Kneel First

Before you stand against the day, kneel before what holds you up.

Every morning you are going to stand up and go to war with something. The work. The resistance. Whatever is waiting. You will need to be hard for most of it.

But hard is not the first move. Hard is the second.

The first move is on your knees, remembering you did not build the ground you are about to stand on.

Do it early. Do it before your feet hit the floor if you can. Because pride sleeps in, and if you wait, it wakes up first — and once it is awake, it does not kneel. It negotiates. It reminds you how much you have earned, how far you have come, how little you owe anybody.

Beat it to the morning.

Humble yourself before ego opens its eyes, and the whole day runs different. Not softer. Anchored. You know what you are for, and you know it did not start with you.

Then push off from that. Not from your ambition. Not from your reputation. From the actual source of what drives you.

Stand up hard.

Just kneel first.

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” — Augustine