Fireside Chat: The Gift of Self-Reliance

The man who is not self-reliant is weak, hesitating, and doubting in all he does.[1]

Life is an individual problem that man must solve for himself; he does this through self-reliance. Self-confidence may allow someone to see the individual's possibilities, but self-reliance will enable him to realize those possibilities. Self-reliance allows a man to seek constantly to surpass himself, moving on a uniform line of progress, ultimately granting himself the daring necessary to stand alone. Self-reliance strengthens a man's ability to judge himself not through competition with others but rather to improve his ability. He does not rely on others but grants his dependency on himself, acting for his intentions and purposes. His agency increases the more he abandons measuring himself compared to the ability of others. The man who does not live in the shadow of someone else's greatness will be a constant source of strength to others as he becomes to others a living lesson of the dignity of self-reliance.

[1] William George Jordan, The Secrets to Power, Mastery, and Truth (Semper Virilis Publishing, 2019), 34.