Wake up each morning a better person than you were yesterday.

Most people, if they’re both honest and intelligent, have an in-built desire to be ‘better’.  For most of my life I was no different from most people ~ until I tried to work out what it really meant to be ‘better’.

I firmly believe that for most men, being better really means being better than the other guy.  For most men being better means being superior ~ getting what you want, even if it’s at the expense of the other guy.  And, I can look back and see that attitude in myself.  I read innumerable books, watched hordes of self-development videos, and attended courses that were all about being superior, about winning at all costs, and not at all about being better.

Today I believe that being better, means being better than I used to be.  More honest, honourable, considerate, understanding, and accepting than I used to be.  Now I believe that being better doesn’t mean just going all-out to get what I want, even if it’s at the expense of someone else.  For me being ‘better’ no longer means being ‘superior’ ~ and that goes completely against all the business training and life experience I’ve ever had.  And you know what?  All that training and experience was really about surviving in a dog-eat-dog world.

That is such a bad, negative, misogynistic, and uncharitable attitude to have.

The difference between surviving, and really living a great life is all about attitude.

To become the man I wanted to be I’ve had to learn some difficult lessons along the way.  It’s a hard road, but it’s possible.  It’s a struggle, it’s harder than I wanted it to be, it’s takes longer than I wanted, and it takes more out of me than I could ever have believed at the start.

However, to be better than I have ever dreamed I could be, I had to learn this lesson ~ the only person I am competing with is myself.

To be a better man, to be a really cool guy living a really great life, to achieve my absolute and fullest potential, to reach enlightenment ~ all I have to do is to strive to be a little bit better today than I was yesterday.

Some say that the only way to win in life is to put yourself first, even if it’s at the expense of others.  And, that good guys finish last.  All I know is that I have learned the real lessons in life ~ Chivalry means something.

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net

be a Paladin