With self-respect, you have the strength to carry the world on your shoulders.
“Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.”
Clint Eastwood
Pride and confidence in one’s self; a feeling that one is behaving with honor and dignity. That’s one concise definition of self-respect that I think we can all understand. What I find interesting about Clint Eastwood’s quote is the connection between self-respect and self-discipline.
For entrepreneurs and real estate agents, a tremendous amount of self-discipline is required. Running a business means being a self-starter, and at times the discipline it takes can seem to wane with our energy and our doubts.
But is it possible that some internal lack of confidence or pride holds us back? If we are failing to maintain self-discipline, perhaps it is a call to examine our actions and the accompanying internal monologue which evaluates and judges our actions. Are we being too hard on ourselves? Are we perhaps guilty over some decisions we know were not on the up-and-up? Do we know that in a situation recently we could have acted more honorably?
Self-respect leads to self-discipline, and rigorous self-discipline leads to momentum. We accomplish one thing and it leads to our next accomplishment, and before we know it, the momentum of our action ensures right actions, right thinking, and dignified forward motion in our lives.
This is a tremendously powerful cycle to harness and reinforce in your life, and if you’ve never made the connection between self-respect and positive momentum, perhaps these tough-love words of wisdom from Clint Eastwood will stick in your mind today. Do not attend merely to the cause of self-discipline, but go deeper and consider the health of your self-respect. It may be the key to getting the big picture in line.
Photo credit: downhilldom1984
