I thought this was a very interesting proverb. Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. As I thought more about this quote, the more I began to realize I am a slave to many things. Before we get into my issues, lets unpack this quote some.
What is a Leader?
A leader is one who guides someone or something along a way. A leader provides direction when there isn’t one. A leader is one who makes decisions for others.
What is a Slave?
A slave is one who is subservient to a dominating influence. A slave is someone who allows some influence to provide direction and to make decisions for them.
Work vs Lazy
So lets take a look at the verbs. Work is an activity where one exerts effort or faculties to perform something. Lazy is the aversion to do any work. Work and lazy are polar opposites. You either work or you are lazy.
The best way to define leader versus slave is to look at the definition of the word “discipline”. Discipline is the ability to follow orders (slave) and the ability to take the appropriate initiative in the absence of orders (leader).
Most people only focus on the first part of the discipline, following orders. It is easy following orders. If something goes wrong, it’s not my fault. If I run out of tasks, I can just sit here and what for my next task.
Take a in-depth look at your life. What are you a slave to? Do you sit down and watch hour after hour of TV? Do you let your stomach declare discomfort and you obediently feed yourself junk food?
The average human makes about 30,000 choices each and every day. For many of these choices, we follow habits, traditions and the pack. We become slaves to your habits, traditions, thoughts and stories.
Become a leader and take the initiative to make better choices. All it takes is changing a couple decisions a day to fundamentally change your world. The road from slave to leader is 3 to 5 decisions a day. Be intentional today.
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