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Self-Reliance

"Relying on one's own abilities, efforts or judgments"

(See also Initiative, Diligence, Creativity/Flexibility, Resilience)

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Games, Activities and Clips

Defining Self-Reliance

The Need for Self-Reliance

How to Become Self-Reliant

Resources on Self-Reliance

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Young golf phenomenon Tiger Woods is known for his often dramatic shots, but he claims that there's no magic to his success. According to Woods, ''I don't force things like that to happen. I just allow them to happen. When things like that happen, they're the result of hours and hours of practice. You bust your butt hitting balls, practicing chipping and putting, working on your game. And lo and behold you hit that magical shot.'' (USA Today, ''Woods Closes a Masterful Year,'' by Jerry Potter, page 7C)

Often when we see an actor or athlete or musician perform, we say to ourselves, "I wish I do that as well as them!" What we don't see is all the boring practice that it took to develop those talents. If you want to become self-reliant, put in that boring time developing marketable skills, whether they be Math, Music, Reading or Programming. Put in the boring time and one day you'll shine.

Games, Activities and Clips

Defining Self-Reliance

The Need for Self-Reliance

What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight; but the size of the fight in the dog. (Successful Coach Paul ''Bear'' Bryant)

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Mark Twain, when asked about the reason for his success, replied ''I was born excited.''

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Great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of anything else that is great. (William Shakespeare, Henry IV)

How to Become Self-Reliant

Realize You're Big Enough to Make a Difference

''If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't been in bed with a mosquito.'' (Anita Roddick)

Keep Getting Up

''When you're down to your last ounce of strength, don't use it to scream. Use it to get up.'' (Southwestern Theological Seminary professor Dr. Garland)

Learn to Do What You Don't Want to Do

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like and do what you'd rather not. (Mark Twain, American Author)

Take Responsibility for Your Life

''If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn't be able to sit down for six months.'' (Gordon Gray)

Train Well

''On a tip from an Iraqi official, Marines with D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, dashed through sniper fire on the streets of Samarra, Iraq.'' In a daring rescue, they found seven American P.O.W.'s and brought them out to safety.

How did they perform so flawlessly? According to Castro, one of the participants in the mission,

''All the scouts who went in on the rescue did great. They showed great speed and aggressiveness. They knew what to do and they did it.''

''His battalion spent 45 days at sea transiting from San Diego to Kuwait. Much of the time was spent holding classes and training sessions on tactics including moving through built up areas like the town square in Samarra.''

''If you train right, you can rely on it no matter what happens,'' Castro said. ''We trained so much for situations like this, I didn't have to give any direction. Everyone knew just what needed to be done, and they did it.''

In order to perform well in the limelight, we have to put in our often-boring practice time behind the scenes. (Source: Marines recount POW rescue operation; Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force, Story by Sgt. Joseph R. Chenelly From U.S. Marine site: http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/97CE25D155D1D05985256D09003C0977?opendocument

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Use Your Resources

A man who has lived one of the most extraordinary lives is Bill Gates, the wealthiest man in America today. He's one of the most creative thinkers and extremely intelligent. Whenever you use a product with the name "Microsoft" on it, you're looking at the name of the company he founded.

Bill's mind is often so absorbed with the world of computers that he often overlooks the little details of life - like his gas gauge and his wallet.

One night, in the middle of winter, Gates ran out of gas on a freeway somewhere near Microsoft's headquarters. He coasted off the side of the road, walked back to a Ramada Inn and requested a room. But when they asked for his ID and payment, he couldn't find his wallet. No matter how hard he tried to convince the desk clerk that he was Bill Gates, President of Microsoft, and that an assistant would pay his bill in the morning, the skeptical clerk stood her ground. She must have thought, ''I've heard that line before. Probably some bum off the street. No money? No room.''

So that night, the wealthiest man in America took a lonely walk back his office in the cold and ended up sleeping in his office instead of a comfy hotel room.

The point? It doesn't matter how much money Bill Gates has in the bank if he can't access it. Without access to his money, he's a billionaire living like a pauper. You have tremendous resources at your disposal as well, but they're no good to you if you can't access them. You've got a brain capable of incredible processes, but you've got to develop it. You've got libraries full of wisdom, books on tape, educational videos, sports and routines to develop your body. What a shame if we don't develop ourselves so that our resources aren't available when we need them.

When Dealt a Bad Hand, Play Harder and Smarter

The cliche is true: Tough times build character. The best thing that ever happened to me was when the Great Depression hit, and my father couldn't give me one more dollar for college. In order to return to school, I had to learn to be self-reliant, resourceful, and diligent. I took several jobs...and I was able to pay my college expenses. When dealt a bad hand, you learn to play smarter. (Sir John Marks Templeton, Chairman of the John Templeton Foundation, Founder of the Templeton Growth Fund)

Need more resources on "Self-Reliance"? See also our related categories: Initiative, Diligence, Creativity/Flexibility, Resilience