How Self-Respect Guards You From a Dirty Room

Imagine this:

You wake up in the middle of the night.

A bird-chirping alarm is playing at maximum volume.

The room is completely dark.

You can sense your bottom half is warm in your covers but the room is freezing as the utterly convincing urge to lay back down continues to stab at you.

You pry your eyes open, turning off the alarm as you immediately look down at your phone.

“6:00 am”

You remember the promise you made to yourself the night before.

You said you would wake up at 6 am. That you would feel great. That you could get to work from 6:30 to 9:30 am.

That you could finally keep a promise you made to yourself after 2 years of trying.

Do you get up?

or do you stay in bed for another cozy hour?

Now here’s another question…

Why?

See, there’s a lofty line between those that make and keep promises to themselves, and those who don’t.

The difference in yield on either side, though, is self-respect.

But the yield is not binary. It’s not whether you respect yourself or don’t, it’s to what magnitude you respect yourself.

Self-respect, is what I would consider intrinsic confidence: The confidence that truly matters.

The confidence that gets you to execute on your promises—not for the status from others—but from the status you give your conscience.

Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to instincts & yes to promises.

Now imagine you kept all the promises you made with yourself. Every single one.

Where even if the promise was irrationally challenging but for an enormously great cause, you’d persevere because of your personal integrity.

How productive would you be?

How unstoppable?

Now, don’t you think this could be developed over time?

Couldn’t you argue that this is, then, a skill?

Couldn’t you also argue that it puts you ahead of everyone else… Like everyone else?

I’d argue it’s the one skill that can come from within.

Ghandi, one of the strongest men to ever live, paid it the following truth:

If you think about it, it’s willpower.

It’s personal integrity.

And if you think about it longer, it can be built.

Just keep promises to yourself, no matter how small.

That, my friend, is the secret to throwing the lease on your mind —

and paying it off in cash.

See ya next week!

P.S., the only way this grows is through word-of-mouth,

So if you know of 1 or 2 people who need to hear this,

Send it their way.

Never know, it might just change their life like it will yours.