Bryce Henson

“The More I Learn The Less I Know.” – Tony Bennett 

This quote perfectly describes the 2nd stoic virtue of wisdom. 

As the sober reality is that attaining wisdom is a lifetime pursuit. Something that you can acquire more of, but will always be elusive to some degree.

Although the journey of its pursuit is certainly a valuable one and one worth traveling…

“OK, Bryce, there’s value in gaining wisdom but how do I attain it?!” you might be asking..

Many ways although the truth is that most times wisdom can only truly be derived by life experience.  Although the closest life hack I learned at a young age was to develop relationships with your elders. 

They possess it due to their vast life experience..And if you listen well; you can unlock a world of wisdom, growth, and leadership. 

Looking forward to covering Justice next week!

1. Courage
2. Wisdom
3. Justice
4. Moderation

I listed the 4 Stoic Virtues last week below..

They are in no specific order according to the Stoics. But the best way I digest them specific to leadership is attacking COURAGE as number 1.

The fact is that strong Leadership often times means going against the grain. It means taking action not that is NOT part of the status quo. Many times, this action ruffles feathers. 

And sometimes a strong leader even has to make decisions that hurt some of the followers to protect the whole tribe.

You need COURAGE to lead this way. 

In fact, here’s one of my favorite leadership quotes by the late Steve Jobs of Apple, Inc. 

“If you want to make everyone happy, Don’t be a leader – Sell ice cream.”

And while you need all 4 other virtues to lead, without COURAGE to execute, nothing else matters.

This is the hard part of leadership. But why it’s so valuable. 

The good news is that COURAGE is a just muscle that you can improve. The more you flex it, the stronger it becomes.

I look forward to diving into Wisdom next week. 

• Courage
• Wisdom
• Justice
• Moderation

A philosophy called Stoicim emerged thousands of years ago in the ancient world by a man named Zeno who was a successful sea merchant and died in Athens, 236 BC. 

Stoicism was created as a framework on how to live a better life and to cope with its challenges being Zeno lost everything in a bad shipwreck.  As ultimately, life is challenge & suffering. So stoicim provides a framework on how to lead oneself and others despite these challenges. 

Thus, leadership and stoicism are intertwined. In fact, I refer to Stoicism as the philosophy of successful leaders.

The Stoics elaborated a detailed taxonomy of virtue, dividing virtue into four main types:

• Wisdom
• Justice
• Courage
• Moderation

We will spend the next 4 weeks diving into each of them to provide you with a stronger framework on how to lead yourself and others through the 4 stoic virtues. 

Happy Monday Mindset!🙌

As we kick off our New Year “10Lbs Challenge” brand-wide, I wanted to strengthen your mindset for the road ahead! As yes, there will be A LOT of success, but also A LOT of challenges!

And no better way than to provide some perspective from some challenges our ancestors faced. As I read this article recently, I was humbled and inspired, so I wanted to share it with you.👇

“For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. 

Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20 years old. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million from the pandemic. 

When you’re 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, and global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. 

You aren’t even over the hill yet.

When you’re 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills twelve million. At 52, the Korean War starts, and 5 million perish.

At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. 4 million people died in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.

As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? 

A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85-year-old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above.”

Perspective is an amazing art. 🎯

As this year begins, let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted!💥

Head up and onward, as with any challenge in your way, this too, shall pass.🔥

PS. TODAY is your LAST CALL  to join our upcoming 10lb Fitness Challenge which starts TODAY, click HERE! 

Leadership is a verb.

It requires action.

The lowest level of it, is simply telling a subordinate what action to take. 

The highest level of it, is modeling the desired action. 

Today’s lesson?

Whatever your desired action is, lead by taking that action as an example to yourself & team. 

This is true leadership.

I once heard a podcast with John Maxwell and he was asked how you can identity the leader in the room?

His answer was simple:

“The person who has the highest standards & expectations……of him/herself.”

This is very true. 

Strong leadership first requires a higher expectation of yourself, long before you can lead others.

Want to increase your leadership?

Raise your own personal standards and expectation of yourself. Then watch your leadership & life grow.