2624: Achievement and Self-Worth

LifeBlood: Should your self-worth be separated from your achievements? Maybe…but only if we're talking about outcomes. Money, promotions, awards, and recognition don't determine your value as a person. But the promises you keep to yourself? Those matter. This episode explores why self-confidence isn't something you discover, it's something you earn by honoring your commitments, one day at a time. Success isn't about controlling results. It's about becoming someone you can trust. 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

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• 0:45Speaker 01

  I've always had an interesting relationship between achievement and self-worth. And it's interesting because I think certainly there's value in that. If you do something and you worked hard to get it, or accomplish it, or whatever, do it, that you should feel really good about that. But what if you come up short? What if you work really hard to do something and you don't get the result that you're looking for? You lose in the first round? You don't make the play? Or actually get chosen to be in the play? So whatever domain that you are working in, it's not necessarily athletics.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  It could be what if you got an A- instead of straight As? So detaching from the actual result, it's such an interesting thing. What is the right way to go about it? What's the wrong way? Then there's issues of scale on it. It's because you win or perform at a really high level, at not the highest level, does that diminish the achievement? And should that then affect your worth or your self-worth? I don't know. It's really interesting. I was just scrolling through, mindlessly of course, my mouth open, some drool coming out, scrolling through social media, and I saw somebody posted something along the

• 2:14Speaker 01

  lines of, you know, just figured out that it's really important to separate my self-worth from my achievements. And it just sort of got me thinking about it again. And at first sort of blush, it makes sense. Sounds like you are exercising restraint and maybe even a little bit of self-compassion. Because just because you fail at something doesn't mean that you are a failure. If you are an entrepreneur and your business is struggling, or if you lose your job, or your marriage ends, you don't get into the school that you wanted, if you come up a little bit short in a savings goal, it doesn't erase who you are as a human being. And I definitely agree with that.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  Yes, of course. But I do think that that is missing something really, really important, because not all achievements are equal. And I've been on this kick over the past several years about really prioritizing and focusing and understanding what really matters. And when you start, well, I think regardless of that, we keep score on things, human beings. We're keeping tallies, and it's important to do that. And I don't think that it's a question of whether or not you're going to measure yourself. It is what you're going to measure.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  And I think it's that deciding what it is that you're going to measure oftentimes are the incorrect things. And that's where you get it sort of twisted. Because measuring your income, the number of followers you have, or if you got that promotion or not, or an award you got, or how big your house is, you're an executive vice president versus a vice president or a director, whatever, those are the outcomes. And while they're certainly influenced by effort, there's also luck involved, and there's other human beings involved. There is oftentimes the economy, which is well outside of my control, and politics, and just a long, a long list of stuff that has nothing to do with me, and I have nothing

• 4:26Speaker 01

  to do with it. So if your identity is resting on those things, I think that you're going to find yourself on some kind of a emotional roll, like a literal emotional roller coaster, going up and down, and up and down, and up and down. It's kind of like happiness versus contentment, and how similar they seem, but how different they really are. So I think that instead of doing that, we can measure something else. Think about it in the context of, going back to scale, if I'm measuring my entire life's success, that's a brain-breaking, mildly ridiculous exercise.

• 5:08Speaker 01

  But how about today, did you say what you were going to do? Did you do what you were going to say? Did you do the things that you told yourself that you were going to do? Did you honor the commitments that you made to yourself and to other people? Did you do the difficult thing that you told yourself that you were going to do? Did you move your body? Did you exercise? Were you honest? Did you apologize when you did something stupid or wrong? Did you make a good financial decision today? Did you spend quality time with loved ones, with your kids, with your spouse? Did you learn something? Did you get better today? Those are all achievements.

• 5:49Speaker 01

  And unlike trophies, either winning trophies or participation trophies, nobody can take those away from you. Because what we're talking about is keeping promises to yourself. And that is a critically important thing. And when you are doing that, that definitely has a link directly, connection to your self-worth. Think about somebody that you really respect, that you look up to, that you revere. Why do you do that? Why is it that you are looking at that person and thinking about them in the light that you are? And I bet, I bet that there are people who do what they say. I bet they're reliable.

• 6:34Speaker 01

  They're dependable. They're trustworthy. You can set a clock by them. So why would your relationship with yourself work any different? Every promise you keep to yourself, that creates trust. Every time you break a promise to yourself, you're weakening it. So self-confidence isn't something that you find, it's something that you earn. And you earn that one commitment at a time. And we all know that compounding is one of the most powerful forces in the world. And that certainly takes, that's certainly appropriate here as well.

• 7:10Speaker 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. Cool fall nights always make me want to entertain more. A few friends around the table, maybe a fire outside when the sun goes down. Before everyone comes over, I stop at Total Wine & More.

• 7:52Speaker 00

  Right now, there's a cranberry-flavored wine, a crisp apple wine, even a pumpkin spice cream that's perfect in coffee after dinner. And with the lowest prices, I can bring home a few different fall flavors for everyone to try. Find your favorite fall flavors at the lowest prices at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. Must be 21.

• 8:14Speaker 01

  Think about two people. Person A sets a goal every January, and then abandons them weeks later, breaks them by February. They promised that they're going to save money, but they don't. They promised they're going to get back in shape, but they don't. They promised to stop procrastinating, but they don't. And eventually, they stop believing themselves. And why wouldn't they? Why would I believe myself if I never follow through, if I never honor the commitments or the promises, or keep the promises that I make to myself? Now think about person B. They make a little tiny promise, walk for 10 minutes a day, and they do it. And the next day, they do it. And the next day, they do it.

• 8:56Speaker 01

  And over time, they become somebody who trusts themselves implicitly. Not because life got any easier, but because they became a more reliable version of themselves. We know that the outcomes have very little to do with me. I don't have much control of the circumstances of my life. But the beautiful thing about all of this, because you can do everything absolutely correct and still lose, you know, the market crashes, somebody else gets the job that you want, your book doesn't sell the way that you want it to, just life happens. But if your scorecard says, did I do my best?

• 9:40Speaker 01

  Did I do the best that I could? Well, then you're still winning. You're still winning the day.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  If this morning I said, "Today, I'm going to read 10 pages, go to the gym for 45 minutes, and, you know, make sure that I have a 30-minute, hour-long session with my kids, just spending time reading or playing, whatever, and I do those three things? Win. That's a giant win. I told myself I was gonna do those things, and I did them. And you do it every day. Because what we're talking about is success becoming a function of choices, not circumstance. And I think that that's the kind of person I'm interested in being and becoming and continuing to be.

• 10:29Speaker 01

  Because I also know that external success usually follows internal consistency. So, long before people are gonna trust you, you've gotta trust yourself. And long before other people believe you, you need to show evidence that you're a dependable human being. And that evidence doesn't come from one massive victory or event. It comes from small, daily victories. Keeping those small promises and those little commitments over and over and over again. So that compounds your character. Your character is that compounding of those little commitments. So, little steps.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  I advocate that if you are, if you do find yourself chasing perfection, knock that out. Knock that off. Stop comparing yourself to everybody else. Instead, just ask yourself, "What promise can I make today that I know that I'm gonna keep?" If it's reading that 10 pages, or going for that walk, or calling your parents, or saving 50 bucks, or leaving your phone, you know, instead of having your phone at the dinner table. And keep it. Then another, and then another. Every promise you keep is a vote for the person that you are becoming. We are the culmination. We are the summation of the choices that we make. That person that you see in the mirror,

• 11:55Speaker 01

  it's the result of your choices, obviously. So, I don't think that it's prudent to separate your self-worth from what it is that you do from your achievement, but it is prudent to separate it from outcomes. Think it's smart to tie your self-respect to the commitments you make, and then you judge yourself not by what happened, but whether you became or did the thing that you intended to do. Because at the end of the day, the person that you are becoming, that's the greatest achievement. So it's not lowering the bar. It's about deciding what bar is appropriate for you

• 12:37Speaker 01

  and putting the bar somewhere where you can control. When you judge yourself by outcomes, you're always gonna feel like you're at the mercy of life. But when you judge yourself by your integrity, your character, your effort, your willingness to keep the promises that you made to yourself and to keep your word, well, that's tough to defeat right there. The world may deny you success today, but it cannot deny you the satisfaction of knowing that you lived according to your principles. So what we're talking about is doing the things that are within your control and the things that you told yourself that you were gonna do. Let the chips fall where they may. Let tomorrow take care of itself. And of course, as always, what we're really talking about

• 13:20Speaker 01

  is doing your part by doing your best.

• 13:26Speaker 00

  Cool fall nights always make me want to entertain more. A few friends around the table, maybe a fire outside when the sun goes down. Before everyone comes over, I stop at Total Wine & More. Right now, there's a cranberry-flavored wine, a crisp apple wine, even a pumpkin spice cream that's perfect in coffee after dinner. And with the lowest prices, I can bring home a few different fall flavors for everyone to try. Find your favorite fall flavors at the lowest prices at Total Wine & More. Spirits are not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. Must be 21.

• 14:00Speaker 02

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