Growth always feels awkward. Up-leveling always feels unnatural at first. You're stretching into something new. Of course it's uncomfortable. It's supposed to be. Then comes the external resistance. The people around you will notice. Not always directly and not always kindly.

Sometimes it shows up as sarcasm, jokes or eye rolls.

Sometimes it's more direct.

Comments about how you've changed, how you're too rigid now,

or questions about why you're taking things so seriously.

It's not always malicious, but it's real.

And if you're not ready for it, it can knock you right back down to the old level.

See, when you raise your standard, you challenge the status quo, not just in your own life,

but in the lives of the people around you. You

become a mirror. You reflect back to others what they're not doing. And some people don't like

what they see. Not because they don't support you, but because your change makes them uncomfortable

with their own lack of it. So they push back.

Not always consciously, but consistently.

And that's when you have to decide.

Was this standard a preference or a principle?

Is this something I was just trying or something I'm becoming?

Because if it's real, if it's true, you'll hold it, even when it's inconvenient,

even when it's lonely, even when it costs you something.

That's what standards are, not decorations, not things you declare.

They're things you protect, not just when they're easy, but especially when they're hard.

Because anyone can raise a standard for a day.

But the ones who keep them, the ones who protect them, they're the ones whose lives change so what do

...