Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
– Marcus Aurelius
Every man faces a crossroads in their lives.
One path is paved with comfort, shortcuts, and excuses.
The other is built brick by brick through sacrifice, discipline, and truth.
The first is easy, but it leaves you empty.
On this first path, you do not grow.
You do not build experience.
You exist, getting by every day.
The second is hard, but it builds a man worth following.
You overcome obstacles most people fear.
You build experience and grit.
You get a little better every day.
A Day Warrior doesn’t just talk about principles—he lives them.
Here are three pillars that shape the foundation of a life that matters:
Discipline – Living Standards, Not Talking About Them
Talk is cheap. Social media is full of men (people) who preach “standards,” but standards mean nothing if you’re not willing to live them daily.
A man with discipline doesn’t need to announce his rules—his life makes them obvious. His habits, his consistency, his refusal to take the easy way out—they all speak louder than words.
When your kids watch you wake up early, when your team sees you grind through the work no one else wants to do, when your friends know you won’t compromise your health or your values—discipline becomes who you are.
I first learned about discipline almost 25 years ago when I first moved to Japan. I grew up in Michigan, the only international travel I had experienced was a thirty-minute drive to Canada, and I had just graduated from college and was working my first job.
Everything about moving to Japan felt impossible—new culture, new language, new way of life. But discipline turned impossible into reality. Day by day, I studied, saved, planned, and fought through the obstacles that stacked up against me. There were no shortcuts—only daily choices stacked on top of each other.
Looking back, it wasn’t talent or luck that carried me—it was discipline. The willingness to show up every day and keep going when most people would have quit.
Day Warrior Truth: Discipline turns intentions into identity.
Courage – Facing Hard Choices Head-On
Courage isn’t about running into battle without fear. It’s about moving forward, with intention, despite fear.
A man with courage doesn’t hide from tough conversations, challenging responsibilities, or life’s inevitable storms. He faces them with steady hands and a clear heart.
Whether it’s standing up for your principles at work, making sacrifices for your family, or choosing the more complex but more honorable path—courage means refusing to bow to convenience or cowardice.
In a recent newsletter, I talked about my company’s system outage and the fear it created in me. I highlighted the systems I had to put in place that helped me manage the chaos and fear I was facing.
When panic sets in, emotion clouds judgment. Systems are your playbook. They provide you with predetermined steps to follow, so you’re not left guessing when the pressure is highest.
This was not my first critical system outage in my career, but it may have been the worst. That being said, some of the systems I have put in place have helped me stay calm through this near-disaster. I helped me make the critical choices I needed to, even when fear told me just to stay home.
Day Warrior Truth: Courage is the muscle that grows only when it’s tested.
3. Integrity – Staying True When It Costs the Most
Integrity isn’t proven when things are easy. It’s revealed when the price is high.
A man with integrity doesn’t bend his values for a quick win or personal gain. He stays true to his word, even if it costs him time, money, or reputation.
That kind of consistency builds trust. And trust is the rarest currency in today’s world.
Years ago, when I was working with the global IT organization to reorganize my Asia Pacific team into a worldwide model, the pressure was immense. Restructures always bring fear, and it would have been easy to think only of myself—to secure my role, to play it safe.
But leadership isn’t about protecting yourself. It’s about protecting the people who trust you.
I had a capable team. We were setting up a new global, follow-the-sun help desk model. The proposal on the table was to reduce part of my Asia Pacific team into “generic” desktop support roles. But I knew they were capable of far more. They could support advanced applications and processes that required skill and insight. One of them was even ready to step up and become a manager, leading the group during Asia-Pacific hours while the U.S. team slept.
It wasn’t a popular stance at the time. Larger organizations often prefer to box people into narrow lanes—“one technology tower at a time.” But I held firm. I made the case that my team’s skills and leadership deserved to be recognized and expanded, not diminished.
A few years later, after I had left the organization, my former CIO called out the capability of the Asia Pacific team I had built. They had proven themselves, not just while I was there, but after I was gone. That’s what integrity does—it builds trust and confidence that endures beyond your presence.
Day Warrior Truth: Integrity means being the same man in the dark as you are in the light.
Final Thoughts
Discipline. Courage. Integrity.
These aren’t abstract words. They’re lived experiences.
When I left Michigan to build a life and career in Japan, I had no international experience, no safety net, and no idea what challenges lay ahead. Discipline carried me through—the daily grind of preparation, sacrifice, and persistence that turned a distant dream into a reality.
Years later, courage became the bridge. It took courage to step into boardrooms, lead diverse teams, and face down hard choices with no guarantee of success. Courage meant refusing to hide when challenges mounted.
During one of the most stressful periods of my career—when reorganizing my Asia Pacific IT team into a global model—integrity was my anchor. It would have been easy to protect myself. Instead, I stood firm for my team, fought for their recognition, and built trust that outlasted my tenure. Years after I left, their capability was still being praised by leadership. That’s the legacy integrity leaves behind.
Discipline builds the man.
Courage tests the man.
Integrity defines the legacy of the man.
The Day Warrior path is not the easy one. But it is the one worth walking—for your family, for your team, and for yourself.
Stay disciplined. Stay courageous. Stay true.
The Day Warrior
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– The Day Warrior
