The Discipline of Arete: Trust the Work, Not the Moment
By Derek Neighbors on March 15, 2025
You push yourself. You put in the effort. And the results mock you.
Slower than before. Weaker than you want to be. Further from your goal than you planned.
Frustration creeps in. Judgment whispers. You should be better. You were stronger. What happened to you?
That voice? It’s lying to you.
It’s measuring you by a single moment. But Arete—chasing excellence—is never about one effort, one result, or one day. It’s every step. Every struggle. Every push forward when you’d rather stop.
Every effort builds. Every push stacks. The work compounds.
You don’t build greatness in a single burst. You build it by showing up, pushing forward, trusting the work when no one sees.
So drop the judgment. Quit measuring yourself by today’s pain. Measure yourself by your trajectory. If you keep showing up with intention, if you refuse to break the chain of consistency—then you are already winning.
That’s growth. That’s leadership. That’s undeniable.
Your path to excellence is long—quit, and you fail; persist, and you thrive.