[UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Power of Being Relentless Ethics Podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Michael Hanks, and today we're going to be talking about tenacity with a moral compass.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might have noticed that relentless people are everywhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: The activists who won't back down, the entrepreneur who overcomes set back after set back, the parent who refuses to give up on a struggling child.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if the heart of being relentless is a question, what are you relentless for?
[SPEAKER_00]: That shift from drive for the sake of ego to drive for the sake of what is right is where this podcast finds its energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about today, the crucial difference between stubbornness and ethical tenacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: While tenacity guided by moral compasses are gift, while uncheck stubbornness can be destructive.
[SPEAKER_00]: The roots of ethical tenacity in Scripture,
[SPEAKER_00]: real-life stories from history and modern times and practical wisdom for cultivating your own ethical tenacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: And finally, we're going to have a time of prayer and reflection at the end.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people just refuse to quit.
[SPEAKER_00]: They hit a wall and instead of turning back, they found
[SPEAKER_00]: We also call this trait being relentless, but being relentless carries a dual nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: It can destroy relationships and careers when fueled by pure ego.
[SPEAKER_00]: And also, if it's fueled by pure emotion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet, when tethered to a strong moral compass, this same draw is because the very force that changes history, protects the vulnerable and hot-pulled truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us draw a hard line between two concepts that I'll think it confused, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Stubbornness and Ethical Neonacity, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Stubbornness is rooted in ego.
[SPEAKER_00]: It sounds like this if you will, I'm right, you're wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I will not change my mind because doing so would mean admitting defeat.
[SPEAKER_00]: A stubborn person digs their heels in regardless of the facts.
[SPEAKER_00]: They ignore new information, didn't this dismiss the thoughts of others?
[SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of times, didn't dismiss the facts that others are presenting to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: and prioritize their own pride above the greater good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sterbreness isolates you.
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes you rigid and it literally rigid things, break.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'd had a ball set.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd worked for the championship scene.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was like that with her.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was always right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing wrong, never apologized.
[SPEAKER_00]: She was always right.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, with send, you know, Rudy males to clients, their HR department, I've witnessed firsthand that would lose accounts because of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and when you're in business like that, and I mean in life, but when you're in business like that, you really have to, yet you have to have to set down and come off of your, you have to detach from an ego in your emotions and be able to look at the facts and work together.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when you're, when your ego is so high, or you're running off emotions, you can't do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I just said, it makes you rigid and eventually things break and I've seen her lose accounts because of that, just not being able to be in, not being able to.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to look at each other's point of view.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let's look at a few more examples here to bring this distinction to life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, let's look at, okay, let's just say you got a colleague.
[SPEAKER_00]: who's made a suggestion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And you have another person that just refuses to consider it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Simply because it wasn't what they proposed.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're refusal it in about principle.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about pride.
[SPEAKER_00]: stubbornness shows up in family dynamics too, discipling who claims to an old grudge, not because of justice, but because letting go would admit what admitting they were wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: Relationships up for progress, stalls, and a root calls as a refusal to consider anything beyond one's own viewpoint.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, to trust this with ethical tenacity, ethical tenacity operates from an entirely different source,
[SPEAKER_00]: and ethically tenacious person says, I will not change my course because doing so would violate what is right, just and true.
[SPEAKER_00]: This kind of relentless drive requires deep humility.
[SPEAKER_00]: You must constantly check your compass.
[SPEAKER_00]: You ask yourself difficult questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: You listen to wise counsel, but once you determine that a principle is morally saying you anchor yourself to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: think about water cutting through a canyon.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't stop.
[SPEAKER_00]: It adapts to the shape of the rock, finding the cracks and crevices, but it never stops moving forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's at the cool tonacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is flexible and it's methods but completely annealing in its core principles.
[SPEAKER_00]: It requires you to absorb the criticism, face the rejection and endure isolation,
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's another scenario.
[SPEAKER_00]: Consider a whistleblower who sees Rome doing that their company.
[SPEAKER_00]: When asked why they persist, even under threat, they reply that it's about doing what is right, not easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're digging in their heels for their own sake, but on behalf of truth, justice and well-being of others.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's look at everyday life, that parent might be uncompromising in the rules about honesty in the household.
[SPEAKER_00]: While their child might call them stubborn, what underpins their stance is unwavering belief that building a culture of truths shapes up right adults, that is ethical tenacity, not merely, listen.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is part of, I'm gonna stop here for a minute because there's so much right now with parents
[SPEAKER_00]: with the white children are acting and I'll the parent responsible 100%.
[SPEAKER_00]: If your kids out here acting disrespectful and, you know, showing out at school and not showing other adults respect because the yes or no sir, yes ma, I'm no ma, please thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That goes a long way with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: If your child doesn't say that, that's your fault as parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, now there's no compromise on that in my house.
[SPEAKER_00]: My daughter's gonna say that to me in my wife.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's people that don't like that and it's okay, it's not their house, it's mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, that right there is not me being stubborn.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's me being uncompromised because I want to teach my daughter that go on through life, you have to show authority respect.
[SPEAKER_00]: For those of you that know, I have a nonprofit rebuild and rise.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I do a lot of setting in own hearings and talking to senators.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of them that it's people.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't respect at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have zero respect for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do respect that position.
[SPEAKER_00]: They hold.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a difference there.
[SPEAKER_00]: because the next person that comes in that position might be a better person.
[SPEAKER_00]: My actually have better ethics and morals.
[SPEAKER_00]: Might want to do what's right.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, maybe not want to look at a family that's hurt and tell them they're a waste of oxygen.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's where I'm getting at here.
[SPEAKER_00]: But back to this, parents, you know, if your children aren't saying yes or no sir and yes man, but no man, and you just look like they won't say it.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's your fault for not having standards and holding them accountable to those standards.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's somebody's fault, but sure.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like I said, that's not stubborn.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not stubborn.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's being uncompromising because you want to teach them respect for authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: You want to teach them that there's rules and guidelines in life.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, more example, I mean, here we go on social justice movements.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many world-changing movements succeed in not because people were stubbornly refusing to listen, but because they were tenacious about principles like equality and dignity.
[SPEAKER_00]: They listen to adapted their strategies and grew, but never let go of the goal of justice.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the difference between shouting over your opponents and being willing to consider new evidence, except when it calls you to betray an invaluable value.
[SPEAKER_00]: The heart-check is this, am I refusing to move because of my pride or because of my principle?
[SPEAKER_00]: Am I willing to listen in a dapton areas that don't violate my values?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or do I dismiss everything, but my own ideas stubbornness puts trust in self, ethical tenacity puts trust in the truth that stands higher than self.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I've seen this a lot with these senators, I mean, you could you could present facts at the facts after facts and a lot of them, they cannot open their eyes and like, oh, wow, okay, yeah, we need we need to make some changes here and then you've got some of them that are so strong because they want to be right.
[SPEAKER_00]: the way they've been doing things, that there's two laws right now that we've been advocating for, that we're English kind of laws.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they were here before any of us were born.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they cling so tight to that because all they wanna do is win.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're not saying the inequality, the injustice that are done with people.
[SPEAKER_00]: A great tool is to intentionally ask others to challenge your view.
[SPEAKER_00]: If the honest critique only strengthens your resolve, not by hardening your pride, but by clarifying your values, then your tenacity is rooted in ethics.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, as we continue, keep asking yourself, where in my own life have I been stubborn out of my pride?
[SPEAKER_00]: And where have I been relitless in the pursuit of what is right, even if it's been hard?
[SPEAKER_00]: This reflection will guide us as we move deeper into the roots of true ethical tenacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us draw a hard line between two concepts that often get confused, stubbornness and ethical tenacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want you guys to understand that, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a hard line, and I don't want you guys to get these confused, okay, because I'm telling you, you've got to do these reflection questions I've just asked, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because when you do, you can find out, and you need people to challenge a views, you need people, and
[SPEAKER_00]: If your views never get challenged, they're never going to get stronger.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hey, who knows?
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is where you can check ego.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe if somebody presents bags that changes your thought and you're looking at like, oh, wow, OK, yeah, I see.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not you losing because somebody has a better idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't make you a loser.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, think about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: People in leadership that people's lives are affected by that.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, that's a sign of strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, oh, hey, thank you for bringing this to my attention, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk about scripture here.
[SPEAKER_00]: OK, scriptural foundation.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: The scriptures do not promise an easy path for us
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, they guarantee resistance.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's immerse ourselves in some of these scriptural foundations, throwing out their wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen to the words of St. Paul in the Relationship 6 first nine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us not grow tired of doing good.
[SPEAKER_00]: For a new time, we shall reap our harvest if we do not give up.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul knew something about being relentless.
[SPEAKER_00]: He faced shipwrecks, beatings and imprisonment and eventually martyr.
[SPEAKER_00]: He understood the deep bone-wearing fatigue that comes from standing up for the truth day after day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Notice that he does not say if we get defeated, if we do not get defeated, he says if we do not give up.
[SPEAKER_00]: The power lies in our fuselage to surrender, your moral grail.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even when the fruits of your labor seem distant or invisible.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, let's look at James chapter 1 verse 12, Bless is the man who perseveres in temptation.
[SPEAKER_00]: For when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that
[SPEAKER_00]: He promised to those who love them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pursureverance is an active virtue.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: The kind called for here is not a passive endurance, but I was a loose commitment to goodness while facing pressures, temptations of awareness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Choosing honesty when a lie would make life easier, standing up for someone marginalized,
[SPEAKER_00]: When staying silent will protect your standing, striving for justice when bribery might clear your path.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's tenacity, both shake and sparked by faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want to look at some more scripture.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's Proverbs 4.
[SPEAKER_00]: 25 through 27.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let your eyes look directly forward in your gaze, be straight before you keep straight the path of your feet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And all your ways will be sure, do not swerve to the right of the left, turn your foot away from evil.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is this but a call to ethical tenacity?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the wisdom of staying on course.
[SPEAKER_00]: not out of stubbornness, but out of unwavering commitment to what is good and true.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Scripture's caution is us to keep moving steadily toward the goal, not distracted by temptation, difficulty, or the discouragement of others.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want to look at Daniel.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, in Daniel 6, he faced life or death choice.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stop praying to his God as mandated by a royal decree or continue a faithfulness and risk the lion's den.
[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel's tenacity is quiet, undramatic, but simply continues the rhythm of right action, regardless of external threat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Daniel's story is a model for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Many times a world will try to intimidate or wear a stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like Daniel, a relentless soul finds strength in the daily acts of faithfulness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus Himself gives us the ultimate example in the Garden of Gismetamine, Luke 2242, Father, if you're willing, remove this cup for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yet not my will, but yours be done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Christ in Asni is marked by obedience, humility, and love, powerfully refusing to turn away from the path of sacrifice, even as He confronts suffering and debt.
[SPEAKER_00]: To be truly relentless, we must align our will with gods and seek to curse you into your pain when it serves
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, let's reflect on this scripture, Hebrews 12, 1 through 3.
[SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great, a cloud of witness is let us rid of ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: The perseverance is running the race that lives before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: This race, and that is powerful, called of endurance.
[SPEAKER_00]: Suppressing forward, even when the journey is long in our days is.
[SPEAKER_00]: and we are not a little weird surrounded by examples.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those who have run before us whose stories inspiring encourage, we are reminded to draw strength in the community of the faithful.
[SPEAKER_00]: From the saint whose tenacity continues to light the path forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps most telling a second Timothy 4.7 is Paul closes his life.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have fought the good fight.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have finished the race.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have kept the faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here tenacity is not about never falling.
[SPEAKER_00]: but about getting up again and persisting and recommitting to what is right, even after setbacks and doubts is the tendency of a soul anchored in hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: So.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do these scriptures teach us about ethical nationality?
[SPEAKER_00]: They remind us that perseverance, granted, and more conviction in open to God's guidance, sets us apart from mere stubbornness.
[SPEAKER_00]: They highlight the true persistence as marked by humility, faith, and courage.
[SPEAKER_00]: And above all, they challenge us to run our race, steady as for hard open to the call of truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: History remembers those who refused to be in, to the spirit of their age.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their stories give us a blueprint for our own lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's begin with St. Thomas Moore.
[SPEAKER_00]: 16th century served as Lord Hodge Chancellor of England.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had wealth, power, and the year of King Henry.
[SPEAKER_00]: and that's King Henry the eighth.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when the King demanded that more taken off acknowledging Henry as a supreme head of the Church of England, and moved that directly contradicted Moore's Catholic faith in his conscience, Moore drew the line.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moore was not stubborn.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was careful.
[SPEAKER_00]: He reminded, he remained silent for a long time using every legal avenue to avoid conflict.
[SPEAKER_00]: While refusing to compromise his soul, he loved his life, his family, and his country.
[SPEAKER_00]: But his moral compass pointed true, north.
[SPEAKER_00]: When pressured by his own family to just sign the oath and save his life, he refused.
[SPEAKER_00]: He famously declared himself the King's good servant.
[SPEAKER_00]: But God forbid.
[SPEAKER_00]: He faced execution because he possessed a relentless ethical core.
[SPEAKER_00]: He lost his head but kept his soul.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, Thomas Moore did not act out of stubborn pride.
[SPEAKER_00]: He acted out of profound obedience to a higher moral law.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was relinquished in his pursuit of truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the stories go, oh, and oh, and oh, about people that did that.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I challenge you next time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay true, guys, listen to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to have a set of core values for your own life.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we look at businesses that have them, but what about you?
[SPEAKER_00]: What are your personal core values?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because sometimes in businesses, your core values are gonna get checked.
[SPEAKER_00]: By the end, 10th agency.
[SPEAKER_00]: But my boss looked at me and told me to lie if I have to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't do that because by court, you know, you're paying me, yeah, you're paying me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I get that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're paying me to do a job, but my core values aren't for sale because if I was to do that, if I was to a lot of that client and got caught, guess what, it comes back on me, not you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not your punching bag and I'm not your, I'm not your scapegoat, but once again, that comes back to, you know, taking accountability for your actions and some people just can't do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of us will never face an executioner, but we do confront small daily tests of character.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moments where we are invited to compromise or stand firm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's a mystery piece of gossip where urge to join a shady business deal, promising a quick profit or a culture telling us that truth is subjective and morals outdated.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we build this ethical tendency and keep it alive over the course of our lives?
[SPEAKER_00]: First, to find your non-negotiables.
[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot hold a lot if you do not know where the line is drawn.
[SPEAKER_00]: Take time to reflect and write down your core values.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those principles that anchor your identity and convictions.
[SPEAKER_00]: This act of clarity will serve you when temptation arises or when the stakes are high.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second, build a community of truth tells running.
[SPEAKER_00]: None of us can maintain unshakable resolve and about unique people with challenge you who will point out when you are lapsing into mere stubbornness or pride and who will stand children to shoulder with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: When your tenacity is truly guided by conscience.
[SPEAKER_00]: seek out friends, mentors, and faith medities who share commitment to what is right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Third, cultivate habits of integrity and small things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tynacity is not an originated moment of Christ's loan.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's formed every time you act with honesty, compassion, encourage it or marry circumstances.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hold yourself to principles when no one's watching.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fourth,
[SPEAKER_00]: reflect regularly and honestly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nate time for examination of your conscience and prayerful meditation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ask yourself honestly was my persistance today about pride or about upholding the good?
[SPEAKER_00]: What might I need to learn or change?
[SPEAKER_00]: Fifth, look for examples.
[SPEAKER_00]: Historic and present day of ethical denacity and actions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look, guys, the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why I say go to the Bible first thing in the morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so many good things there, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we see the saints before.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they were all the disciples of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all, all of them were killed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Except for John, they tried to kill him, but didn't that put him on a remote island.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, rely on grace.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the final one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Human willpower runs out.
[SPEAKER_00]: There will be times of exhaustion, confusion, or doubt.
[SPEAKER_00]: In those moments, as for spiritual strength, invite God to calibrate your
[SPEAKER_00]: Internal compass to refresh your heart and to give you the peace and courage you need to endure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, I want to, I want to pray over you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we ask for the grace to be truly relentless in our pursuit of what is good, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And just strip away our stubbornness and pride, replace it with a quiet, unyielding courage.
[SPEAKER_00]: When the world tempts us to compromise our values for comfort or approval, grant us the strength to stand firm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remind us of the words of the apostle Paul that we may never grow tired of doing what is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Calibrate our vocal compass to your truth, guide our steps, give peace to your minds.
[SPEAKER_00]: and make our hearts steadfast.
[SPEAKER_00]: We ask this in your holy name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guys, thank you so much for listening.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't forget the admits, Michael Hanks, published out their own Facebook, hold your ground, keep your copies true, and go out and do the right thing, and stay relentless.