S31:E2🎙️ LIVE AWLL From Proverbs — Chapter 2

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Alright everyone, welcome to another special edition of the Leadership and Success Podcast. This is Season 31, Episode 2. That's because we're going to be talking about ancient wisdom mentoring from the Book of Proverbs. Right, and this is about ancient wisdom and leadership lesson from the book of Proverbs. Today we are doing Proverbs chapter 2. We did Proverbs chapter 1 yesterday, and we're gonna do Proverbs chapter 3 tomorrow, and we're gonna end this special edition of the Leadership and Success Podcast by the end of the month when we do Proverbs chapter 31. So Proverbs has 31 chapters. This is the 31st season of the Leadership and Success Podcast, and we're going to be reading each one chapter each and every day. All right, and, uh, our curriculum for this season, just like last season, is, uh, the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by Dr. John C. Maxwell, and also the Maxwell Leadership Bible. So we're gonna read the book of Proverbs. No matter which Bible you use, that is fine. Again, this is not a religious podcast. We are really focusing on the leadership lesson The success principle and ancient wisdom that can be applied today, because wisdom doesn't change. And that's what we are seeking in this special edition of the Leadership and Success Podcast. So before I start with Proverbs chapter 2, let me just briefly recap what we talked about yesterday. So for those who missed it, who were not here yesterday, I highly recommend you go back and watch the podcast from yesterday. So if you follow me on LinkedIn, this is gonna be my latest article, Ancient Wisdom and Leadership Lesson from the Book of Proverbs Chapter 1. So this was yesterday. I have the summary article here with all of the lessons we learned. And then I also have a link for you to listen to the podcast and you can get this podcast as well, wherever, you listen to your podcast. It's available on LinkedIn, it's available on YouTube, it's available on Spotify, it's available everywhere. So I will just briefly mention again what we talked about yesterday for Chapter 1, quick summary. So we learned a few lessons. Lesson number 1 yesterday was leadership begins with teachable humility. That was Proverbs 1:5. 'Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.' The leadership insight was: great leaders, they never graduate from learning. Rank, title, or experience does not replace curiosity. The most effective leaders are listeners first, then they open, and they are open to counsel, to coaching, and to correction. So that was the first lesson. The second lesson yesterday from Proverbs chapter 1 came from Verse 7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction." So that's really the cornerstone verse for Proverbs. Fear, it means reverence, accountability, and moral awareness. So basically, leadership without reverence, without accountability, Without moral awareness drifts toward ego, manipulation, or abuse of power. So be humble. Reverence anchors ethical leadership. And the third lesson we learned yesterday was from Proverbs 1:8-9: Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. So That's about hearing wise counsel early. So these verses emphasize intergenerational wisdom, learning from your parents or people who are elder than you. Leaders who ignore those who came before them repeat avoidable mistakes. And wisdom is an inheritance, not a burden. Very important lesson. And then the fourth lesson we learned yesterday from Proverbs 1 was verse 10. My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. So peer pressure is a leadership test. That's the lesson. So leadership often fails quietly through small compromises made for acceptance, speed, or convenience. And this verse reminds leaders that integrity is tested socially, not just strategically. All right, and then lesson number 5 was from, uh, Verses 15 and 16: Do not set foot on their paths, for their feet rush into evil. So shortcuts carry hidden costs. An ethical shortcut may look efficient, attractive, but they erode trust, morale, and legitimacy. Leadership is not just about results but about how results are achieved. Shortcuts— okay. Trust. And lesson number 6, uh, verses 24 and 26: But since you refuse to listen, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you. So ignoring wisdom has consequences. So wisdom is patient but not passive. Leaders who repeatedly ignore warnings, data, or dissent eventually face crisis. Most leadership failures are predictable, they are not sudden. Alright, and I think the final lesson, lesson 7, was from verse 33: "But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm." So wisdom produces security, not fear. And the insight is the end goal of wise leadership is psychological safety, stability, and trust. When leaders listen well, and lead ethically, people flourish and fear loses its grip. So that's what we learned, uh, yesterday from the book of Proverbs chapter 1, which teaches us that wisdom is not optional for leaders, it is foundational. Okay, and leadership is not defined by charisma, authority, or ambition, but by humility, discernment, and accountability. Those who pursue wisdom lead with clarity, Those who reject wisdom lead toward chaos, and it's often unintentional. So that's what we learned yesterday. So today we're going to start our new lesson on Chapter 2. So I would like to hear from you guys. For those of you watching online, let me know what you think, which verse speaks to you, and what wisdom, what leadership lesson, what leadership insight, and what success principle you get out of it. So here are my ideas for Proverbs chapter 2. Again, like I said yesterday when I started this special edition of the Leadership and Success podcast, I've been reading the book of Proverbs every single year since I was about 12, 13 years old. And after, when I got married, my wife and I would do it together. And now this is the first time I would like to share some of the things I have learned in the book of Proverbs with the entire Leadership Success podcast family. And again, you don't have to be a Christian, you don't have to be a Jew or a Muslim. This is not religious at all. It's just about the ancient wisdom and how we apply it today. It's about leadership principle and success principle from the book of Proverbs. So yesterday we did Proverbs chapter 1, today we're gonna start with chapter 2. So chapter 2 is about the discipline of discernment. Leadership wisdom is not accidental. It is pursued, protected, and practiced. You have to pursue wisdom. It doesn't just come to you. You know, you are going at an incline, right? You're going upstream. You want to do something different. You have to seek something that you don't have, know something that you don't know. You have to pursue it. Sometimes you may have to spend a little bit of money. You have to spend time, focus, energy, attention, but you are seeking it. You want to be different. You want to be better. And you seek wisdom. So wisdom wants to be sought, it's not just given to you. All right, Proverbs 2 teaches that discernment is a leader's quiet superpower. The one way that you're seeking wisdom maybe is by making the time to come here live on YouTube or LinkedIn and participate in this discussion, share what you're learning, or learn from other people what they got from the Book of Proverbs. So that's one way of seeking Wisdom. All right, so Proverbs 2 teaches that discernment is the leader's quiet superpower. You have to be discernible, right? One that guards character, sharpens judgment, and keeps you on the right path when pressure mounts. So the theme for chapter 2 is really wisdom pursued becomes protection practiced. You pursue wisdom and wisdom will protect you. All right, the very first lesson is going to be in verses 1 and 2. They say, "My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding." So the first lesson is stored wisdom. Why great leaders learn on purpose. You have to learn, but you learn on purpose. It doesn't happen by accident. You have to be intentional. If you are going to learn, you're gonna have to do it purposefully. So the leadership insight, uh, leadership grows— growth begins with intentional receptivity. You have to be ready to receive and be intentional seeking the wisdom. Wisdom must be welcomed, retained, and internalized, not merely heard, right? You have to seek after it. So let's talk about leadership application. You build daily learning rhythm, right? Reading, mentoring, reflection. One thing my mentor does, Papa John says he does 5 things every single day, every day since he was like in his 20s, he's done that. Now he's in his late 70s now. Every single day, no exception, Sunday, holidays, it doesn't matter. Every day he does 5 things. He reads, he writes, he asks questions, he thinks, and he files. Every single day he does that. He's always reading, he's always writing, always thinking, always asking questions, and always filing what he learns. That's how he was able to write more than 100 books and most of them being on the New York Times bestselling list because he does it every single day. All right. That's also part of the reason why I was inspired since 2025. I think it was about May, I started writing a leadership devotion on LinkedIn every single day. And then I started doing my podcast too, every single day. And right now I am doing 2 podcasts every day, at least for the month of May. My regular podcast, which is Season 5, and I've already interviewed what, I think 5, 6 people today. But at the same time, I am doing in parallel this special edition for the Book of Proverbs. But every day, I was here yesterday, I'm here today, and I'll be back tomorrow for chapter verse 3. That's really how you seek wisdom. You have to build that daily habit so that it becomes— you don't have to think about it anymore. It becomes automatic. You just keep doing it over and over again. It becomes part of you. So another leadership application for this lesson in Proverbs: translate lesson into behavior, not just notes. You learn your lesson and then you have to act upon it. Don't just know it, but do it. I've said it many times before, you don't really know anything until you actually do it. Because you may know it in your head and think, oh, I know it. But as long as you don't do it, you really don't know it. You're gonna know it when you are doing it and you start seeing the result of whatever it is that you've learned. So that's wisdom, right? Get the understanding, but then you have to apply it, change your behavior and put it in practice. And number 3, you have to create space for feedback. Especially from those below you, right? Not just your boss, not just your elders, not just your parents, but people who report to you, even your children. You have to create space for feedback because feedback is good. Doesn't mean that you're gonna accept every feedback that is given, doesn't mean that you're gonna do everything people ask you to do, but it means that you have an open mind, you want to hear what they have to say, and then you make up your own decision whether I'm gonna do it or not. But at least you listen. Okay, so What leadership lesson am I storing versus merely sampling? Something to think about. What leadership lesson are you storing? Because I used to be one of those who just keep learning and learning, going from book to book, from seminar to seminar, just keep learning and learning, learning. But at some point, all of that learning isn't going to do you any good unless you put it in practice, right? You're gonna have to put it in practice. That's when you're gonna see the result because you can know everything how to run a business, but if you never run a business before, that information really is absolutely no good. So you have to do it, put it into practice. All right. The anchor reflection here for the first lesson is, where have I confused experience with wisdom? And what truth do I need to deliberately anchor in my heart today? Think about that. Wisdom. Alright, the second lesson, that's going to be in Proverbs 2:3-4. The second lesson is urgency for insight, seeking wisdom before speed. You have to have that sense of urgency. Get wisdom before you go fast. Get wisdom and then you can go fast and accomplish whatever it is you want to do, but you have to seek wisdom first. So verses 3 and 4 say, "Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it," so you have to seek it, "ask for silver as if it was money and search for it as for hidden treasure." It's almost as if, You are going back in the days, they would go westward toward California and be looking for gold, right? So they would be digging, trying to find hidden treasure. That's the mindset you have to have for wisdom. I want wisdom, I'm seeking it. I am putting my time, my energy, my focus, sometimes even my money because I want to understand it, right? Seek it, seek wisdom, and then you can apply it. So Discernment responds to desperation, not distraction. All right. Leaders who urgently seek understanding avoid reckless confidence. So what are some applications? Pause major decisions for counsel and clarity. And usually I like to have at least 2 counsel, 2 advisors, 2 to 3, right? But at least 2. This way I can see, okay, this is what this person said, this is what this person said, I trust them both. So what do I say? And then I can I consider that and then make my decision. But I think the more advisor you have, the better. Many times in the Bible it talks about in the mouth of two or three witnesses. We need to be at least two witnesses. One witness is not enough. You need to be able to look at things and make sure that you are also looking at your blind side, right? Something that you may not be aware of, but somebody else might be. So the more counsels you have, I think, the better pictures you will have. So seek wisdom, seek mentorship. All right. Ask better questions before offering answers. So you have to consider what is being said, think about it, and then respond. Don't just react to it. I talked with someone today, I can't remember which one of my guests said that, but most of us, we tend to just react, react, react. I think it was Dr. Brown, Dina Brown. Don't react, create space, think, make a decision, and then respond. That's wisdom. So normalize seeking insight as strength, not weakness. Nobody knows everything, right? It's impossible. In 2025, in the age of artificial intelligence, it's absolutely impossible for anybody to know everything there is to know about any subject. Just not possible. You have to make it normal. It's okay to seek insight, to seek advice. It's perfectly fine to find out. So I think one of the greatest skills this century is the ability to find out. You don't know everything, but you know where to go or who to talk to, how to come up with the solution. It's really a mindset. So what decision deserves more wisdom than speed right now? Do you need to take a pause and get wisdom so you can move forward? So the anchor reflection for lesson 2 is, am I leading from urgency to appear decisive, or am I leading from humility to be wise? So that's your choice. All right, let's go to lesson number 3. Lesson number 3 is The Humble Leader's Advantage. Wisdom is received, not claimed. You cannot claim wisdom, but you can receive it. You have to be humble. So that's in Proverbs 2:6. For the Lord gives wisdom, it's a gift. From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. So you have to receive it. Alright, so wisdom is received, not self-generated. Humility is the gateway to insight. There is so much more that people could accomplish if they were just humble, because you do so much more when you collaborate with other people. So being humble enough to know I don't know everything and that together we can do so much more than we can individually, that is wisdom. So what type of application can we have from that? Maybe begin leadership moments with grounding, maybe prayer or self-reflection, meditation or silence. I think it was Terry Maxwell I spoke to today. She was like, you need to slow down, breathe. You have to slow down your body so that you have time to act, not out of fear, but because you are calm, collected, you can focus and you can make a logical decision. Because most people are always driven and they are always moving forward and moving and moving and moving. And before they know it, they start just reacting. You need to create a space, get rid of all of the distraction, and then think and make a decision. All right. So invite diverse perspective to challenge blind spots. That's so important because if you only have people around you that think the same way as you do, you have the same background, all of you guys will be failing and missing a blind spot, which could be quite catastrophic. That's why you need diversity, right? We've been talking about DEI in this country, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging. That's very important. You need to have a diverse group of people around you so that you can form a highly performing team so that you can get different point of view and you will perform a lot better. And I believe that is wisdom. And then finally, one application would be to model teachability publicly. You have to be teachable even as the leader. Are you teachable? I believe it was on Terry Maxwell Today. I believe that was season 5, I believe it was episode 3. Terry Maxwell, she said in her company, If you are not teachable, they are not going to hire you. Everybody in the company, they have core values, they live by those values. And once they hire someone new, they are going to assess them first 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. And if that person doesn't show those values, doesn't live by those values, and is not teachable, then that person will be shown the door so they can pursue other opportunity. That is so powerful. And I really wish every company would do that, live by their core value. But being teachable is important. No matter how many degrees you have, no matter how smart you think you are, you have to be teachable. It's a mindset. All right, where might pride be limiting your leadership clarity? Think about that. The anchor reflection is, uh, what would change if I led today assuming I don't have all the answers. But I'm telling you flat out, you don't have all the answers. It's just impossible. That's why we have to rely on one another.

Okay.

All right. Lesson number 4, that's going to be from verses 7 and 8: Integrity as Armor. How upright leadership protects the mission. You have to be a leader of integrity because integrity will protect your mission. Integrity is your armor. That's the lesson. So verses 7 and 8 say, "He holds success in store for the upright, guarding the courses of the just and protecting the way of his faithful ones." Just faithful, upright, you will have success. So leadership insight, uh, integrity creates long-term protection. Ethical leadership is strategic leadership. You have to think long term, not just microwave, here and now, but long term. 6 months from now, a year from now, 3 years from now, 5 years from now. What are you doing now in order to plan for that future? I think the leaders who have long-term perspective, and the longer your perspective, I believe the more success you will achieve. Whereas people who just live day by day, just live in the moment, they really don't even know where they are going. They just end up anywhere life is going to push them. But when you have intentionality, when you have strategy, when you have perspective, you think about, this is where I am, this is where I want to go, so what do I need to do in order to get there? And that makes Correction changes on the way, but you have a vision, right? You have a focus. All right. I believe as an application, you can establish clear ethical boundaries before pressure hits. And I remember that lesson from season 4 when I talked to my old professor, Dr. Casey Lucius. She was teaching us that when it comes to ethics, you really have to rehearse that, decide in advance what you're going to do when you get into the pressure, right? Because by the time you get there and there's a lot of pressure for you to do something, you may want to be expedient because you didn't think through it. So establish clear ethical boundaries now. And then number 2, you have to reward integrity, not just performance. If someone performs very, very well, that is great, but are they also a person of integrity? Can you trust them? Yeah, they can do the job, but can you trust them as a human being? For example, in the military, we have quite a few people who perform extremely well. They go to war, the mission or whatever it is they are, working on. But sometimes when you are a member of a team like that, you wonder, okay, I definitely trust you with doing your job while we are on the mission, but can I trust you as a human being? Would I trust you with my money? Would I trust you with my wife? Would I trust you with my family? Integrity is really foundational. And then number 3, as an application, choose consistency over convenience. Be consistent. As a leader, people need to know that you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, that you have those rules, those policies, and they apply to everybody, including yourself, right? You hold everybody to a high standard, but you don't play favorites, but you are consistent. So they know, oh yeah, these are the rules. I know if I do that, I'm gonna get the reward, and I know if I don't do that, I'm gonna get the consequences, no matter who I am or where I come from. That's very, very helpful. Some of the best commanding officers I've ever had in the Navy were very, very consistent. Sometimes they were pretty tough, they had very, very high standards, but they were very clear. Hey, if you guys do this and you go, you meet this standard or you exceed it, this is what's going to, uh, happen. But if you don't, well, this is what's going to happen. And they are consistent with it. And I think that is so important in life and in leadership. So where am I tempted to compromise under pressure. Where are you? And what can you do about it? The anchor reflection for this lesson is, is my leadership built on what works or on what is right? Think about that. All right. Lesson number 5, that's going to be from verse 9. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair every good path. So lesson number 5: choosing the right path. Justice, fairness, and ethical clarity. Discernment clarifies not just what is possible, but what is just. Leadership application: evaluate decision through impact and fairness lenses. What's going to be the impact, and, uh, am I being fair? Seek input from those affected, not just those empowered. Right. I think one thing that makes great leaders, at least in my experience, is not just thinking about people in leadership, all of the department heads and above, but it's really thinking about the troop. It is really thinking about the white hat, right? The, uh, junior enlisted folks. How are the decisions we are making going to impact them? The sailors, those who actually do the work. That is so important. And many times when I was recommending officer, we usually have a senior enlisted leader who represents the entire, uh, enlisted member of the white hat, and they make sure whatever decision made by the commanding officers is going to be beneficial for the, uh, more junior enlisted member of the command. And if there are some issues, they will definitely voice concern, and as the commanding officer, you absolutely need to listen to that. But when you make those decisions, think about the impact and also making sure that it is fair. And then seek input from the people who are going to be affected by the policies that you are coming with, not just people who are empowered to enforce those policies. And then finally, you need to balance outcome with your values. I think it's very important to have those core values, but they are core to you, meaning you have to live by them. Important. Okay, who benefits and who bears the cost of your decision? That's the question. So the anchor reflection is, would I be at peace if this decision became my leadership legacy? Would you be? Think about that. All right, lesson number 6, internal guardrails, discretion as a leader's first line of defense. So that's going to be from verses 10 and 11. For wisdom will enter your heart, discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom, discretion, understanding. So mature leaders develop internal guardrails, not just external rules, right? How can you apply this? Practice discretion in speech, email, and decision-making. Be discreet. I think the number one person who taught me how to be discreet was my mother. She really was very, very good at it. You wouldn't know what she was planning until it was already done, until it was a fait accompli. That's really how she operated. And it was really wonderful to see. But yeah, she taught me to be discreet, how to keep your mouth shut and just focus on your work, on your goals, and completely do not pay attention to distraction. Stay focused on your main thing. Let your main thing be your main thing. And then once you accomplish whatever it is you wanted to accomplish, then everybody will eventually know, but be discreet. So number 2, avoid reactive leadership, respond thoughtfully. We talked about this earlier. Don't just react, but respond. Take the time to create the space to think and to come up with a response and then respond. Don't just automatically react. All right. And then number 3, model emotional intelligence under pressure. To me, emotional intelligence is really two things. Self-awareness, be aware of yourself, your surrounding, but also be aware of other people. People, right? Because, uh, in leadership, you don't really treat everybody exactly the same. You have to consider their strength, their weaknesses, you know, the opportunities and the threats that, uh, your people are facing. And it's different for everyone. So you have to come up with a unique approach to how to deal with specific people within your team, your organization, and, uh, everywhere. So that you use the best method to motivate, to influence, to inspire those people, because not everybody is inspired or motivated by the same thing. So you have to use emotional intelligence. Again, it takes time. You need to get to know people. I talked with 4-star Admiral Gary Brito today. He was saying how it became more and more difficult as he became a more and more senior officer because he would have so many people under him, but he really took time to get to know them. Who are you? What do you like? What takes you? What excites you? And then those would be used during times of pressure to make the right decision and to do the right thing for his people. That's why he got to be known as the People's General. It's not something he sought or he gave himself. It's the people who said, you are the People's General because you really care about us. I think that's really a great model for leadership. So where do I need stronger internal discipline? Where do you? What boundaries, if strengthened, would protect your leadership credibility? And I believe I mentioned that yesterday. I can't remember exactly which podcast episode, but you really don't want to have to use self-mastery or willpower, right? You want to make your life easy in such a way that you do not need to use self-discipline. Just make it so easy that your environment, your atmosphere is set up in such a way that you are forced, you are guided, you are pushed to always do the right thing. One simple example. Today is January 2nd. Most people, okay, brand new year, I want to lose weight. Okay, that is a great, great goal to have. All right. So if you are going to lose weight, maybe a couple of things you need to do. You need to sleep. At least 7, 8 hours a day, I think. You need to eat better food, you need to eat less, and you need to work out more, right? Now, many people in America, especially, we eat a lot of junk food here. And sometimes you really have to fight the temptation. Oh, am I gonna go to McDonald's or whatever favorite junk food you like, pizza or whatever. One way to make it so that you don't even have to use any effort fighting the temptation is to just not deal with it. Don't have junk food in your home because if you don't have junk food in your pantry or in your refrigerator, guess what? You're gonna eat the healthy food that you have there. That's one way to make it very, very easy. You don't have to fight, you don't have to develop charisma or fight temptation or willpower or any of that. No, you just naturally go and eat what is available in your environment and you control your environment, you control your personal space. And if you are tempted on your way home because there is a restaurant or something that you like, maybe you take a route around it. You choose a different route. Just make it so that in your life you will not be subject to whatever temptation that sometimes gets a hold of you. Just make it easy and you just focus on your mission and make it easy for you to always do the right thing. Okay, lesson number 7. I believe this is the last lesson I'm gonna get from Proverbs chapter 2. And again, for those listening, let me know in the comments what you are getting out of this, what you think about what I'm saying, and what you yourself saw in the second chapter of the book of Proverbs. What jumped at you and what lesson, what wisdom nugget you are getting out of it? So for lesson 7, we're going to look at verse 20. "Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous." So the leadership walk— consistency creates legacy. Consistency today will create legacy tomorrow. Alright, leadership is revealed through consistent daily choices, not isolated moments. All right, and one thing I really love about this, uh, there is a book. Let me see, uh, I think I have— yeah, here it is. Let me, let me get it for just a second. One of my mentors, Darren Hardy, he wrote this book, The Compound Effect. I highly recommend you all read this. Great book, Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success. In the Compound Effect, he really talks about consistency, how when you do the right thing every single day, you may not see a result right away because it's gonna take time. But if you keep doing it, eventually you will see a result. Keep doing it for a day, for a week, for a month, for 2 months, for a year, for 2 years, eventually you're gonna see huge results because there is a compounding effect on what you are doing. And one example he uses really that touches me is like, now if you go to McDonald's, let's say you eat a burger or whatever, you're not going to gain 20 pounds on the spot, right? If you did, nobody would eat there. But the thing is you eat junk food, whatever it is, pizza, burger, or whatever it is, you feel perfectly fine. It's like nothing has changed. You look just the same way you did prior to you eating junk food. But the thing is, if you do it every single day, before you know it, it is going to add up really, really, really fast. And the same thing, if you do something right, something you want to do, you are working towards your goal, you keep doing it and eventually you're going to see the result. One of the problem I think with people is they give up too soon. They are working on a new path, eating right, exercising. They start maybe exercising 3 times a week and then 4 times a week, 5 times a week. And then all of a sudden they just stop before they see the result. They were seeking. So you have to let it compound, right? You have to keep doing it until you see the result. So you have to be consistent daily, every single day, no exception. And then you will see great, great results. I think people who are consistent, people who have a great work ethic, they really will outmaneuver and outdo any geniuses out there because when you are a genius, you are just as lazy as everybody else, right? You may be extremely smart, but you don't really want to apply yourself. And one of my mentors told me, I think it was Darren Hardy. Yes, it was him. He said that people who are successful and those who are not, they both don't want to do what they need to do in order to get what they are seeking. But the difference between them is people who are successful, they do what they need to do when they need to do it, whether they feel like it, or not. And like everybody else, they don't want to do it. They don't feel like— they don't want to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. They don't want to go to the gym. They don't want to swim. They don't want to eat right. They don't want to do those things. However, they need to do it. It doesn't just become like, oh, something nice to do, but they take it as a must. I must do it. I have to do it. I will do it whether I feel like it or not. And generally speaking, when you start doing something, whether it's walking or running, when I used to run or swimming, you eventually get into it quickly. And then you're like, wow, I feel so good. And then you keep doing it. Usually it's just not getting started. I think Darren also gave an example of someone who really wanted to start being fit and going to the fitness center. At the beginning, he would at least take himself out of his house and drive to the gym. But just the fact of just driving there kind of changed him so that he eventually started working out every day. So just get the get that rolling, get it started, just get started. And I think as you do, you are going to build momentum. I think that's important. So how would you apply this? Reinforce values through habit, not slogan. So you have to do it every day consistently. Measure leadership by who you are becoming over time. Sometimes you have to pause and assess and then choose long obedience over short close. Again, that long-term perspective. So what leadership pattern are you reinforcing every day? Here's the anchor reflection: if others followed your daily example, where would it lead them?

Hmm.

All right, so that's it for chapter 2. Um, so Proverbs chapter 2 really reminds us of discernment. It's the difference between influence that lasts and authority that fades. For leaders in the military, cybersecurity, technology, and executive role, what I'm saying is wisdom is really not optional. You have to have wisdom, gain understanding. It is your moral compass, strategic shield, and leadership legacy. All right, that's all I have to say. I don't see any questions in the chat. Hopefully this is adding value to you, reflecting on this ancient wisdom principle from the Book of Proverbs. So we covered Chapter 2 today. So tomorrow I will be back and we are going to cover Chapter 3. All right, that's all I have for today. Have a wonderful rest of your day and see you tomorrow for the next chapter in our study of the Book of Proverbs this January 2026. Bye for now. Oh, before I say goodbye, I want to remind you, for those following my podcast, tomorrow I am going to be interviewing Colonel Chevy Cook, US Army. He's a mentor-in-chief, soldier-scholar, and strategist. We're gonna be talking about beyond control because leadership is really about influence, not control. So we're gonna be talking about that. And then I will also be interviewing Lee Jones. He's an award-winning CIO, global system builder, tech steward, calm under pressure. He's right here in Silicon Valley. We're gonna be talking about going from legacy to resilience. And then I will have the pleasure of speaking with Admiral Melissa Burt. She was recently the Judge Advocate General, the JAG officer for the US Coast Guard. She's now retired. She's principled, strategic, empowering, such an awesome role model. We're gonna be talking about leadership at the intersection of law, trust, and national security. I think this is so timely. We, we really need to talk about this in our nation. And then next week I will be speaking with Charlie Wetzel. He's the writing companion of my mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell. He helped write the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. And really, to me, this is really the number one leadership book in the world. But as you can see, his name is not on the COVID It says John Maxwell only, but Charlie really had a lot to do with all of the bestselling books that Papa John has written and many other authors too, including Kevin Myers, for example, the Grown-Up Faith. And he's written his own books, the Marvel Studios Story with his wife. A Christmas Wish, and also a book that became a movie, right? The Chocolate Shop. I think it was made into a short film. So anyway, I'm really, really excited to be speaking with Charlie next week. And then I have another speaker confirmed that's going to be Tempra Rae Stevenson. She's a food justice visionary, cultural engineer, and a scholar practitioner. We're going to be talking about Leadership with Nourishment. She's also the bestselling author of the book series Wanda for children. So that's going to be really, really exciting. Again, see you here tomorrow for Chapter 3 of the Book of Proverbs. All right, bye for now. Thank you.

Thank you for tuning in to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If today's episode added value to your leadership journey, be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for more wisdom nuggets on how to lead better and achieve greater success. Remember, leadership is the most critical skill of our time. The world will always need leaders to inspire others, drive innovation, and execute meaningful strategy. So why not count yourself among the bold leaders shaping the 21st century? Until next time, stay inspired, stay committed, and keep leading with