A Few Day Warrior Principles

Initially, the title of this newsletter was "The Day Warrior Principles." When I realized I had many of them and that this list was not comprehensive, I decided to rename it "A Few Day Warrior Principles."

More to come in future newsletters.

The primary purpose of this newsletter is to focus on following a few principles that allow you to build the life you are meant to live, one disciplined step at a time.

Every Day Warrior needs a blueprint — a framework for purpose, progress, and resilience. Over the years, through early-morning writing sessions, weekend coffee shop rituals, fatherhood lessons, and conversations across the world from Japan to Kansas, one truth has become crystal clear:

Great lives aren’t built by accident.

They’re built by principle.

Below are five foundational principles that shape everything we do as Day Warriors. These aren’t theories — they’re lived experience, battle-tested across careers, culture, and family.

Let’s break them down.

Purpose is the engine that powers everything. When you know why you’re fighting, the work becomes meaningful.

Your mission isn’t something you stumble into — it’s something you choose. When you choose, you eliminate distraction.

I often talk about this in Day Warrior newsletters:

Purpose aligns your energy.

Purpose kills noise and distraction.

Purpose turns wandering into forward motion.

Not everyone will have a clear mission.

If your mission is not clear, set a direction, not a destination.

You don’t need the final mission to get started with these principles. You just need a direction that pulls you forward.

Mission emerges from motion.

What if the direction is not even clear?

Here’s the truth:

When you don’t know what to do next, your job is not to choose a direction.

Your job is to rebuild the version of yourself who can see the direction when it appears.

This is a different kind of work.

A quieter one.

But it’s the most important.

Let me try to address this piece in a future newsletter as best as I can.

For now, let's move on to the following principle.

Motivation is a spark — systems are the electrical grid.

Okay, this is a goofy example, but I wanted you to have a visual in your head.

A spark alone does not get you anywhere.

The system, in this case the electrical grid, is what takes that one spark and turns it into daily sparks that are repeatable, even when the motivation is not there.

Every Day Warrior knows:

You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

That’s why we build habits that support us automatically:

The systems we create help us do the heavy lifting.

Systems make discipline automatic.

Systems make progress predictable.

Systems pull you forward even on your worst days.

Systems over goals is a concept we should teach every child and young adult.

I spent years chasing goals and motivation.

When I first moved back to the United States, I was lost for a while. When I first moved to Japan, the goal was all about me. It was a clear goal that I wanted to be successful in Japan.

My move back to the United States was also about me, but a huge component was doing what was best for my two boys and their future.

I had to find my direction again.

I forgot all about what made me successful in the past.

Instead of focusing on the systems that made me successful previously, I started searching for my motivation. 

I wore out a path on Amazon searching for audiobooks on "How to find my motivation."

I wasted too many months trying to find my motivation. Then got back to systems that made my discipline predictable and automatic, pushing me forward even on days when I did not have motivation.

The results were that I became focused again and moved forward every day.

I figured out the magic formula that made my move back to the United States successful, not only for my boys but also for my wife and me.

Five years later, my boys are happy in school, getting excellent grades, and playing the sports they like.

My wife has started a small business with some of her Japanese friends in the community.

I have nearly doubled my salary and found a role that challenges me mentally, rewards me financially, and allows me lots of time to attend my kids' sports events and work on The Day Warrior.

When your mission isn’t clear, the highest-leverage move you can make is simple: Strengthen the foundation before you choose the structure.

When your mission isn’t clear, strengthen the foundation. When your mission isn’t clear, strengthen the foundation. A solid foundation can support any future you decide to build.

Skill stacking is how you do it.

Every new skill you learn becomes another tool, another advantage, another doorway.

You’re not trying to guess the path — you’re building the capability to walk any path.

A skill stack, or talent stack, is the unique combination of multiple complementary skills that, when combined, make you far more effective, capable, and valuable than any single skill alone ever could.

It’s not about being the best in the world at one thing.

It’s about being very good at several things that work together to amplify each other.

Your skill stack creates a multiplying effect — each skill enhances the others.

Here are some examples, or what that looks like in real life:

Communication

With good communication, you become better at:

Communication multiplies every other skill.

Technical Competence

This is the edge in today’s world:

When others are confused by complexity, you can lead through it.

Writing

Writing is a lever:

A man who writes well can lead, persuade, and influence at scale.

Sales & Persuasion

You don’t need to work in sales to benefit from it:

Sales is simply the ability to move people — and that’s mission-critical anywhere.

Health and Fitness

A strong body supports a strong mind:

Your body is part of your talent stack.

When you stack skills, something powerful happens:

A man with one skill has one path.

A man with ten skills has a thousand.

Skill stacking expands the horizon long before the mission comes into view.

When the mind gets stuck, the body becomes the gateway forward.

Walk.

Train.

Lift.

Sweat.

Get sunlight.

Change your environment.

Motion creates thought.

Thought creates clarity.

Clarity creates direction.

Some of your most significant realizations will happen on a long walk or under a barbell — not behind a desk.

I literally walked myself out of my "move back to the United States funk."

Walking is the foundational system I have in place that grounds me when all the other systems I have are struggling.

Walking is my most vigorous daily non-negotiable habit.

At the time of writing this newsletter, I have not missed a daily walking goal in 1007 days or 2.8 years! I am averaging 15,000 steps a day.

That foundation walk always gets me back on track, even on my worst days.

So my message is clear.

Move. Move. Move.

I am always amazed at how many people will miss an incredible opportunity in life because they are afraid of making mistakes.

Reframe mistakes from something to avoid into opportunities to learn.

Obviously, you want to avoid mistakes that put you in a dangerous situation or financially destroy you, but stop avoiding the uncomfortable obstacles we all face in our daily lives.

Those are opportunities to learn, grow, and build the critical experience you need.

If direction is hidden, it means one thing:

You need more experience before the next chapter becomes visible.

You cannot find this experience standing still, so you:

You’re collecting all the little experiences that help you find your direction.

Identify the little challenges that will fuel the mission.

The experience you create shapes your sense of direction.

When the mission is unclear → choose a direction.

When direction is unclear → build the man.

Your identity must become strong enough, stable enough, and quiet enough to recognize what’s meant for you, finally.

The path appears when you are ready to walk it.

Until then:

Build discipline.

Build capability.

Build character.

Build stillness.

Clarity is not found.

Clarity is earned.

The Day Warrior

Hey everyone, first off—thank you so much for being part of this community and loving the content I create. Your views, likes, and comments mean the world to me and keep me motivated to bring you more of what you enjoy. 

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