Hello Misfit Nation! Welcome to another edition of "Lessons for Hannah!"
In November of 2016, we introduced a new format that we are putting alongside our regular episodes called “Lessons for Hannah.” Hannah is my daughter and one of the main inspirations for the Misfit Entrepreneur. I wanted to have a place where she could go and learn from her daddy and his Misfit friends throughout her life….even after I am gone. If you haven’t listened to the first episode of "Lessons for Hannah," I urge you to as it gives some more background and tells the amazing story of how Hannah came to be in our lives.
"Lessons for Hannah" are short, very useful, and sometimes comical lessons, that I have learned which I want to share with you and give to Hannah to help in your lives. Because I want Hannah to have these for her life, I’m going to speak as though I am talking directly to her. These episodes are a lot of fun and if you think there is a lesson that we should include in these episodes, please don’t hesitate to send it over to us at support@misfitentrepreneur.com. We’d love to share it.
Hannah sweetie, I want to talk you about what it means to have principles. Principles are the things that you believe are resolute in life. They are the things that you will not sacrifice in any way, even it means limiting your personal gain. Anchoring to principles makes you who you are. They keep you from selling your soul and from straying from your true self.
As you know, I am a student of history, especially the founding of our great country, because it took great principle and true grit in adhering to those principles to not only defeat the greatest army in the world at the time, but to then come together and create a framework that gave and enshrined the power to the individual instead of a monarchy or government. During the revolutionary war, Thomas Paine has a very famous quote that went like this, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
You see, principles are everlasting. They are things that you follow and stand for in good times and bad, or when they are not popular. Adhering to principles many times will mean standing up for people and ideas you vehemently disagree with. That is the point. Principles, as I mentioned at the beginning of this message, are resolute. There are a lot sunshine patriots and summer soldiers out there – people that claim to have principles one day only to change them the next to go with herd or to appease others. I feel for these people, because they will never know who they truly are or what they stand for.
It’s OK to not please everyone. You see, When you stand for something it means that people will not agree with you. Hey, that’s part of life. But, as they say, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Don’t fall prey to this trap. Decide what you believe and hold those beliefs whatever comes your way.
But, what if you find yourself questioning one of your principles? That happens. Things may change in your life and you main gain new perspective or find that what you thought you truly believed is not what you believe now. Lord knows I have. The key. The most important key is that you think for yourself and don’t just do what everyone else does or what is popular – especially when you know you don’t believe in it and do it to selfishly enrich yourself.
Never sacrifice who you are and what you believe – your principles to enrich yourself. I’ll end by saying this – your principles are you. They determine who you are in this world and thus should be as well thought out and pure as you can make them. You should challenge them in every way to make sure they are resolute. And then you should adhere to them. One of my biggest principles is that I will always carry myself as though you and your mother are right there with me. If what I am doing is not something I would do with you and your mother or something that I would be embarrassed to do with you – I don’t do it. It has served me well and will be something I strive to always adhere to my whole life. I hope you can do the same and create a set of resolute principles for yourself that help you know who you are and be the best you can be. In the end, that is one of the best things we can have in this life.
I love you,
Daddy
Best Quote: "Decide what you beleive and hold those beliefs whatever comes your way"
Misfit 3: