Larry Winget’s Warrior Words of Wisdom

As far as I know, Larry Winget was never in the Military. (However, one of his sons served with the 82nd Airborne Division) I also don’t believe Larry studied martial arts, nor did he study the Asian warrior texts like I have. (Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) being two of the most famous.) Regardless of the lack of military or martial background, Larry Winget definitely understands and lives with the Warrior’s Edge.

Why do I say this? I’ve read most of Larry’s books, including the newest Your Kids Are Your Own Fault, and his message echo’s the core message of living with the Warrior’s Edge. The themes of honesty, honor, integrity, and character are found in Larry’s works, just in a little different way than I share.

Recently I read one of Larry’s blog posts and he was writing about a theme that he teaches often. (One could almost say it is a concept that Larry preaches, and I would only say – amen.) Larry’s number one rule for success is a foundational rule to living as a warrior and living with the Warrior’s Edge. As Larry preaches, “Do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it.” It’s a pretty simple rule. It’s unfortunate that everyone doesn’t follow this simple rule. But then, not everyone lives as a warrior, nor is everyone successful.

Warriors do what they say. Remember the song Ballad of the Green Beret written by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore and sung by Special Forces Sgt. Barry Sadler? One of the lines in that song is, “Men who mean just what they say, the brave men of the Green Beret.” You don’t have to question where a warrior stands, he will tell you. And the integrity of a warrior’s verbal communication is trustworthiness of his commitments. In other words, a warrior’s word is his bond. To a warrior, not to do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it, would be dishonorable, and honor is fundamental to living as a warrior.

As an attorney, I’ve many cases where people try to use legal loopholes to get out of doing things they agreed to. I’ve also seen many cases where people simply refuse to pay or perform as they agreed until a letter from an attorney “reminds” them of their obligation. I find these behaviors dishonorable, and there is never an excuse for dishonor.

Decide right now that you will live with the Warrior’s Edge and commit to living by higher standards and principles. The first thing you can do is commit to what I’ll call Winget’s Warrior Words of Wisdom (Sort of catchy don’t you think? I hope Larry thinks so.) Those words, one last time because they are so important, “Do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it.”