Master the Self

There are a lot of things that make change hard. The people who don’t support us or believe in us. The discomfort that gives us pause and, consequently, incites us to give up. The disappointment of showing up day after day and not seeing results. Comparing ourselves to those who’ve made it in our field and then wondering why we haven’t found the magic sauce. But if we want to be successful in our change initiatives, or if we want to bring our dreams to life, we must first master the self.

An Example that Inspires

I’m not a baseball fan, so I didn’t know a lot about Lou Gehrig other than amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) had first been named after him. It wasn’t until I read Ryan Holiday’s Discipline is Destiny that I learned more about Lou Gehrig. As a baseball player, Gehrig played 2,130 games in a row. When he got hit in the head by a baseball, he was back on the field the next day. Gehrig had learned to master the self.¹

Through all the physical issues that Gehrig dealt with, he showed through his body what he was willing to put up with, what he was willing to go without. He loved the game, and the proof lies in everything he did to play those 2,130 games.

Master the Self

It’s not easy to change, to bring your dreams to life when you have to be your own manager, your own cheerleading section. There’s no one there to check your progress, to push you beyond your limits. That’s all up to you. I know. When I’m out running, I have to push myself to run more than five kilometres to get in the longer distances. If I don’t, I’ll never meet my running goals. When I’m writing, I have to be the one to disconnect the internet. If I don’t, then it’s going to take longer to write my novel…and what I do write won’t be worth the paper on which it’s written.

It’s a slow process, but I am learning to master the self. Some days are easier than others, and lately, there have been a lot of ‘bad’ days. But, just like you, I owe it to myself to push through, to keep going, to not give up. This is the pathway to discipline, and the best way to create our destiny.

Let me, then, leave you today with this last thought…

You are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.

1. Holiday, R. (2022). Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control, New York, Portfolio/Penguin, pp. 2–17. [↩]