Courage and Self-Control Emerge

Consistency nurtures seeds from bad situations, turning quiet efforts into visible growth and preparation for bigger roles. During my second year as a second shift manufacturing employee, I applied the same persistence I was developing during my shift to my new found love for working out. Throughout Leveraging Leadership Growth, I referenced how I never felt like I was overly talented. Disciplining myself to workout four or five days each week, especially after getting off work around 2am and getting up by 9am to head to the gym, did as much for my mindset as it did my overall fitness. Make no mistake, though, I still made time of every bit of the nonsense I could find on days off.

Before expanding on the courage and self-control that began to emerge through even just that initial persistence on and off the job, I’ll share how much developing that kind of discipline in the gym has served me since. While I certainly haven’t maintained a gym routine through all the years since, I’ve averaged more than five workout days each week since late 2019. Even through all that, my diet was out of control - until August 2024 when my chiropractor told me that I’d never outrun my fork. Dennis DaPonte challenged me to give up sugars and starches for three months. Applying the same discipline I learned in the gym as a twenty year old, I dropped around fifteen pounds in that three month period. More importantly, I had more energy than I remember since my late twenties. I’ve stuck with his suggestion since and I’m down over 50 pounds total. Oh, and as I share this, I’ve only missed logging some sort of workout on 21 days over the last ten months.

Now, back to my early days in manufacturing, specifically the feeling of never being overly talented. Through my teens, I was almost always the smallest and youngest in any group I was a part of. That was definitely still the case within my home department in the manufacturing facility. To compensate for whatever inadequacy I felt I had, I learned to work as hard as I possibly could and talk even louder; remember that DRIVEN behavioral style I’ve alluded to a few times already? While that whirlwind of activity and noise may have occasionally pointed to confidence, it most certainly was not.

Funny thing, though… The discipline I developed through consistency, both in my work and in the gym, the more I experienced those small wins. And through even minor daily victories on and off the job, courage and self-control became a normal part of my routine. Still yet, all bets were off when the weekends rolled around. Rome wasn’t built in a day. One of the primary things that was occurring daily was me being willing to admit to my weaknesses. As I owned them, I could begin overcoming them. And just those small steps forward, through what barely seem like the slightest of adversities as I look back now, helped prepare me to navigate bigger challenges as I moved forward.

Adversities, when we actively engage them, build the courage we’ll need in order to form the bedrock of influence. That influence is essential in earning respect without a title - and we’ll pick up there next. For now, I want you to reflect on how a past bad situation tested your discipline or self-control and plan one way to strengthen it moving forward.