[October 29, 2022] There’s something to be said for virtue and truth. One of the things I’ve noticed about folks who are phenomenally successful; they do everything they can to live a truthful life, and you can get a long way in life by being honest.
There are significant differences in intelligence among different people. If you go into a job and you’re not smart enough, you’re going to have one miserable time, and you’re going to make life wretched for the people around you because you won’t be able to handle the position.
To maximize your chances for success and well-being, you want to find a level in an occupation that would put you into the upper quarter in ability. You certainly don’t want to be the dumbest person in the room; that’s a rough place to be. Furthermore, you don’t want to be the smartest person in the room either because what that means is that you should be in a different room.
If you want to be the best at what you’re doing, then having an IQ above 145 is necessary, and maybe you’re pushing 160 in some situations. And also, you would need to be stress tolerant and also conscientious and orderly.
Why is it that smart people are at the top of competence hierarchies? The answer is that they get there first. Everything is a race to the top; the faster you are, the more likely you are to be at the forefront of the pack. Intelligence, in large part, is speed. That’s not all of it. If you’re moving towards something difficult rapidly (like a career goal), the faster people will get their first.
The lesson for us is that you will have to put some serious effort into your life, and you need to be motivated to do that. So, what are the potential sources of motivation? One way to look at that is to envision your life the way you wanted it three to five years in the future if you were taking care of yourself properly. And, you must be honest to yourself and others about it.
What would that look like? What do you want from your friendships, intimate relationships, the structure of your family, your career, how you will use your time outside of your job, and how will you regulate your mental and physical health? How are you going to temper your alcohol and drug use?
This means you must have a valued goal to strive for. Otherwise, you can’t get any positive motivation, and you will fail. That is why virtue and truth are your only way of being successful in your life.
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Gen. Doug Satterfield, you are a national treasure, please keep up what you are doing and for pointing us in the direction of being a better person and much better leader.
Got that right, Lady Hawk. ❤❤❤❤❤
“The lesson for us is that you will have to put some serious effort into your life, and you need to be motivated to do that. ” – common sense again from Gen. Satterfield
Enjoyed today’s article by Gen. Satterfield. One can never over emphasize the importance of “virtue and truth.” Similar to what Gen. S. has to say in his new book.
Tracey, you got that right. But I still like the old favorite of Gen. S. “the pursuit of truth and responsibility” which is the subtitle of his book. Take a look. Wonderful.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737915529/
Truth and responsibility … not obfuscation and lies … just what the crazy Twitter crowed wants to do to us by blocking free speech. Ever wonder that Twitter was run by an Indian (from India) and its senior execs were Indian? Now they have been fired.
Gen. Satterfield should write an artilce on Twitter.
I agree Dep John, an article on Twitter and Gen. Satterfield’s thoughts would be appreciate. A year or so ago he did write about Twitter.
Great article, thanks Gen. Satterfield. ✔
Good morning and finally a great Saturday and a couple of days off for me and the wife. I hope everyone is well. I just wanted to give my input on Gen. Satterfield’s new book “55 Rules for a Good Life.” It should have read “great” life but who am I to quibble. Great book and if you don’t have a copy yet, shame on you! Get it now. Support our veterans.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737915529/
Gil, great to hear from you again and for being such a supporter of this leadership website. We all are the biggest of fans and you and me are toptop. Thank you for recommending Gen. S’s book. I have my paperback copy.
Virtue and Truth! If only ………
Yep!
✔😎👍❤😀👀