Courage is a fundamental trait that will help men throughout their life, especially when it is tempered with wisdom and understanding. Courage is also a trait, like wisdom and understanding, that has been found lacking in our modern world and modern society.
Lately I have been going through some classical works from Greek history. Reading the works of old masters that have held up through the years. From this I have learned and relearned many lessons, many things that we have forgotten.
And speaking frankly I think I underestimated the wisdom that was contained in these classical books, especially when put in the right context and with the right translation. One thing I discovered was a few words of wisdom on how top develop self-respect, something that many struggle with in today’s world.
Men and women alike.
As a matter of fact it’s a bit of crisis, when it comes to self-respect. So few have it and yet so many want it.
So why is there such a discrepancy? Between the desire for self-respect and the lack of attaining it?
While there are myriad reasons for this I think there’s one that stands out above the others and that is that most don’t know how to go about attaining self-respect in the first place.
I’ve written a few essays on this that you can find in the archives. But through my readings I have discovered another facet that I do not think I hit on hard enough.
And that is…
The Chief Element Of Self-Respect
I encourage everyone to invest in themselves and through this process of investing in themselves they will in then learn to respect themselves. But there is another aspect here too, one covered by the ancients that I don’t think I gave enough credit too.
And that is self-control.
Thucydides states that “Self-control is the chief element in self-respect.”
And self-control is what so many people lack today. But how does one develop self-control and in turn have that lead to self-respect?
Self-control is exercising the will to forge things into habits that make up your day to day actions. Like Aristotle said “Virtues are formed in man by doing the actions.” doing the actions makes the person, not the thought, though I’d say thought does play a role and can be parent to the action.
Like money, diet, or anything else. To exercise self-control and eventually mastery we must start small and establish small but consistent victories for ourselves. My advice is to take something small that you can do each and every day.
Perhaps it’s have a protein shake, go for a walk, read 6 pages in a book. Whatever, something that you can track and be consistent with. Something that will allow you to practice having self-control and develop this “muscle” so to speak.
Start small and build from there. And make sure you record it. What gets measured gets managed as Peter Drucker would say. Write it down, build victories for yourself. Choose one thing a month that you want to start doing.
Track it.
Then after 31 days of doing it, add something else to the tracker. Thus building self-discipline which will lead to self respect in the process.
But that’s not all.
Another Component Of Self-Respect
The Thucydides quote I shared with you is only half complete. The full quote is as follows.
“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.”
Thus we can see the connection between self-discipline to self-respect and finally courage. When we learn to discipline ourselves we learn that we have control over our lives, over ourselves, over something. That leads to feelings of power, one of those feelings being self-respect. The development of self-respect leads to trusting and believing in oneself, which is an element of courage.
This by first working on self-discipline we eventually end up with more courage. Keep boosting the one and the others come with it in a virtuous cycle.
Leading you higher and higher.
Some ancient wisdom that is eminently practical today. Take what you can from it, experiment with it, if nothing else take some time to delve into some classic works. The good ones contain many good words of wisdom.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
