The Battles That Define Us
Our greatest enemy lives within us. Our greatest hope lives among us.
The Art of Becoming is about turning obstacles into opportunities.
I draw on philosophy, the science of resilience, history, and real-life experiences to share the best ways to navigate adversity, cultivate wisdom, and live with purpose.
Life isn’t about avoiding hardships. It’s about becoming someone who thrives in it.
Join me.
In five minutes or less:
We fight two battles in life.
One is inward—the endless war against ourselves, the part that waits, hesitates, and surrenders tomorrow to fear.
The other is outward—our struggle to build something greater than ourselves. Such as when 121,000 Americans gave what little they had to raise the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.
Both battles reveal the same truth: we are not only the problem—we are also the solution.
Let’s get to it.
You Are Your Worst Enemy
You’re in a war.
The battleground is your brain, and your life is at stake.
The enemy isn’t from another country, political party, or someone trying to break into your house. The enemy isn’t hiding.
They know your weaknesses and a thousand ways to break you down.
The enemy is you.
You are your own worst enemy. You get in the way of progress.
Everyone wants to win. You want to achieve your goals and live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Yet something always seems to hold you back.
That something—or someone—is you.
You can blame your job, your kids, the economy, not having the right parents, how you look, your gender, or a thousand other reasons. But if you’re being honest, the problem isn’t ‘out there.’ The problem lies within you.
It’s the voice that whispers, Wait until tomorrow.
It’s mistaking perfection for progress.
It’s you fighting that version of you that wants to sit on the couch instead of working out.
It’s quitting when you’re inches or moments away from finishing.
And believing you can be comfortable and grow at the same time.
We are in constant conflict between the person we were yesterday and the person we are today. And who we will be tomorrow will pay for that war.
That version of you that sits on the couch, who waits until tomorrow, is the enemy. They don’t shout. Or cajole. They seduce. Tempting you with the easy, promising you that someday you’ll make it. But someday never comes.
To win this war, you will have to suffer because growth demands suffering. It demands the risk of failure, the pain of discomfort, and the courage to keep going when quitting would be easier.
The war isn’t you against the world. The war is within. It’s you against you. And this version of you never sleeps.
We tell ourselves we’ll begin tomorrow, as if tomorrow were guaranteed, as if time were not the most ruthless enemy of all. The tragedy is not that we are defeated by the world, but that we conspire in our own defeat. We hand ourselves over, inch by inch, to comfort, to fear, to the soft poison of hesitation.
So you fight. Every day. Not for victory over others, but for dominion over yourself.
Each moment is a battlefield. Each choice, a sword in your hand. Life is a one-shot deal. Treat it as such. Or as Eminem rapped:
“You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow.
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo.”
The Statue of Liberty Almost Didn’t Happen
The French government gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States as a symbol of friendship and to commemorate 100 years of American independence.
The French people—through public fees and a lottery—paid for the statue itself. The United States was responsible for the pedestal on which Lady Liberty would stand.
But by 1884, the American Committee for the Statue of Liberty had run out of money. They were short $100,000.
Enter Joseph Pulitzer. On March 16, 1885, he used his paper, the New York World, to make a direct appeal to the American people. It became the world’s first crowdfunding campaign.
“We must raise the money! The World is the people’s paper, and now it appeals to the people to come forward and raise the money. The $250,000 that the making of the Statue cost was paid in by the masses of the French people—by the working men, the tradesmen, the shop girls, the artisans—by all, irrespective of class or condition. Let us respond in like manner. Let us not wait for the millionaires to give us this money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America.”
And people answered. By August 11, 1885, more than 121,000 donors had given $101,091—an average of 83 cents each.
To show his gratitude, Pulitzer printed the names of every single donor in his newspaper, no matter the amount.
The moral of the story is twofold:
Never underestimate the power of ordinary people coming together for a common cause. Dictators and kings have forgotten this to their detriment.
Never underestimate the ability of one person to defy the odds and unite the masses in pursuit of something greater.
Thanks for reading. You only get one shot—don’t waste it.
Love to you and yours,
Michael