Self Mastery

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would want to master anything, especially my self. Yet as I look back on the trials that I have endured over the past 15 years they have all been training to learn to control my self. In the talk by Elder Tanner Success is Gauged by Self Mastery he quotes Plato "The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile." I can attest that is true. When the rage is gone and you are left with having to account for what you did or said during the lose of control, if you have any remorse at all you will be ashamed of what you've done. This was a talk given in a General Priesthood session, but it applies to all of us.

Elder Tanner goes on to say "there are two important elements in self-mastery. The first is to determine your course or set the sails, so to speak, of moral standards; the other is the will power, or the wind in the sails carrying one forward." It makes sense that if you don't have control over your personal life you won't have control or success in your professional life.

Along those lines I enjoyed the advice from Steve Blank in the video The Entrepreneur and the Family. He suggested that if you have a family to make rules that you will keep, like be home for dinner and set a time for family. 

And Jan Newman echoed that advice in the video Loyalty to God and Family. He stated to prioritize first God then Spouse then Family.