[SPEAKER_00]: Hello everyone and welcome to the power being relentless at the Xbox podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Michael Hanks and today we're going to be diving into a topic that touches the core of our humanity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Resilience within integrity.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to explore how true ethical ground and strengthens your ability in any storm.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about learning from failure without compromising your deepest values, share real-life stories, overcome wisdom, and listen, failure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, those of you that have heard me before know this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Failure is not final.
[SPEAKER_00]: Failure is only failure if you allow it to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Failure is when you have a goal, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're unsuccessful in achieving that goal or whatever you're trying to do, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you don't go back and re-engage it's failure because it's never going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: However, a setback is a choice you make when you want to re-engage.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where you step back and identify the problems.
[SPEAKER_00]: They grow out where you need to get stronger and then overcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: We often hear about resilience as a grip, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Push hard or grind longer, overcome by sheer force of will, but raw grit alone is flawed.
[SPEAKER_00]: It lacks or compass.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you strip away ethics, resilience can more window just playing the ruthlessness on the fittest to survive at any cost.
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the co-resilience is different, standing firm in your values when the world demands you abandon them, holding on to your why when the how gets tough.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the quiet strength that says I will succeed, but I will do it the right way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us look at Proverbs 109.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Secureland.
[SPEAKER_00]: foundation for resilience starts with integrity.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you cut corners or betray your core values and pursuit of security, you've built on sand.
[SPEAKER_00]: The storm might pass, but that foundation remains shaky.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had a friend of mine regel.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tell me about pretty much an impossible deadline.
[SPEAKER_00]: OK, a lot of pressure to meet this in Deadline, OK?
[SPEAKER_00]: And her teams that even suggested or approving some unfinished reports, OK?
[SPEAKER_00]: Slady told me that she remembered her core value.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of them that she had was honesty.
[SPEAKER_00]: She refused to do that with a report,
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fallout, she said, was intense.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our team was upset that we're working extra hours.
[SPEAKER_00]: She faced all kinds of criticism.
[SPEAKER_00]: But in the end, when those reports were audited, she told me that her integrity not only saved the project, but it inspired her new trust in her leadership.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see this so much in businesses.
[SPEAKER_00]: They think, you know, falling these reports, fixing the numbers, you know, it's gonna catch up to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna catch up.
[SPEAKER_00]: We, you know, I'm 40 years old and I've seen a lot just in that area.
[SPEAKER_00]: No moral compass, ruthlessness is what they were doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Reletless is what this young lady was, because she had a moral compass.
[SPEAKER_00]: She had core values.
[SPEAKER_00]: and her decision was guided by her core value.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now don't get me wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: It could have easily went her way, just by unfinished, those unfinished reports that are proven, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, T, one time it would have come up and not only that,
[SPEAKER_00]: But hey, I got away with this, let me try it this way this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I got away, and then that's what happens and everybody gets caught in fails.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then nobody trusts you, again, and wants to do business with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: So my next question is, why do people sometimes abandon their ethics with challenges arise?
[SPEAKER_00]: Fear, cowardice.
[SPEAKER_00]: The world celebrates achievement, but rarely the method, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: When setbacks come, and they will, the temptation to cut ethical corners screams the lattice.
[SPEAKER_00]: But let's listen to an insight.
[SPEAKER_00]: St. Paul Romans 5, 3-3-5, and not only that, but we also boast in our suffering, snowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given us.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a process here, suffering, endurance, character, hope, but enduring a challenge with character means facing the truth,
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, the easy way, nine times out of 10, is not the right way.
[SPEAKER_00]: People that make these decisions are cowards.
[SPEAKER_00]: They let fear drive that decision they make.
[SPEAKER_00]: And especially men, real men,
[SPEAKER_00]: should want to face suffering, should want to face pain for the strength that we get.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're meant to be leaders, providers, protectors, and we get every one of those skills that I just named get stronger through suffering, through pain.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't let fear
[SPEAKER_00]: have courage.
[SPEAKER_00]: People respect people with courage.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know for, you know, and when I worked in the 10th agency and all these different plants I was in, they respected me because I had integrity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you know what, I have the conversations that our competitors wouldn't have with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I tell them what that what I would tell them the facts, even if it's not what
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes the real test comes not in crisis, but in the small daily choices.
[SPEAKER_00]: Luke 16, 10 tells us whoever's faithful, little is faithful also when much.
[SPEAKER_00]: And whoever is dishonest and very little is dishonest also when much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Resilience is forged in the routine.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's everyday interactions where truthfulness kindness and fairness are tested in small ways.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love Luke 16 to him, maybe a lot of times, you know, I hear people say, I almost be nice to have that, it must be nice to do that, well, must, but are you being faithful and what you, what you're blessed with, currently?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you can't manage or be a good steward of what you have, why would God give you more?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're not honest with what you've got, why would you give you more?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just so you can be more dishonest.
[SPEAKER_00]: Setbacks are gonna happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: But they're also instructing, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me explain what I'm doing here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so the question on this part, I want to ask right now is, how can we learn from setbacks without sacrificing our integrity?
[SPEAKER_00]: First, embrace vulnerability, make stakes exposed or the lessons gained, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you, every setback you have is a lesson there.
[SPEAKER_00]: You gotta find it though.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing wrong with reaching out to a mentor or somebody you trust talking about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, because they can help you find the problem, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And how do I overcome that problem?
[SPEAKER_00]: Second, seek wise counsel, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So I've already touched on that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't be afraid to reach out to people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Proverbs 11, 14, where there is no guidance in nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors that are safety.
[SPEAKER_00]: don't walk alone in fight mentors trusted for us to help you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you this will help you grow.
[SPEAKER_00]: Third, make a man's Matthew 5 23 through 24 is clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when you're suffering, I'm sorry, when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother's sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.
[SPEAKER_00]: First be reconciled by your brother, sister, and then come or offer your gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: Integrity means you're storing what's broken, not just feeling sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Four, three, no your commitment to your values, write them down, say them out loud, pray with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's imagine a scenario right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're in the pressure to hit numbers.
[SPEAKER_00]: and a temptation arises to fudge data or omit negative results.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask yourself that this shortcut or known would I be at peace?
[SPEAKER_00]: Would I want my failure to succeed at the cost of my character?
[SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: think about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: You may get caught, you may not get caught.
[SPEAKER_00]: Still not right, even though you don't get caught, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you do, and eventually you will, because what's going happen is you're going to get some confidence and you say, well, hey, I did it last time.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you continue to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to get caught.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm telling you, guys, it's coward behavior.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't take the shortcut.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't learn anything from the shortcut.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you can work smarter, not harder.
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe in that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I believe there's always an easier way, but don't take the shortcut and compromise your integrity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, you might wonder, is ethics ever easy?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, it's not because it can cost you business, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what, you can always overcome, you can always get better as a business in regaining counts.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've done it, and they respect you for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: James 112, plus is anyone who enjoys temptation, such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of the life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
[SPEAKER_00]: This endurance is active.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes keeping your integrity means swimming up string, losing the deal, stepping away from recognition or choosing what's right, rather than what's easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the loss is always temporary.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rewards piece of mind, genuine relationships and the strength of character are lost.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do we want something easy?
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't gain anything out of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Especially men.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do we want a man out there wanting stuff?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what's interesting about the Bible to me?
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: When God talks to women, he normally shows up where they're at, whether they're cooking meals, you know, whatever, round the house.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when a man talks to God, like Moses and Abraham, think about it, they had to climb mountains, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They had to go to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our life shouldn't be easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should be pushing every day to be better in every aspect of our life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mentally, physically, spiritually.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a lot of reason why marriages are falling apart because men don't step up and lead.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, she won't do what I'm saying.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, what are you doing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are you leading?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sunday mornings, I get up.
[SPEAKER_00]: We go to church.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not even questionable.
[SPEAKER_00]: because that's what I do.
[SPEAKER_00]: My wife sees me reading my Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: She sees me doing my devotional mornings.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what, we have a time at night.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're me and my wife and my daughter.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have another devotional.
[SPEAKER_00]: Spend time in the presence of the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what, you also have to have that private time too, because my wife has her private time as well, also where she spends time with the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's review some practical habits.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, start each day with a short prayer, meditation on virtue, examine your conscience each evil, reflecting on where you acted with integrity and where you can grow, seek out mentors, spiritual directors and true friends for guidance, apologize when you're wrong, forgive when you're hurt, remember you are never alone, lean into God's grace and ask for help, so I'm 19 105, gives reassurance, you're lamp,
[SPEAKER_00]: Your word is a lamp in my feet and a light in my path.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let the word guide you into art times.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's take a moment here for guided reflection.
[SPEAKER_00]: Recall a time you faced failure of temptation.
[SPEAKER_00]: What value you felt threatened?
[SPEAKER_00]: How did you respond?
[SPEAKER_00]: is you whole fast or slip?
[SPEAKER_00]: What would you do differently next time?
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask for the grace to respond with integrity and relentless hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us pray, guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we come before you asking for the grace of a relentless spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to encourage to walk securely in integrity, especially when the path grows dark and pressure amounts.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we face failure, keep us from the temptation of deception.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us to embrace our struggles, knowing that through your grace, they build endurance, character, and unbreakable help, give us the wisdom to see the shortcuts for what they are, and the strength to choose the narrow path of righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: May our resilience always be rooted in your truth, and may our life reflect the light of your love and all what we do.
[SPEAKER_00]: We ask this in your holy name, amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for joining me, guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today, don't forget to add me.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's my call, thanks, published out their own Facebook.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your characters are greatest asset.
[SPEAKER_00]: protected, nurtured, and let it be the foundation of your resilience and let people know that it is not for sale.
[SPEAKER_00]: Until next time, stay strong, stay true, and walk in peace.