2601: Become Dangerous

There is a difference between being harmless and being virtuous. Virtue isn't weakness, it's strength under control. Throughout history, from the frontier to today, the people who build strong families, communities, and societies are those who become capable enough to make difficult choices, then consistently choose what is right over what is merely convenient. True character requires both strength and restraint, and why self-government begins with self-mastery. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifeblood George’s newest book is available! Get your copy of You’re Money Isn’t the Problem- You Are here: https://amzn.to/4uDYFRz Feeling busy but unfulfilled? The Meaningful Few helps you identify what truly matters, eliminate distractions, and live with intention and clarity. Learn more here: https://www.mymeaningfulfew.com/ Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here: ​​https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcast You can learn more about us at LifeBlood. Live http://lifeblood.live/, Twitter https://twitter.com/ourlifeblood, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/lifebloodlive, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lifeblood.live/, YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQ9Gc4mMwCHZKUHjbt0-qA and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lifebloodlive or you’d like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood. Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates https://george-grombacher.aweb.page. Copyright LifeBlood 2026.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 0:45Speaker 01

  When we were... The movies made it pretty easy on us. Good guys, they were the guys wearing the white hats. The bad guys, they were the ones wearing the black hats. And we knew exactly who to cheer for, who to root against, who was gonna win, who was gonna lose. Life was brilliantly, wonderfully, simple. And then you grew up, and then you sort of start to figure out, you discovered that neither hat belongs to someone else, that they're all, they're both hanging in our own closet. That we're both good guys, and we're both bad guys. All in one human being, it's all amazing.

• 1:25Speaker 01

  The distinctions are never quite as easy as we want to make them out, even today, as we try to put different hats on different people to determine and differentiate who's on my team and who is not. But there's just something fascinating and romantic about the American frontier. It was this boundless and endless opportunity, but it was a lawless place. And in many places, law was absent. At the very least, it was very distant. Order and social order was extremely tenable and very, very, very fragile. Our survival depended on our ability to take care of ourselves, our own strength, our

• 2:10Speaker 01

  own courage, our own capability. If I was stronger than somebody else, I could go ahead and take whatever I wanted. I could do whatever I wanted. I could intimidate them. I could exploit them. I could be the guy wearing the black hat, or I could choose not to. And that is where virtue begins. We oftentimes, we have the wrong idea and conception of what virtue means. Because it does not mean being harmless. Being virtuous does not simply mean being nice. It does not mean being incapable of hurting others. That's not virtue. That's just weakness.

• 2:54Speaker 01

  Virtue isn't the ability to do wrong. Virtue is possessing the ability to do whatever you want, good or bad, and deciding and choosing to do what is right. There's a saying that I really love, and it's this. It's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. Put another way, become capable, become disciplined, become as dangerous as you can become. And then place all that strength under the control of your character.

• 3:33Speaker 01

  Friedrich Nietzsche warned that anyone who fights monsters should be careful not to become one. Because power, it can change people. Strength will magnify what's already inside of you. If we're bitter, resentful human beings, power is going to make us more bitter and more resentful. If I'm selfish, power is going to make me more selfish. But if I'm a disciplined man, you're a disciplined woman, if you're compassionate, if we're just, then strength is going to amplify and allow those qualities to protect other people. And then there's one of the most profound observations that's ever been written, and was written by Söldz and Heaton, and he wrote that

• 4:18Speaker 01

  "The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being."

• 4:24Speaker 01

  Not between Democrat or Republican, not between Iran and the United States, not between Muslim and Jew, or Protestant, or Catholic, or Mormon, and name a different religion, not between the rich and the poor, through you and through me. And every day, we decide which side of that line is going to get stronger. And here's what I find so interesting about this, is that most of us secretly admire the hero, because the hero could certainly become the villain. The sheriff knows how to use a gun, soldier knows how to fight, parent knows how to dominate

• 5:07Speaker 01

  a child, the executive knows how to exploit employees, the financial advisor knows how to manipulate a client, but they don't. Not because they can't, but because they won't. Because they choose to wear the white hat. And that's what a functioning society requires. GLP-1s are changing weight loss. My sister had amazing. The ideal treatment is.

• 5:30Speaker 02

  Seems like everyone's a GLP-1 expert these days, but when it comes to your health, it pays to listen to someone who actually is. Like OrderlyMeds.com, with 50% off your first two orders and personalized support along the way. We're making it easier to get started. Visit OrderlyMeds.com. Bringing orders to the chaos of GLP-1s. Individual results may vary. Eligibility and prescription required. Not medical advice. Visit OrderlyMeds.com for details. Compound and medications are not FDA approved.

• 5:56Speaker 03

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at OnDeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  Not millions of people who are too weak to do harm, millions of people who are strong enough to do harm and choose not to. People who keep their promises, who tell the truth, who don't steal when they could, who don't cheat when nobody's watching, who don't abuse power simply because they possess it. Civilizations, good ones, effective ones, long-term ones, are not built on surveillance. They're built on self-government. And self-government, that begins with self-government. So perhaps our goal isn't simply to become kinder or simply stronger. It's to become both. Build your mind, build your body, build your finances, build your confidence, become somebody

• 7:11Speaker 01

  capable of extraordinary things. And then let your character determine how you use that strength. Put on the white hat. Not because somebody handed it to you, because every day you choose to put it on. Because that line between good and evil doesn't run through Washington, or Wall Street, or Hollywood, or your neighbor's house. It's through you and me. Every decision, every conversation, every temptation, every opportunity, we decide which side grows, which side flourishes. So become as capable as you can. Become someone others know not to underestimate.

• 7:51Speaker 01

  And become the kind of person that others are grateful to never have to fear. That's what virtue is. That's what character is. And that is what free people owe to one another. This idea, it's not just a line, that we do our part by doing your best. You do your part by doing your best. That's what this is all about. That's what that's all about. Making yourself as strong as you possibly can be. Make yourself capable of doing anything. And then choosing to do what is right. To have a strong character.

• 8:33Speaker 01

  To be a caring, compassionate person who's giving. Even if you wanted to, you could take whatever you wanted.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  And if we can do that, if each of us can do that, or get a little bit better at doing it, that's how it works again. Nobody's coming to save us. The sheriff is not going to come riding in. Clint Eastwood is not coming in. John Wayne, not coming in. Insert your favorite action hero, your favorite cowboy. He or she are not going to see him on the horizon. They are not coming to save us. The only person that's coming to save you is you. Do your part by doing your best.

• 9:27Speaker 02

  Seems like everyone's a GLP-1 expert these days, but when it comes to your health, it pays to listen to someone who actually is. Like OrderlyMeds.com. With 50% off your first two orders and personalized support along the way, we're making it easier to get started. Visit OrderlyMeds.com. Bringing orders to the chaos of GLP-1s. Individual results may vary. Eligibility and prescription required. Not medical advice. Visit OrderlyMeds.com for details. Compound and medications are not FDA approved.

• 9:53Speaker 04

  At Humana, our Medicare Advantage plans are easy to understand and easy on your wallet. Like offering more benefits than you'd get from original Medicare alone, and including dental, vision, and hearing coverage in every plan. And the best part is, every plan has a $0 or low monthly plan premium, which makes it easier to save, too. So this Medicare planning season, plan well with Humana. Learn more at GetHumana.com. Humana is a Medicare Advantage, HMO, and PPO organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in any Humana plan depends on contract renewal.