Self-Control vs. Self-Esteem and Other Life Lessons from Charlie

Charlie Kirk (0:03)

My name is Charlie Kirk. I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country, fighting for the future of our republic. My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody. You got to stop sending your kids to college. You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible. Go start a Turning Point USA college chapter. Go start a Turning Point USA high school chapter. Go find out how your church can get involved. Sign up and become an activist. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade. Most important decision I ever made in my life, and I encourage you to do the same. Here I am. Lord, use me. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.

Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of The Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.

That is noblegoldinvestments.com.

SPEAKER_2 (1:17)

I would just like to know, you know, you being a husband, a father, and a big political figure, it's like, how do you cope with, like, making all those things important in your life?

Charlie Kirk (1:27)

You mentioned a lot, which is, I'm a big fan of Aristotle. Aristotle talked about a hierarchy of the good. When you have a lot going on, this is a good rule for young people. You got to make a hierarchy of what matters most, and you got to prioritize that thing over other things, which means, by definition, other things are going to slip aside. And realize it's not all about you. And this is one of the great, I hate the self-love movement, I hate the self-esteem movement, it's done so much damage. I think it's one of the great philosophical carcinogens in our society in so many different ways. I saw this sign the other day. They said, it's your imperfections that make you perfect. And I thought to myself, I said, well then, therefore, by definition, the more imperfections you have, the better you are?

Or my favorite one is, the world is better because you're in it. Now, that might sound like a good message, but in reality, it should be a question. Is the world better because you're in it?

Right? And so it should be a question. It has the world become a better place because of you. Now, so the idea of a hierarchy of what matters most is not taught a lot to our kids. There's a big lie out there that you could have it all. And that's not true. You can't. You have to make sacrifices. You could still do a lot. You could still run a business and you could still do things, but you have to make time for what matters most. One of the reasons why we have such a depressed generation, suicidal generation, we have such an anxious generation, a medicated generation is they're thinking about themselves all the time.

I believe a people that is not dedicated to service is a very depressed people. It's not always about you. Sometimes you have to do stuff you don't like because it's going to benefit somebody else. By the way, we just know that scientifically, you're a happier person because we know that, regardless of the spiritual implications or the moral implications. And so we have an entire generation that's always asking, how do you feel? How do you feel about that? It's actually quite irrelevant. It matters more about what you're doing. And here's a thought provoking thing for you. Generally, what you do should dictate how you feel, not how you feel with what you do. That's a good general rule to tell a young person. Another good rule for life, which is self-control is a lot more important than self-esteem.

But we do the opposite. Thank you.

SPEAKER_3 (3:41)

What advice would you give to a young kid that wants to do something similar to what you've done with their career as far as starting Turning Point USA and just impacting people?

Charlie Kirk (3:51)

So I started Turning Point USA when I was 18 I never went to college and ended up being a great decision for me. I took a gap year. Not everyone in this country needs to go to college. We have way too many people going to college in our country. Strive to be a better person every single day, because your character is a reflection of your soul.