(The Economic Collapse Blog)—One of the keys to being successful in life is a strong work ethic. No matter where you find yourself, if you are willing to work hard you are more likely to get ahead. This is something that I have studied for many years. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Jerry Rice were all born with physical gifts, but so were countless others. The primary reason why Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Jerry Rice are now considered to be some of the greatest athletes of all-time is because they simply worked harder than everyone else. When Tom Brady came out of college, he didn’t have a gun for an arm and he was very slow. He was not a highly regarded prospect, and so he was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft. But once he got into the league, he worked like mad, and eventually he won seven Super Bowls. If he had not been willing to work extremely hard, he could have easily faded into obscurity without ever accomplishing much of anything.
Have you noticed that a lot of young people today don’t want to work hard?
There are a lot of employers that specifically avoid hiring those that are fresh out of college because they have a reputation for being lazy. Of course the reason why they are not inclined to work hard is because they have never been trained to work hard.
If kids do not learn self-discipline when they are young, they are not likely to learn it as adults. That is why it is vital to create a structure that makes self-discipline a part of their normal routine.
Recently, a man named Carol Randolph Jr. shared a chores list that he was expected to complete as an 8-year-old boy in the early 1990s…
A chore list from a Philadelphia household in the early 90s has been praised by users on social media.
The list, posted on Threads by Carl Randolph Jr., (@fatcarl_sp) lays out daily, weekly and monthly expectations that began when he was just 8 years old.
His father, Carl Randolph Sr. wrote instructions for making the bed, completing homework, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms and kitchens, vacuuming, wiping down furniture, and even washing down the exterior of the house with a hose, weather permitting.
Carl Randolph Sr. was a single father, and so having a very strict routine was very important.
And by having all of the household tasks on a regular schedule, it ensured that everything ultimately got done…
What percentage of parents have a list of chores this extensive today?
Needless to say, that number would be really, really small.
So where did Carl Randolph Sr. get his work ethic?
Well, it turns out that he served in the U.S. Navy…
Before school, Carl Jr. was expected to make his bed, eat breakfast, check homework for “neatness and completeness” and be out the door before 6:50 a.m. In the comments, he clarified that his father was in the Navy.
Dishes could not be left in the sink. Trash had to be taken out and liners replaced. Even leisure time was conditional—earned once obligations were met. The tone is firm but not punitive, focused less on control and more on preparation.
“We had fun doing these duties, but he didn’t play about getting business done or breaking rules,” Carl Jr. said.
In those days, virtually anyone that served in the U.S. military was going to develop a very strong sense of self-discipline.
Of course much has changed since that time.
We have gotten soft as a society, and our system of education is completely failing our young people.
Just look at what is happening to ACT scores for college-bound seniors…
The level of education that our young people are receiving in our public schools is a joke. And many of our young people have no moral foundation whatsoever.
Earlier this month, an 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania shot his own father to death…
An 11-year-old boy faces homicide charges after shooting and killing his father in Perry County, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
WGAL News 8 obtained court documents that reveal new details about what happened the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 13, in Duncannon Borough.
Officers responded to a home on South Market Street around 3:20 a.m. for an “unresponsive male” and found Douglas Dietz, 42, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the documents.
I haven’t even told you the worst part yet.
It appears that he shot his own father to death because his Nintendo Switch had been taken away…
Clayton said he found the key in his father’s drawer and unlocked the safe in an attempt to find his Nintendo Switch, which was previously taken away from him, according to the documents.
Clayton admitted to “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed,” the affidavit stated. “He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father.”
We have raised an entire generation of ultra-coddled young people that are completely addicted to entertainment and that have never learned to fend for themselves.
As a result, one out of every five 30-year-old men in the United States still lives at home…
This is during a time of acute anxiety and curiosity about young men in America. Much ink has been spilled about their loneliness, their jawlines, their physical fitness and about being “performative males.” The prolific podcaster Scott Galloway’s book “Notes on Being a Man” jumped to No. 1 on the New York Times advice bestseller list when it was published in November and sparked fresh discussion about the “masculinity crisis.” (On “Today,” Savannah Guthrie asked Galloway why “this particular cohort — young men — have fallen so far so fast” as an infographic citing Galloway’s book noted that 1 in 5 30-year-old men still live at home.)
We wouldn’t be in this mess if we had taught our young people the value of hard work.
When I was born, it was very common for a 25-year-old man to already be married and own a home.
Today, it is extremely rare to find a 25-year-old man that is both married and a homeowner.
There was a time when Americans were known for their work ethic.
Sadly, those of us that have been around long enough to have experienced that are getting older with each passing day.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
