Picking up from the last article we’re going to get right into it, as we have a lot of ground to cover.
The Law Of The Warrior Poet II – Be A Living Example
Acta Non Verba, meaning “actions not words”. A warrior poet seeks each and every day to embody the ideals that he holds dear. While a man can never truly embody an ideal in a perfect manner, that is not needed. The warrior poet seeks to live as an example of the things that he hold dear. If he values bravery then he strives every day to be brave. If he values wisdom he strives every day to be wise. Loyalty, honor, goodness, anything he values he seeks to embody and be a living example of.
Part of being a warrior poet is being both a follower and a leader. And to be an effective leader you must be willing to do what you require of others. There is no place for hypocrisy in the warrior poet’s life and such things must be fought against. If you want to see good in the world then you must be good yourself. To use an overused saying be the change that you want to see. Embody your ideals, bring your ideals into the world in whatever capacity that you can.
Don’t talk, do. Don’t flap your gums about this or that then do nothing about it. Words hold very little power in this world, whereas every action radiates power. Take action and keep taking action towards your ideals, towards your goals, towards the version of life that you hold dearest and thing highest, think most noble.
Think of the things that you hold dear, that you hold higher, above others. Now look at yourself. Do you embody these things? And if not, why not? What can be done to change that? What can be done to fix that? What is something you can do right now, right away, to start on the path to embodying your ideals. To bringing the song of your heart to a physical manifestation in the world?
What must be done? Think on this. Seek to embody your ideals in deed.
The Law Of The Warrior Poet III – Curb Vice, Cultivate Virtue
We are our habits. We are what we do day in and day out. We aren’t our far off dreams or our best intentions, we are our actions, our daily habits. Habits and goals, having a true understanding of these two words is one of the most powerful things you can do to change your life. We’ll address habits here. There are two parts here. The curbing of bad habits, vices. And the cultivation of good habits, virtues. You need to take a few minutes and take stock of your life, take stock of where you spend that most valuable of resources…your time.
Take a week, a month would be even better, and make a daily list of where you spend your time. Now I want you to extrapolate from here and see where you’d be if you kept on this path, changing nothing. Where would you in a year? If the week you recorded was your every week? Remember you’re changing nothing. You can’t say “Oh but I’d do this and I’d do that.” words are cheap, actions are what matter. With the week you recorded where would you be?
Honestly, without honestly none of this is worth a damn. Where would you be in a year? In five years? In a decade? Really think about this because it’s by definition life changing. Are you current habits going to take you where you want to go? Honestly? Yes or no? Most likely there’s room for improvement. I know even with all the work I’ve done on this I still have room for it and is something I must stay vigilant about. Look at your list of habits.
There will be bad ones on there, you must record those as well. Remember honesty is required here, even if it hurts, especially when it hurts. How much time is spent on bad habits? On numbing agents? How much time is spent on drugs, porn, alcohol, mindless social media browsing, wasting time, and the like? How much time is spent on productive good habits that’ll take where you want to go in life?
The first time you start keeping track of this it’s always sobering and even sad. That’s to be expected and don’t despair, there is hope, no matter where your starting point is. Remember that awareness is half the battle and just by laying this all out you’ve taken a huge step forward. Now let’s talk about replacing the bad with the good and the most effective way to do this.
What I want you to do is take one bad habit you want to curb and one good habit you want to cultivate. Just one from each, any more will be overwhelming. While complete elimination of the bad habit would be great. Don’t expect this right away. Here’s what you’re looking for. Reduce the time of the bad habit and increase the time of the good habit. That’s it. Seek to increase that by a small amount each and every day. Slow and steady wins the race. Curb the vice and cultivate the virtue. Curb that bad habits and cultivate the good habits.
Stay Tuned For Part III
In interest of keeping all these articles at a certain length and readable in one sitting that’s where we’re stopping for the day. Seek to embody your ideals in deed, not just word or thought. It is deed that matters, deed that makes the difference. Deed that delineates and defines you. Seek to curb vice and cultivate virtue. Take stock of how you spend that most valuable of resources, your time, and see what needs to be done. We could all use improvement, each and every one of us. Pick one bad habit and one good habit. Seek to reduce the time of the bad habit until its eliminated and then seek to cultivate the good habit until it becomes a normal part of your life.
Until Next Time.
