extremes is where truth is most likely to be located.

While it is a great truth that there are usually exceptions to the rule—meaning that isolated scenarios and unusual circumstances may require extreme action for limited periods of time (as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures)—in the great balance of things, truth is almost always found, well, in a balance of things!

PART 10: The Triadic Golden Mean of SAL

Truth, as defined by Self-Action Leadership, or SAL Philosophy, lies inside of a perfectly balanced triad consisting of three fundamental elements: Conscience, Common sense, and Rationality.

In other words, we must be willing to consult our brains, our experiences, and that of others (since that is where common sense wisdom comes from), and our own, authentic spiritual-visceral sense of what is right and what is wrong. 

The imbalance or neglect of any of these three, vital variables of the formula, will result in the wrong answers. Let me now address these three variables one at a time.

First, rationality. As human beings, we have been endowed with rational faculties that empower us to reason using sound logic and reliable scientific experimentation.

However, as all highly functioning rational beings know all too well, Mankind—despite its remarkable developments in science, medicine, and technology—still falls dismally short of anything that could be rightly called a perfect understanding of all things, and perhaps especially with regards to science.

For example, talk to any world renowned astronomer, and he or she will tell you there is a lot more we don’t know about the Universe than what we do know.

As such, and with a renewed effort to pursue scientific understanding to the fullest extent possible, let us honestly recognize and humbly accede the reality that we must yet make many decisions in life, both individually and collectively, that science alone cannot adequately address.

Thus, even the most rational of beings, must rationally turn to other avenues of wisdom when science alone fails to fully deliver. These avenues are: common sense (or experience), and conscience.

Let us first address the subject of common sense, which is rooted mainly in experience—both our own and that of others. In a world where common sense has become increasingly uncommon, where can we go to extract wisdom about this ironically elusive topic? The answer is: in the pages of history.

Despite the scientific verity that our Planet has existed in one state or another for some 4.5 billion years, we must, nonetheless, rely on a historical narrative and written record that is limited to only several thousand years. 

Despite this relatively short period of recorded history, we have been blessed with a fairly comprehensive canon of historical data on common sense. If we will study and learn from this record as an honest seeker of truth, we will be greatly empowered to live successfully in the present and build a better future for our children and their children.

As a starting point, may I suggest four (4) basic texts that will work wonders in restoring common sense and greatness to America.

1. The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution by W. Cleon Skousen
2. Citizenship in a Republic: by President Theodore Roosevelt. Speech delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris France, April 23, 1910. 
3. A Message to Garcia: by Elbert Hubbard
4. The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant 

PART 11: Conscience

Many difficulties and dilemmas we face as human beings can be effectively understood and addressed by rationality and common sense alone—but not all. In those moments of life when we are faced with challenges for which there lies neither scientific proof nor historical precedent, wherein can we turn?

The answer is Conscience—the light within.

One of our Nation’s sagest thinkers of yesteryear—Ralph Waldo Emerson—who built his career on a platform of scholarly skepticism of religious dogma, managed to still recognize the reality that something of significance resided within our minds, hearts, and spirits that transcended rationality. Perhaps this is why Emerson talked of “The Divine Knowledge,” and “The Over-Soul,” and suggested that “We are natural believers,” and that “nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

No one can exercise true integrity without continually consulting his or her conscience—especially in matters where rationality and common sense alone are insufficient. Conscience can be dulled by ignoring its whisperings and acting contrary to its visceral commands. This is how our country has dulled its collective conscience. 

The only way to regain this collective conscience is for individuals to take a leadership role in reclaiming moral influence in the face of moral entropy.

It is up to YOU, and it is up to ME, to choose to listen to and follow our consciences in a good-faith effort to follow the counsel of Gandhi—to be the change we wish to see in our nation and in the world.

---

[1] From Roosevelt’s speech, Citizens in a Republic, delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910. 

[2] From Roosevelt’s speech, Citizens in a Republic, delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910. 

SAL Book: My Story

In later chapters of this book, I attempt to teach SAL in part by sharing intricate details of my experiences with OCD, my misadventures with romance, and the ups and downs of my unorthodox career path. Before getting on to these chapters, I wish to preface them by providing a brief, autobiographical sketch my life’s story. This information serves as an introductory backdrop to other, more detailed stories to come, whereby I will vividly illustrate the principles of the SAL theory and model as I myself have attempted to live them.

My life, as with anyone’s life, is a story of the struggles to discipline one's response to life’s many problems, pains, perplexities, and failures. It is also a story of my growing success in meeting these challenges. This journey began as a toddler, as the following excerpt from my father’s journal illustrates:

Fri. July 10, 1981

Cute things happened this afternoon. I took Jordan with me to the bank to make an apartment deposit. Left him in the car while I went in. When I came out, he had opened the door of the car, leaned out, pulled down his britches and shorts and was proceeding to make a puddle on the asphalt. The last time he was with me at the Exxon Station I got a little upset with him for going on the seat. He did it right this time. Sure was cute. He was right proud of himself.

I was born on August 21, 1979 in Monticello, Utah—a small, rural community of about 2,000 people in the remote Four Corners area of the Western United States. I am the sixth of seven children and the youngest of five boys. My father was a high school teacher and rural renaissance man/entrepreneur. My mother was a homemaker and a successful saleswoman of a variety of products, including Avon. My family was loving and close-knit, but we had our share of parental differences and sibling squabbles. After most of my siblings had left home, my parents’ relationship deteriorated, leading to serious marital troubles and their divorce after 37 years.

From an early age, I was taught to value faith, family, community, country, and self-reliance. My father and older brothers taught me by example to work hard. I got my first paying job at age five. I earned $40 for a summers’ worth of work helping my dad and brothers build a cabin on Dad’s land. I was free to spend $20 as I wished. The other $20 went into my church mission fund. My position/title that summer was, "the fetch-it," my job being to fetch tools for my dad and brothers. 

At age seven, my family moved to Mesa, Arizona. This move to a more populated area marked a significant life transition for me. I traded in my country boy jeans’n’boots for suburban shorts and sneakers. In short, I became a “city boy." This move signaled the formal beginning of my Self-Action Leadership journey, which was initiated by my attendance at one of my Uncle Hryum’s Franklin Institute time management seminars at age seven or eight. It seems as though this seminar, and events like it, were providentially placed in my young life, as they planted important seeds that would eventually grow into my chosen career—and the writing of this book.

Following my seventh-grade year, my family moved back to Monticello. I attended Monticello High School from grades 8-11. During the summer months, I had the opportunity to work at a variety of blue-collar jobs involving grounds keeping, construction, farming, and ranching. These jobs taught me hard work, as well as how to deal with physical pain and discomfort. They also taught me the satisfaction that came from a job well done. While in high school, my main chore was to chop, stack, and replenish our wood supply for our home’s wood-burning stove. I loved my job as the family fire builder and maintenance man, and was usually reliable in attending to my chores.

In 1995, I began a two-year stint as a newspaper correspondent for the Blue Mountain Panorama, a small-town weekly serving Blanding and Monticello, Utah; my professional writing career had begun. At this same time, my academic performance largely floundered as a result of OCD, struggles with math and science, poor study habits, and a preference for athletics over academics.

I began experiencing OCD symptoms at age 10. They became increasingly severe at age 12. Unfortunately, I was not clinically diagnosed until I was 17. These intervening 4-5 years were, in many ways, hellish.

From ages 8-18, I was involved in scouting, first as a Cub Scout, and later as a Boy Scout. At age 18, I received my Eagle Scout Award. Scouting taught and reinforced many important SAL lessons I was learning at home and school, and further instilled within me the importance of consciously developing character traits such as honesty, integrity, duty, discipline, consistency, formality, obedience to authority, a strong work ethic, patriotism, and a positive attitude.

In 1997, following my junior year in high school, I moved to Spokane, Washington to live with my oldest brother and his wife for my senior year. This move was motivated by my pursuit of an athletic opportunity in a larger school and classification.

It also paved the way for me to better deal with my OCD by vacating an increasingly negative home experience that had soured in recent years due to my parent’s deteriorating relationship. I graduated from Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington in 1998. Following high school, I served a voluntary, two-year mission for my Church in Alberta, Canada.

In 2001, I began college at Brigham Young University as a visiting student for the spring and summer terms. BYU had rejected my application as a regular, full-time student due to poor grades and an average ACT score, so I enrolled at Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) during fall and winter semesters. As a college student, I was never one to “let school get in the way of my education.”[1] I was not a partier (I don’t even drink alcohol), but I did seek out a variety of educational opportunities involving athletics, theatre, film, part-time work, babysitting for—and spending time with—family members, dating, and attending speeches and presentations on campus and throughout the community.

In May 2003, I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in English after going to school year-round for 27 consecutive months. The day after completing my degree, I fulfilled a personal dream to live in the American South. Enamored by Civil War history, Southern hospitality, warmer climates – including humidity--and various other romantic notions, I went forth to seek my fortunes in Atlanta, Georgia.

I spent six months in Georgia on my first go-round. I lived with my cousins and worked for them part-time in their software business. I also got a job as a retail salesman in a FranklinCovey store at a mall for about four months. In addition, I taught my first seminar on personal leadership at Lassiter High School in Marietta--a pro bono gig.

In early 2004, I returned to Utah and got a job as an Assistant to the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Leadership at my Alma Mater. During this time I began proactively developing my seminar business, and taught over 60 pro bono gigs for middle, high school, and college aged audiences.

In 2005, I founded my company—Freedom Focused, LLC—and became a full-time entrepreneur. In December of that year, I decided to move back to Georgia where I continued building my business in a bigger market. In 2006, I published my first book: I Am Sovereign: The Power of Personal Leadership--a self-leadership guide for teenagers. Although I made some encouraging progress, my leap of faith did not pan out as I had hoped. Out of money and deeply in debt, I spent 16 months doing whatever work I could find to make ends meet. Odd jobs I picked up included childcare, substitute teaching, grounds keeping, temp work, and drying cars for a car washing business. With a little help from family members and my Church, I managed to eat and keep a roof over my head while narrowly skirting bankruptcy and barely retaining possession of my car.

In 2006, I met Lina Tucker, my wife-to-be. We dated for about a year and then got engaged. We were married in 2008. I began facilitating professional seminars around the country in 2007. Lina graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 2009 with a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Shortly after her graduation, we moved to Houston, Texas, where Lina started work with a Fortune 100 Company in the energy industry. With the tanking economy, my contract training work dried up. To adjust, I pursued and acquired a position teaching 9th Grade English at Cypress-Ridge High School in Houston. In June 2009, I started a doctoral program in Education at Fielding Graduate University--a distance education program out of Santa Barbara, CA.

During my year at Cy-Ridge, my wife received a work transfer to St. John’s, Newfoundland Canada. In 2010, we relocated to St. John’s for two years during which time I worked on my doctoral degree and continued contract-training work in Canada.

In the spring of 2012, we returned to Houston. In the fall of 2012, I published my second book: Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection.

In March 2013, I finished my Doctorate in education, we bought our our first house, and Lina gave birth to our first child—a delightful baby boy. In March 2015, Lina gave birth to our second child—a beautiful baby girl.

I am now 35 years old. I have moved 41 times in my life. These moves have taken me to 38 different addresses in five States and two Provinces of Canada spanning five different time zones. I have attended ten different schools. I have had 37 different positions of employment (many temporary) spanning a dozen different industries. Five of these positions were entrepreneurial-based; 31 were wage-earning positions, all of which added texture and richness to my overall education and life experiences as I strove to pursue my ultimate goal to become an international thought leader with expertise in teaching, writing, and corporate organization and leadership.

Like most people, my life has been a tale of triumph and trial, sorrow and success, anticipation, achievement, and even ecstasy mixed together with a full measure of agony, anxiety, and failure. Despite the many, deep trials I have faced, I consider my life to have been richly blessed. I was born of goodly parents into a loving family that resided in unusually peaceful parts of the world. While most of my life was not marked by financial abundance, I consider myself to be exceedingly rich in relationships, education, opportunities, memories, conscience, and an intra-personal will to self-lead. While the difficulties of OCD and other life challenges have tested me to my core, the bulwark of these riches has provided an indomitable defense that has held strong, allowing my trials to refine my skills and expand my influence.

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AS RESEARCH METHOD

The term, "Autoethnography" is used by academics to refer to the systematic study and research of one's own life. The field of autoethnography has derived from ethnography—the study of individual groups of people—which in turn evolved out of the field of anthropology (the study of human cultures). 

In my doctoral dissertation, I conducted an autoethnographic research study whereby I carefully analyzed my life’s journey to see what I might learn about self-leadership and action research. My goal was to synthesize the data in order to create an original theory and model of self-leadership that might benefit others. The result is the SAL theory & model presented in this book.

I began collecting data for this expansive autoethnographic research project in 1987 as a young diarist over two decades before I began my doctoral work. I can, in large measure, thank my Dad for my journaling predilections. Dad began writing in a daily diary while in high school. He persisted in his journaling habit with an unusual devotion for decades thereafter. In the late 1980s, when I was just a boy, he had his journals copied and bound in matching red covers. On the spine he had his name and the year(s) emblazoned in gold lettering. These dozen or so 8” x 11” volumes, along with his growing number of Franklin Day Planner binders (where he penned his journals beginning in 1983) made an attractive addition to his office library. I received my first Franklin Day Planner in 1987 as an 8-year old second grader (see image below).

A lover of the written word from before I could even read, I was a regular patron of Dad’s home library, and quickly noticed his impressive-looking, professionally bound journals. He generously granted me permission to read them, and I forthwith began to explore his life through the pages of his voluminous diaries. These perusals provided fascinating journeys into the past where I came to know, love, and respect my father on a level that would have been impossible without his written records.

I keep many different kinds of journals, records, and lists. One of them I call my Emerson Journal, in honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson--an avid journaler and one of my literary and philosophical mentors. In my Emerson Journals, I record poetical thoughts as well as musings on philosophy, theology, religion, and Self-Action Leadership. Beginning in 2001, whenever a meaningful thought would enter my mind, I strove to pen it in my Emerson Journal.

I was amazed at the regularity of my receipt of new thoughts once I made a serious commitment to record them. Sometimes a thought would arrive late at night after I had already retired for bed, and I would feel compelled to get myself out of bed, turn on the light, grab a pen, and jot the information down. Other times inspiration would hit me while I was driving, and I’d likewise feel prompted to pull my car to the side of the road, extract my Little Black Book and pen from my pocket, and properly record whatever inspiration I had received before continuing my drive. I began carrying my pen and notebook around with me religiously, not knowing when the next gem of thought would enter my brain. Between 2002-2006, my mind was particularly flooded with thoughts, ideas, and inspiration, and my Emerson Journals grew to fill 22 “little black books” (4.5 x 3.25 inch, 160 pages).

This probably sounds as much like OCD as it does inspiration, and invariably, both forces were regular contributors to this project. I thank God for the inspiration because I believe He is the Source of it. And I thank certain OCD-related practices, which, when properly managed and directed have proven enormously helpful in the completion of any sizable project I have undertaken. In truth, I probably could not have developed the SAL theory or model, much less written this book, without some of my OCD-influenced intensity and other personal proclivities. There is always a silver lining to every life challenge. I hope this book helps you discover your own life's “silver linings,” for they are there—many and varied—if you are willing to search them out.

And now, without further ado or introduction, let's move on to Chapter 4, where you will begin your formal study of the Self-Action Leadership theory.

Next Blog Post ~ Tuesday, January 20, 2015 ~ Chapter 4: Your World


[1] A favorite saying of my mother and maternal grandfather, also attributed to Mark Twain and Benjamin Disraeli.

SAL Book: Self-Action Leadership Variables

Have you ever faced a debilitating challenge only to hear someone say: “You just need to think positively, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and make it happen!” Over-simplifying human problems can be as problematic as over-complicating or ignoring them altogether. Self-Action Leadership does not translate into human omnipotence. Other variables, both internal and external, exist to produce a variety of human difficulties and problems, as well as opportunities and potential. There are at least 16 variables that produce limitations and benefits to your human potential. The life experiences of every human being are uniquely impacted by one’s own singular blend of these 16 variables.

1. Forces of Nature
2. Congenital Physical Variables
3. Congenital Familial Environment
4. Genetic & Mimetic Inclinations
5. Initial Opportunities for Education
6. Congenital Social Environment
7. Choices of Others
8. Time
9. Structural Inequality
10. Geopolitics & Macroeconomics
11. Good & Bad Luck
12. Supra-rational Intervention
13. Hierarchy of Needs
14. Self-leadership Intelligence and Talent
15. Self-leadership Desire
16. Self-leadership Will

In explaining these 16 variables, I should note that "limitations" and "benefits" should be interpreted primarily as potential limitations and benefits. Just because a person has a circumstantial limitation or benefit at birth, does not mean it will always exist. You have probably met someone who has, over time, either transcended a limitation or squandered a benefit with which they were born.

1. Forces of Nature

Limitations: Natural disasters of all kinds, heat, cold, etc.

Benefits: Some geographic locations have a more conducive climate to living and working than other areas. 

2. Congenital Physical Variables

Limitations: Congenital defects, disorders, and illnesses. Height, weight, natural physical appearance, lack of athletic ability, and other physical talents.

Benefits: Height, weight, natural physical appearance, athletic ability, and other physical talents.

3. Congenital Familial Environment

Limitations: Poverty, abuse, neglect, broken homes, single-parent families, no parents, etc.

Benefits: Abundance, two-parent families, love, support, safety, encouragement, guidance.

4. Genetic & Mimetic Inclinations

Limitations: Bad habits and inclinations, or learned practices (including laziness, irresponsibility, dishonesty, disrespectfulness, cowardice, bad tempered, etc).

Benefits: Good habits and inclinations, or learned practices (including discipline, focus, hard work, honesty, integrity, love, compassion, emotional control, etc.).

5. Initial Opportunities for Education

Limitations: Limited educational opportunities, uneducated or undereducated parents/guardians/role models, limited educational reinforcement at home.

Benefits: Opportunities for private schooling, tutoring, and/or extra-curricular education, strong educational reinforcement at home, well-educated parents/guardians, role models.

6. Congenital Social Environment

Limitations: Growing up amongst people who predominantly demonstrate examples of anger, hatred, bitterness, abuse, revenge, unfairness, deception, substance abuse, sexual impropriety, etc.

Benefits: Growing up amongst those who predominantly demonstrate examples of respect, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, fairness, love, emotional intelligence, good communication, conflict management & resolution skills, etc.

7. Choices of Others

Limitations: Abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, wasted resources, etc.

Benefits: Love, support, positive role models, well-invested resources, etc.

8. Time

Limitations: Short, poor quality lifespan.

Benefits: Long, high quality lifespan.

9. Structural Inequality

Limitations: Stifled opportunities due to race, culture, religion, or other group affiliation.

Benefits: Expanded opportunities due to race, culture, religion, or other group affiliation.

10. Geopolitics & Macroeconomics

Limitations: Residence in a war-torn or otherwise conflicted area; political/social/economic strife; economic recession; resource dependent economy.

Benefits: Residence in a stable and secure area; relative peace and prosperity; strong diversified economy.

11. Good & Bad Luck

Limitations: Unfavorable circumstances or situations (not of your making) to overcome.

Benefits: Unexpectedly favorable opportunities for action.

12. Supra-rational Intervention

Limitations: Lack of aid from a Higher Power—a Lack of Serendipity. (Open to perception and interpretation).

Benefits: Aid from a Higher Power—the Presence of Serendipity. (Open to perception and interpretation.

13. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs [1]

Limitations: Circumstances that require you to focus on more basic levels of fulfillment (survival, safety, love).

Benefits: Circumstances that enable you to address higher levels of fulfillment (esteem, actualization).

14. Intelligence and Talent

Limitations: Little natural intelligence & talent in a given area(s).

Benefits: Lots of natural intelligence & talent in a given area(s).

15. Desire

Limitations: Little or no natural desire for Existential Growth.

Benefits: Lots of natural desire for Existential Growth.

16. Will

Limitations: An unwillingness to expend effort when you don't feel like it.

Benefits: A willingness to expend effort regardless of how you feel.

As you review this list, you will notice that some limitations and benefits are congenital, meaning a person is born with them. Others depend on what you do after you are born. These 16 variables can therefore be divided into three basic categories.

Category 1: Variables you cannot control:

• Forces of Nature
• Congenital Physical Variables
• Congenital Familial Environment
• Initial Opportunities for Education
• Congenital Social Environment
• Good & Bad Luck
• Intelligence & Talent

Category 2: Variables you may have some influence over:

• Genetic & Mimetic Inclinations
• Choices of Others
• Time
• Structural Inequality
• Geopolitics & Macroeconomics
• Supra-rational Intervention
• Hierarchy of Needs
• Desire

Category 3: Variable fully under your control:

• Will

In reviewing this list, I’m sure you noticed that of all 16 of these variables, you only have full control over one of them. At first glance, it might be disappointing to realize just how much you can't control in your life. Our inability to fully control the other 15 variables explains why bad things sometimes happen to good people. While negative events sometimes occur in life because you are at fault, it is also true that bad things sometimes happen as a result of the actions of other people, events triggered by the omnipotence of Mother Nature, or other forces beyond our control. This is the bad news.

Dealing with disabilities, bad luck, mistreatment, or structural inequality is undoubtedly difficult. Such obstacles can be so huge as to overwhelm and disillusion the best of us. But these things are largely outside of your immediate control and influence, especially with regards to the tasks of daily living. Oftentimes, all you can do is strive to make the best of what you have, and maybe improve the variables to some degree for the next generation.

In many cases, your control over other people and things is either non-existent or drastically limited. Your control over your own thoughts, speech, and actions, however, provides a perpetual opportunity for achievement and Existential Growth. This opportunity may dramatically improve your external circumstances over time, if you take advantage of it. The good news is that you can control the most important variable of all, and the one that matters most in the end--your individual will. How you choose to exercise your will often makes all the difference in the long run. It is also the primary catalyst that determines what you become in the end. Your will is the greatest power you possess for the simple reason that is the only thing you can really control; it is the one variable force that is entirely of your own making. No one else is responsible for it. For as long as you live, you must ultimately call the shots.

FAULTS VS. PROBLEMS

As a high school classroom teacher, when things would get difficult for us teachers, and especially when it came to dealing with issues that were not of our making (i.e., poor parenting, broken homes, negative peer and culturally influenced bad behavior, etc.), administrators had a mantra they would repeat to us as teachers. It went like this:

It may not be your fault, but it is YOUR problem! 

This is one of the best SAL reminders of reality I’ve ever heard. Translation: I didn’t make all of the problems in my classroom, but if the problems are in my classroom, it is my responsibility to work to try and solve them. The same principle applies to you, me, and everyone else in the world. All of your problems may not be your fault, but they are your problems. Life, therefore, is a series of recurring questions that ask the following: What are you going to do about the problems life has presented you with? You can't change who you are, where you started from, or what you had (or did not have) when you came into this world. But we at Freedom Focused enthusiastically affirm that you always have the freedom to do something about it. When the final chapter of your life is written through your actions, will your story be one of victory or victimization?

“Highly proactive people … do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling … [For proactive persons, their] honor becomes greater than [their] moods.”[2]

– Stephen R. Covey
(1932-2012)

We live in a nation and world of victimization and blame. It seems that people everywhere are eager to find a scapegoat for any and every problem life presents them with. Such people would have you believe that their problems are everyone and everything else’s fault, but never their own. It’s their parent’s fault, their spouses’ fault, their families’ fault, their neighborhood’s fault, their boss’s fault, their coworkers fault, the fault of generations gone by, their communities’ fault, their States’ fault, their Nation’s fault, the world’s fault, the government’s fault, the Republican’s fault, the Democrat’s fault, the Libertarian’s fault, the Stars’ fault, God’s fault, the weather’s fault, their DNA’s fault, the lottery’s fault, etc.

“Henry Thoreau made, last night, the fine remark that, as long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way, governments, society, and even the sun and moon and stars, as astrology may testify.”[3]

– Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

Please don’t misunderstand; I am not saying that external forces do not play a role, sometimes a significant role, in the events and circumstances in our lives. Of course they do. Making this point explicit is the primary purpose of this chapter; that’s why I introduced the SAL variables. It is a truism that bad things happen to good people beyond their control. However, even when bad things happen to good people, good people have the freedom to choose what they are going to do next, meaning how they are going to respond to whatever bad things happen to them outside of their control.

One of my favorite high-profile examples of SAL in action over time comes from the media mogul Oprah Winfrey. Oprah is the first African American woman to become a billionaire. She has influenced hundreds of millions of persons as an actress, talk-show host, and philanthropist. Most, if not all, educated adults in the world know who Oprah Winfrey is. She is one of the most influential women on Earth.

What some do not know about Oprah is that she was born into poverty in one of the poorest states in the U.S. (Mississippi) at a time (mid-1950s) when segregation and prejudice against Blacks was still institutionalized. Oprah’s childhood in Mississippi and adolescence in inner city Milwaukee was marked by troubles of all kinds, including sexual abuse. Oprah’s start in life didn’t portend the kind of greatness she would eventually achieve. But give a determined self-action leader like Oprah a few decades of time and the freedom to direct her own thoughts, speech, and actions, and what you get is a beautiful miracle.

The key is effective Self-Action Leadership and time—usually a lot of it. In the meantime, you—like Oprah—must remain persistent, consistent, and determined. In the words of Napoleon Hill, “when defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit, [and] that is exactly what the majority of [people] do.”[4] If someone has the opportunity to learn about Self-Action Leadership and the cognizance and health to exercise it, yet ends up in the same place—or worse—at the end of their life, they ultimately have themselves to blame.

“We are responsible for our own effectiveness, our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say, for most of our circumstances.”[5]

– Dr. Stephen R. Covey

(1932-2012)

Notice that Covey says “most of our circumstances.” Not all, but most. It is true that you can’t change where you started out in life. You can’t always avoid every bad thing from happening to you against your will or desires. Life often isn’t fair, especially in the short run, and that’s just the way it is. There is nothing you can do to change your life's beginning—where you started out in life, and with whom. But there is much you can do to shape your life's ending.

Two choices remain after birth for you, me, and every other self-action leader on the Planet. You can do nothing and complain about your lot in life and blame others for your misfortune, or you can choose to take advantage of any and every opportunity you have to learn, and then act on your newfound knowledge.

I eagerly encourage you to take the latter route, even if you have been unjustly treated by individuals, groups, or society-at-large in the past. Oprah didn’t transcend poverty and abuse by merely cursing her abusers and condemning the injustices of American society; nor did Gandhi secure freedom for the Indian people by cursing and condemning King George the 5th and 6th and the rest of the British Raj and Empire. While both could have easily felt justified in doing so, they both were also smart enough to realize that treading the pathway of the complainer would not lead to a better life. The pathway to a better life was in education, personal growth and development, and the cultivation of their unique skills, talents, and leadership capacities. They both chose to work extremely hard, avoid making excuses, and never, ever, ever gave up. The result? They both changed the world in positive ways and left indelible impacts on society that generations to come will admire and learn from.

“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

– Sir Winston Churchill

(1874-1965)

“But,” you may say, “Oprah is an outlier. You, Jordan, are simply cherry-picking an unrealistic example to try and make your point. Oprah has ten times the natural talent and ability of most people!” You are right that Oprah is indeed an outlier, and you are also correct in recognizing that Oprah was born with an unusually gifted talent and skill-set. You must consider, however, two essential facts. The first is that, existentially speaking, Oprah is no better than you or me. As such, you have as much freedom to direct your own thoughts, speech, and actions as Oprah. Second—and this is good news—Existential Growth does not mean you are competing against Oprah. You are only competing against your own potential for growth, which (like Oprah's potential) is limitless. This idea of competing with your own potential instead of against other people is called "intrapersonal competition," and will be addressed in greater detail in BOOK THE THIRD.

“Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps some failure…. Remember that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they ‘arrive’”[6]

– Napoleon Hill

(1883-1970)

THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY IN THE WORLD

Next to life itself, the greatest opportunity each of us possesses is the freedom to direct that life.[7] There is no more important information than the knowledge that empowers you to effectively lead your own life. It is wonderful beyond comprehension to have such liberty and potential for freedom. But as is usually the case, freedom come with a price—a price that must be paid for in taking responsibility for your thoughts, speech, and actions. Whether you like it or not, or know it or not, natural consequence will flow from each thought, word, and deed you ever think, speak, or act out. And regardless where you start out in life, or what happens to you along the way, you are ultimately sovereign over your individual choices along the way. This means, therefore, that…

Nothing goes until you go;
       Nothing works until you work;
            Nothing happens until you start happening.

What will you choose to do with this, the greatest opportunity that Life has endowed you with? I invite you to go to work by reading this book and applying its principles and practices in your life. If you will do that, you life will start to happen in ways you never, or only, dreamed possible in the past. So, with the introduction to Self-Action Leadership now completed, let’s dive together head first into BOOK the SECOND where you may being a serious study of the SAL theory.

SAL Mantra

Nothing goes until you go;

Nothing works until you work;

Nothing happens until you start happening.

Notes:

[1] Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs refers to a model of human progress developed in the early 1940s by the American psychologist, Abraham Maslow (1908-1970). Maslow’s famous theory states that all human beings are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, and that lower needs must be met before higher needs will motivate. His hierarchy is often presented visually as a triangle model with basic human needs forming the base and higher human needs forming the point. His five basic needs include Survival needs (Level One), Safety needs (Level Two), Love needs (Level Three), Esteem needs (Level Four), and Actualization needs (Level Five).
[2] Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Fireside. Pages 71 & 92.
[3] From his personal journal, October 1842. Ibid
[4] Hill, N. (1960). Think & Grow Rich. New York, NY: Fawcett Crest. Page 23.
[5] Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. New York, NY: Fireside. Page 93.
[6] Hill, N. (1960). Think & Grow Rich. New York, NY: Fawcett Crest. Pages 23 & 39

[7] This principle was taught in a spiritual context by the religious leader David O. McKay, who, in an April 1950 address entitled, Free Agency … A Divine Gift, said: “Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God’s greatest gift to man.”

SAL Book: The Freedom to Change Part 3

SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP

The opportunity to live up to your Existential Potential is an invitation to practice self-leadership, and more specifically, SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP—or as I like to call it, just SAL for short.

SELF-LEADERSHIP: Intentional cognitive and behavioral leadership of self to achieve targeted results.

SELF-ACTION LEADERSHIP: Self-leadership that is morally informed, action-oriented, focused on long-term results, and aimed at a continual rise in the Existential Growth of self and others.

EXISTENTIAL GRAVITY

Unfortunately, far too many renounce their royal birthright to the baser inclinations of the animal within. This abdication is understandable; after all, holding on to the throne of civilized humanity is not easy—as history has amply evinced. Forces abound to usurp it whenever and wherever possible, and some of mankind’s greatest potentialities eventually became fatalities in the hellish and unrelenting onslaught that EXISTENTIAL GRAVITY inflicts upon us all.

EXISTENTIAL GRAVITY: Internal and external adversities influencing the poor exercise of Self-Action Leadership, thereby inhibiting Existential Growth and preventing a self-action leader’s rise to higher levels of personal freedom.

Remaining royal requires you fight the good fight and remain ever vigilant. The battles will be adventurous and exciting, but they will not be easy. In the words of one great leader, “The greatest battle of life is fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.”[1] It is a lonely battle, and a long and vital war – lonely because you are the only one who can give the orders to fight, long because life often seems long, and vital because your personal freedom is ever on the line.

ENEMIES OF PERSONAL FREEDOM

There are many ways we can relinquish our personal freedom—it’s easy to do so, and it shifts responsibility from our shoulders. It’s more comfortable to make excuses:

I was born this way.

It’s the fault of my genes or memes.

Changing would squelch my individuality, making me just one of the herd.

This is just the way I am.

Changing is hard, and not worth the effort.

I don’t want to change.

I can’t change…

Not even if I wanted to…

And not even if I tried.

MY BATTLES WITH CHANGE

My life has been, and continues to be, a battle with change. These battles started early.

For example, I sucked my finger until I was ten years old. As a “Big” third grader, this infantile fetish was embarrassing to me, and I’d conspicuously hide my scarred left finger with my right hand to prevent my peers from peering at the visible consequences of this puerile practice.

During the summer of my tenth year, I began to ponder on the oddity and silliness of a ten-year-old still addicted to sucking his finger. Such shame-ridden musings led me to begin considering the implications of breaking my absurdly prolonged habit. In the process, I concluded it was time to take the high road and choose to quit.

On August 21st, 1989 (my 10th birthday), I stopped sucking my finger. Doing so was very difficult. For the first two months, I was tempted daily—sometimes terribly so—to return to my bad habit. Twice, the temptation proved too great for my will to resist, and I relapsed briefly only to try again after each “Slip.” Determined to succeed, I rose each time I fell, and was eventually victorious. After two or three years, I finally stopped thinking about wanting to suck my finger. At age 35, the thought of sucking my finger is no longer a temptation; in fact, the very thought of it grosses me out. I have completely changed. Yet to this day, my left index finger remains slightly more worn than my right—a minor, but irreversible lingering consequence of my decision to engage in a bad habit for all those years.

If only finger sucking was my life’s only vice! At present, I deal with a wide array of shortcomings. Aside from propensities toward depression, addiction, impatience, and gluttony, I also have proclivities toward vindictiveness, lust, losing my temper, and a variety of other personal immaturities, vices, and imperfections. Yes, as far as I have come, I still have a long way to go.

If this weren’t enough, I have also struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)—a story I will relate in a later chapter—since I was 10-years old. Dealing with OCD has been hard as hell. God be praised I don’t have to be my OCD forever. And thank God counselors and medication can help palliate symptoms in the short run, and cognitive-behavioral therapy has the power to change biochemical brain functioning in the long run. And thank God—literally—for His countless graces and tender mercies all throughout the process.

At best, life is often a deeply challenging, frequently frustrating, and dangerously discouraging journey. It would be nice if we could just snap our fingers and will ourselves to the land of authentic personal change. But of course it doesn’t work that way. I have been working on some areas of change for years, decades, or even my entire life. Some areas I have mastered; others I have not. Hopefully, through the tenets of Self-Action Leadership, the help of others, and Grace, I will master as many of them as possible before I die.

As difficult as change can be, I will never give up trying to become the kind of person I most want to be. This means I must rise each time I fall, and unfortunately, I fall more often than I would like. But the knowledge of my human imperfection will not stop me from trying. I believe there is something noble in making the attempt, because even if you fall short of your goal, you will become something greater by virtue of having tried in the first place. No good-faith human effort is ever wasted.

But in many cases, you will succeed completely. When you do, it may seem like a miracle; and in a very real sense, it will be. There is nothing quite so beautiful, impressive, and magnificent, as the miracle of change that occurs when a human being evolves into a better person than they were before making the attempt.

If you are like me, you were born with—and presently carry—a bag full of your own blunders and blemishes. You may have tried very hard and been very clever in hiding them from yourself. But deep down somewhere inside your mind and heart, you know they exist, and they inhibit your personal, relational, and professional success. Even deeper inside, you also know these weaknesses are ultimately a result of your own choices. Deeper still, perhaps so deep it resides only in your subconscious mind, you know you are not helpless to change. You are simply like most of us, most of the time—undesiring, and especially unwilling, to do the hard work that change demands.

REMEMBER

A wise man once remarked that the word “Remember” may very well be the most important word in the English language. G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) made a similar comment when he said, “We need to be reminded more than we need to be instructed.”

This book serves to remind as much as it does to teach. It aims to review key truths of which you may already be aware, but are lying dormant somewhere in the dusty hard drive of your subconscious. It seeks to inspire you to do what only you can choose to do—and that is to CHANGE.

If change is possible for me, then change is possible for you. Time spent bemoaning the missed opportunities of the past is time poorly spent. You cannot change what happened yesterday, last year, or decades ago, but you can choose at any instant to make yourself better for the rest of your life. In truth, right now is the only moment you will ever have. That makes it the most important and valuable moment in your life—every day of your life. What are you going to do with this gift of the present?

“Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; today is a gift, that is why they call it the present.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Next Blog Post: Wednesday, November 12, 2014: Chapter 3: The Freedom to Change, Part 4: An Authentic Formula for Change

[1] Attributed to David O. McKay (1873-1970)

SAL Book: The Freedom to Change Part 2

A CULTURE OF VICTIMIZATION

Think about the last time you heard someone say:

          “This is just who I am,”

                    “I can’t change,”

                              “I was just born this way!”

                                        “I am who I am because of “So-and-so” or “Such-and-such”

                                                  “It’s someone/something else’s fault.

There are many manifestations of victimization based on the choices (conscious or not) to embrace shortsighted desires and inclinations instead of choosing to develop the noble characteristics of which all human beings are capable. Instead of rising up to their true potential and choosing their own way as a member of an advanced species—the human race—victims choose to view their value as being severely limited, even pre-determined.

We are not bound by whatever tendencies we may have towards laziness, lust, immaturity, dishonesty, gossip, addiction, malice, revenge, ill temperament, etc. We can choose to change – to become better – to become more than mere animals in human forms – to live up to our extraordinary potential for achievement and growth.
      

“You become what you think about all day long.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

YOUR EXISTENCE

This book uses the word “Existential” a lot. This term can connote a lot of different things. Its basic dictionary definition is:

Existential: Of, or relating to, your existence.

This book expands on this basic definition to further describe your holistic State of Being at any given point in your life. Typically, we view our lives through the lens of compartmentalization (i.e., personal, professional, recreational, mental, emotional, physical, social, sexual, etc.). The term “Existential” provides a simple, semantic means of conceptualizing the whole of your life’s existence.

The purpose of Self-Action Leadership is not to work on your life in slices. The goal is to view, and work on, your life as a whole. The purpose of SAL is not to make you a master of one area of life while neglecting other areas. Its goal is to empower you with growth across the full spectrum of your humanity in order to become balanced and whole in a way that enhances and advances your very existence.

Some people are masters at one area of their lives, yet slaves to another part. For example, have you ever met someone who is physically attractive, athletic, and fit—but who is spiritually bankrupt and whose relationships are in shambles? On the other hand, have you ever met a good, kind, spiritual person who had healthy relationships with friends and family, but who suffers from eating disorders or preventable physical health problems? Have you ever met someone who was incredibly successful professionally and financially, but lost their virtue, integrity, and family on their way to the top? Or perhaps you have known someone who was the quintessential family man or women, but consistently failed to properly provide financially for them?

I personally am guilty of many life imbalances. It would be nice if I could claim perfection at everything I talk about in this book, but the fact is I struggle right along with everyone else. It’s not easy to change, but it is always possible. Self-Action Leadership aims to empower men and women, boys and girls, with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration to become masters of their entire lives, not just pet, or petty slices of it.

YOUR EXISTENTIAL DUTIES AS A HUMAN BEING

I believe all human beings have a duty to try their best to develop nobler characteristics within themselves for the holistic, long-term benefit of self and others. This duty springs forth from the reality that, like it or not, we all live interconnected lives; thus, our decisions always impact other people either directly or indirectly. In the eloquent prose of John Donne:

No Man is an Island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away from the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a Promontory were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends, or of thine own were; Any Mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.

Whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not, life has granted you the right to self-lead your existence in this world. This right is accompanied by a solemn responsibility to direct your life in ways that contribute positively to the long-term growth, development, and freedom of yourself and others.

Existential Duties: The duties you have to contribute to the growth and well-being of all human beings and other life forms by virtue of your own existence.

It is wrong to live only for yourself. Ethical living involves carefully considering how your actions will affect other human beings and life forms, including the Planet at large. This means you must sometimes play a role in cleaning up messes you had no part in creating – with the humble recognition that others have taken part in cleaning up your messes over the years. 

To remind myself of this duty, I strive to pick up at least one piece of trash I didn’t throw down every day. One piece of trash isn’t going to make a considerable difference in the world’s littering problem, but the power of the paradigm and practice in my life in the long run just might.

SAL MANTRA:

Pick up one piece of trash every day that you didn't throw down.

YOUR CONSCIENCE

To help you accomplish your Existential Duties, you have been endowed with a conscience. The purpose of your conscience is to guide you toward right actions and steer you away from wrong ones. Yes, despite what many people may argue to the contrary, there is a difference between right and wrong thoughts, speech, and actions.

When the bell of conscience tolls in your life, you owe it to yourself and your fellow human beings, to think, speak, and act in ways that will contribute to the long-term well-being of all whose lives may be affected by your decisions.

“I will simply express my strong belief, that that point of self-education which consists in teaching the mind to resist its desires and inclinations, until they are proved to be right, is the most important of all, not only in things of natural philosophy [science], but in every department of daily life.”

– Michael Faraday

EXISTENTIAL WORTH, POTENTIAL, GROWTH & ATROPHY

Yes, I can change, and you can change. That is the incredible miracle of being human. It is what makes us the most special species in the world. It is what makes all human beings potential royalty – rulers of the animal kingdom and guardians of a planet – in possession of unlimited EXISTENTIAL WORTH, and POTENTIAL for GROWTH.

Existential Worth: The worth of someone or something’s existence as measured by his, her, or its potential for growth and achievement.

Existential Potential: The potential for Existential Growth of a life form or other entity.

Existential Growth (X-Growth): The holistic growth of personal character, capacity, and integrity, as measured by nine progressive stages of Self-Action Leadership development.

1). Education Stage
2). Beginner’s Stage
3). Practitioner’s Stage
4). Refining Stage
5). Polishing Stage
6). Actualization Stage
7). Leadership Stage
8). Transcendence Stage
9). Creation Stage

Note: These nine stages will be explicated in detail in Book the Second: The Self-Action Leadership Theory

Existential Atrophy (X-Atrophy): The digression from a higher stage of X-Growth to a lower stage.

EXISTENTIAL EQUALITY

In approaching the subject of Existential Growth, we must begin with equality. A fundamental truth is that as members of humanity, all human beings have equal existential value. This means that I am no better than you, and you are no better than me—period. It also means that we all have equal potential for Existential Growth.

Existential Equality: The theory that all human beings have equal worth as measured by their potential for growth.

                       

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
– Thomas Jefferson

Existential Equality does not mean all human beings will have equal opportunities to learn about their potential for Existential Growth.  It also does not mean that all who do learn will choose to grow and reach higher levels of Existential Growth. Many choose existential status quos or mediocrity over the advancement of which they are capable. As a result, some human beings will always be more existentially advanced than others.

Existential Equality also does not mean all human beings are the same. No two human beings who have ever lived are exactly the same. Some voices in society seek to blur these differences, despite the illogicality of doing so.

We are all different. That is what makes us unique. For example, men are different from women. Separate persons have different personalities, talents, desires, preferences, goals, and dispositions than other persons. And let’s face it; some people are bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, wealthier, healthier, and even better looking than others. Moreover, some persons have greater access to resources, education, and other opportunities than other persons. In this sense, none of us is precisely equal to anyone else. Absolute, holistic equality is not possible – or, I would argue, even desirable – in this world. Imagine how dreadfully dull it would be if everyone were exactly the same.

So what if you are bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, wealthier, healthier, or better looking than someone else?

What really matters in the long run is not what you have or acquire, or who you know, but what you are—and what you become. And everyone has an equal opportunity to become something better than they presently are.

SAL MANTRA:

Everyone has an equal opportunity to become something better than they presently are.

Everything in this book is built upon this foundational principle of Existential Equality. I am no better than you; and you are no better than me. That is the way things really are. I may be better than you at some things, and you will certainly better than me at some things; but neither of us is existentially superior, or inferior, to each other. Properly understood, this great truth envelopes the mind, heart, and spirit with a deep and profound reverence for all human beings.

As members of the human family we have the same blood flowing through our veins as King Tut, Alexander the Great, Queen Elizabeth II— or any other monarch who has ever held earthly power. Whether or not we choose to live up to our noble birthright depends on what we choose to think about, say, and do throughout our lives. Existential Growth is not a birthright; it is merely a potentiality that must be earned.

Now before your head swells with an inflated sense of your own greatness, I should note that your royal nature is only a potentiality … that is, until you choose to make it a reality. Unfortunately, a tremendous gap often exists between a person’s Existential Potential and the actual kinetic results one earns in life. In other words, human beings do not always achieve their potential. Many choose to limit their growth and success through the poor exercise of personal liberty. The perpetual question, therefore, is: will you live up to your potential. Will I live up to mine?

We must all be cautious of undeserved self-praise. Yet we must also avoid thinking we are capable of anything less than unfathomable greatness. Beware, therefore, the pride produced by thinking you are something you aren’t; but at the same time, don’t be deceived by the myopic myth that you don’t matter; you do matter; we all matter a great deal—more so than any of us can fully comprehend.

SAL MANTRA 

Beware of the pride produced by thinking you are something you aren’t, but don’t be deceived by the myth that you don’t matter.

References:

Booty, J. (1990). John Donne: Selections From DivinePoems, Sermons, Devotions, and Prayers. New York,NY:Paulist Press.Page 58.