In the fight for a better life, a life more elevated, we have 3 giant hurdles to overcome. These hurdles do not quit though and they will keep popping up in your life day after day like a sworn enemy who keeps attacking you because they are bent on your destruction.
Who are these formidable opponents?
Laziness
Selfishness
Pride
Enemy 1
Laziness is the first enemy we face each day. When our alarm goes off, laziness entices us to hit snooze or better yet, turn off the alarm and fall back into the comfortable bed and procrastinate our goals just a little longer. The compound effect of all this procrastination and distraction is devastating our future which is just how our enemy likes it.
"Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity." -Stephen Covey
In order to overcome this enemy we must learn to be Assertive. Assertiveness is the sweet spot in life in between being a pushover and the overly aggressive hustle 24/7 lifestyle.
When we are assertive we do not let life happen to us and we certainly do not force things either. Being assertive is knowing where you stand, where you are going and ultimately, doing something about it. Assertiveness is the key to conquer laziness and take action toward who you truly want to become.
Enemy 2
Selfishness is the second enemy we face each day. When there is only enough left for 1 person to partake of something to eat for example, we desperately want to be that person. Selfishness takes many forms in the fight against self-mastery, but the most common is in our thoughts. We think about ourselves all the time and even when people are talking to us we have to fight ourselves to actually hear what they are saying. We are still talking in our own heads most of the time thinking exclusively about what we want to respond with or our advice or experience that we want to share in order to solve their problem or simply get our chance to gab. Selfishness prevents growth as it only seeks to fortify our preconceived notions about reality. In order to fight selfishness we must learn empathy. Empathic listening is planting ourselves firmly in the other persons situation and even taking into account their up bringing and influences that are unique to that individual. When we empathize we open ourselves up to change which is the catalyst to growth. We are not meant to stay the same. Like all living things we rely on nutrients to spawn new growth, good conversations with unique opinions and viewpoints can nurture and aid in our personal growth and development. Echo chambers and "yes men" will ultimately stunt us in our quest for new knowledge that may blossom into new opportunities.
Enemy 3
Pride is the third enemy we face each day. Pride is the strongest of the three and inflicts the most damage to our souls. Pride is not only thinking you are better than others, but also judging others whom you feel think they themselves are better than you. Pride prevents growth because we tie ourselves in mental knots that distract us from the greatness within. In order to liberate that greatness we must let go of our past, our insecurities and comparisons and remain teachable. Another word for being teachable is humility. Humility gets a bad wrap sometimes as people mistakenly associate it with being humiliated, but being humble is the secret sauce to increasing potential and becoming something more. You practice humility when you put your ego in check and ask yourself, "what can I learn from this failure" instead of simply justifying your short comings. We all get criticized from time to time, but very few us allow that criticism to sharpen and refine us rather then to simply heat us up.
Summary
Fight your three adversaries of Laziness, Selfishness & Pride with the counter moves of Assertiveness, Empathy & Humility. This is not a one time deal, but an endless conflict that will wage on day after day until you have conquered this life and move on to your next level of existence. You will never officially be done with self improvement, nor will we ever truly become masters over ourselves. We will have countless battles and regardless of the habits we install or the discipline we cultivate, the battle starts fresh each and every day as the first person we meet each morning is our own tired, lazy, selfish and prideful self just hoping to get out of doing anything difficult. Do the difficult work and fight yourself so you can fight for what matters most to you!
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