Two Keys for the Journey

There is a moment in your life when you will have a revelation and see clearly.

You can choose who you will become.
Not someday. Not later. Today.

You may experience this during a high point in life, but I’d guess you’ll see that truth at a low point. That single moment of clarity allows you to take control of your life—and make the choice to rise again.

How Do You Begin as a New Man?

What does it take to rise?

There are two keys:

1. A standard — a hero to aim for. Someone who shows you what kind of man you could become.
2. The grit to keep going when you fail. Because you will fail. And if you don’t know how to walk through failure, you’ll never rise.

These two can’t be separated.

Without a standard, you drift.
Without grit, you collapse.
If you want to grow, you need both.

The Standard: Find Your Hero

Finding that standard often means finding a hero—someone who possesses the virtues you wish to attain.

It can be a person you know, a fictional character, or one of the great saints of history.
That hero becomes a measuring stick for your life.

Ask yourself:
Am I becoming more like them—or drifting further away?

As a kid, I regularly did this with the movies I watched.

I remember watching Flik from A Bug’s Life. I appreciated his ingenuity and his desire to help those around him—even when it cost him.

That standard inspired me at school.
When picking teams at recess, I would choose the kid who was normally picked last.
I would try to befriend the kid with no friends.

As a man, I’ve found new heroes.
I look to Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings and the great saint-kings of Europe.

When I’m tired—when I want to shrink back—their stories call me forward.
The saints remind me that holiness is possible.
Aragorn shows me what a noble man looks like.

Your hero is your compass.
He keeps you moving toward who you are meant to be.

The Grit: Embrace Failure

But aiming high isn’t enough.

The road to that man will be paved with failure.

Failure is uncomfortable. It’s painful. And the fear of it can paralyze you before you ever begin.

But as I said in the last newsletter:

Failure is not your enemy.
It’s your friend—if you let it be.

Failure crushes your illusions and teaches you how the world truly works.

When I first started teaching, I thought my students would love me.
I expected them to behave like perfect little robots.

Instead, my brother told me they borderline hated me.

I had failed.

I could have given up. I could have shrank in fear.

But I didn’t. I leaned in. I learned.

The next year, I was one of the favorite teachers—while teaching math, of all things.

That failure taught me to truly care about my students—and to show them that I cared.
It changed how I taught forever. I even redesigned my grading system to reward mastery, not just points.

If I hadn’t failed, I never would have grown.

Two Keys for the New Man

If we are going to become the men this world needs,
we need:

• A hero to aim for
• And the courage to fail well

The master always started as an apprentice.
The strong man was once the weak boy.
The arrow was once rough wood.
The blade was once raw iron.

Like an arrow and an anvil, we must know our aim—
and be willing to take the beating.

Your Challenge This Week

Name your hero.
Who will you measure yourself against?

Write it down.
Keep it where you’ll see it.

Start moving.
And when you fail—because you will—step back up to the forge. Try again.

We’re building something here.
One strike at a time.