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Faith

Anchor everything in something bigger than yourself.

Core Principles

• Respect God and follow His instructions. Read the Bible and pray.
• If the world contradicts the Bible, side with the Bible.

Words Worth Remembering

“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Matthew 6:27, 34

“Never let the opinions of others become the focus of your life. Jesus always holds the key to your greatest and most lasting rewards.”

Dr. Charles Stanley

“Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.”

Robert Schuller

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Character

Who you are when nobody’s watching defines who you become.

Core Principles

• Stand for your principles and stand for what’s right, even if you stand alone.
• Say “sir” and “ma’am” when speaking with someone older than you.
• Don’t be afraid to fail. The fear of failure stops a lot of people from achieving greatness.
• Being brave doesn’t mean you are never afraid; it means you face your fears and do what you need to do in spite of that fear.
• Don’t talk too much. You don’t always have to say something.
• Write the script for your life, don’t let others do so. You’re the Director of the show.
• Take calculated risks. Don’t be reckless, but don’t be timid.

Words Worth Remembering

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.”

Matthew 7:12

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Babe Ruth

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Henry Ford

“If you reach for a star, you might not get one. But you won’t come up with a hand full of mud either.”

Leo Burnett

“Attitudes are more important than facts.”

Karl Menninger

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.”

Winston Churchill

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”

Winston Churchill

“Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.”

Proverbs 17:28

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously, that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case you fail by default.”

J.K. Rowling

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Teddy Roosevelt

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

John Shedd

“Stop being patient and start asking yourself, how do I accomplish my 10-year plan in 6 months? You will probably fail but you will be a lot further ahead of the person who simply accepted it was going to take 10 years.”

Elon Musk

“Who you are should define you, not who you were.”

Raymond Reddington

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Resilience

Life will knock you down. Get back up anyway.

Core Principles

• Learn from the past and prepare for the future, but don’t worry about either.
• Nothing worth doing is easy.
• Life is like a game of cards — you can’t control the hand you’re dealt, you can only play that hand wisely and hope for some luck along the way.
• Don’t act like bad things are world-ending. Bad things happen in life. Keep moving forward anyway.

Words Worth Remembering

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

Rocky Balboa

“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride — and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”

Bear Bryant

“Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit.”

Bear Bryant

“The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you’re made of, not the circumstances.”

“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can — that’s what makes all the difference in your life.”

Rocky Balboa

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins — not through strength but by perseverance.”

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

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Discernment

Think clearly. Trust wisely. Guard your peace.

Core Principles

• Think for yourself. Don’t mindlessly follow the crowd. Analyze facts and form your own opinion.
• Avoid putting labels on yourself (Republican, Democrat, etc.); that takes away from your ability to think for yourself.
• Keep a small circle of trust; not everyone who acts friendly is your friend.
• Don’t believe everything you hear; people lie.
• Most people you consider friends at some point in your life will not be lifelong friends. You will only have a handful of true friends. Don’t make decisions with temporary acquaintances that result in lifelong regrets.
• Don’t easily trust people.
• Keep your cards close to your chest and don’t tell everyone your business. Most people don’t care, and some secretly want you to fail. Information is powerful.
• Don’t worry about what people who don’t matter think about you. Not everyone will like you.
• Learn to say “no” without an explanation. “No” is a complete sentence.
• If someone gossips to you about others, they will gossip about you. It’s a character flaw, not a sign of closeness.
• Stay away from bars, night clubs, and anywhere people are getting drunk and being reckless. Trouble will find you in life; don’t go out of your way to find it.
• Your late teens and entire twenties are an important time. Decisions made during these years can deeply impact the rest of your life. Don’t have sex outside of marriage, don’t get into debt, don’t drink, don’t use drugs.

Words Worth Remembering

“Another thing to avoid is extremely intense ideology because it cabbages up one’s mind. When you announce that you’re a loyal member of some cult-like group and you start shouting out the orthodox ideology, what you’re doing is pounding it in. You’re ruining your mind… So, you wanna be very careful with intense ideology; it presents a big danger to the only mind you’re ever gonna have.”

Charlie Munger

“If you live for people’s approval, then you’ll die by their rejection.”

Louie Giglio

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”

Winston Churchill

“Learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”

Marcus Aurelius

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”

Marcus Aurelius

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

Marcus Aurelius

“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

Robert Brault

“The ones who think they know you, they really don’t know anything about you at all.”

Raymond Reddington

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Relationships

Choose the people in your life carefully. They shape your future.

Core Principles

For Both

• If you get married, marry a family-oriented, God-fearing person.
• Do not marry or even date someone who is financially irresponsible.