Glenn opened the radio program this morning by sharing an article he found over the weekend that outlines 13 things “mentally strong” people don’t do. The story, written by psychotherapist and adjunct college psychology instructor Amy Morin, explains “mentally strong people have healthy habits. They manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life.” As Glenn explained, this list highlights behavior that is “exactly the opposite” of what our President and our government is now promoting.
“I read an article this weekend about the 13 things that mentally strong people avoid,” Glenn said. “And as I'm reading this, I'm thinking to myself: This is exactly the opposite of what our President and what our country is promoting now.”
Below is an overview of the list (read the full article HERE):
- They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves
- They don’t give away their power
- They don’t shy away from change
- They don’t waste energy on things they can’t control
- They don’t worry about pleasing everyone
- They don’t fear taking calculated risks
- They don’t dwell on the past
- They don’t make the same mistakes over and over
- They don’t resent other people’s success
- They don’t give up after the first failure
- They don’t fear alone time
- They don’t feel the world owes them anything
- They don’t expect immediate results
“I contend our society and our President doesn't teach any of these things. Nothing,” Glenn said. “Never expect immediate results. We're a fast food society… Never give up after failure. That's what TARP is all about. I like this one. Resent other people’s successes. Never do that. Well, that's all this is about. Find joy for the other people. We don't ever hear that… We are too busy tearing people down to ever learn what they did… Never make the same mistake twice. We've just made it almost 18 trillion times. Don't dwell on the past. Are you kidding me? That's all we do. It was Bush's fault. It was Bush's fault. It was Bush's fault… Do you think we're doing any of that? Do you think we're teaching any of that?”
While Glenn and Pat insisted that society did value these traits at one point in time, Stu pointed out that there is a level of individual responsibility involved when it comes to instilling these values in the next generation.
“I read this and I wrote them down in my journal because I want to make sure that I live these every day, and I want to make sure my kids are living those every day,” Glenn said. “And as I'm writing them down I'm like, society doesn't teach any of this. This is why we're all screwed up. You can't fix a country if nobody believes in that. If everybody is following the leader, and the leader is not telling you do this. You can't fix the society.”
“Because these are characteristics of people who are successful, right? Well, that shows you that obviously when someone is successful, they are maybe the exception to the average person,” Stu countered. “And this is why society can teach the opposite because it's not easy to do those things. And so you're preaching to the majority of people who don't want to do those things.”
“Did you grow up with those,” Glenn asked.
“I mean, yeah. That's the standard operating procedure,” Stu said of his upbringing. “When you're talking about society, I don't know it really goes household to household. That's why we were talking about individual responsibility because even today, when these things aren't being taught at all by society, you can still teach them.”
Ultimately, Glenn said he plans to implement this mentality into his life going forward, and it is up to others to decide if they would like to do the same.
“I'm going back to, we had a talk last night at the dinner table about you know, I want to be a better man than I am today. I think I can up my game a great deal. Go ahead,” Glenn concluded. “We just need to start living basic principles again.”