Finding Motivation Through Faith: Perseverance, Discipline & Pushing

Watch on Rumble

Wolves & Wisemen Reignited — Episode 8

View Episode Now

About This Episode

What gets you moving when you don't feel like doing anything?

And once you start, what keeps you going when things get difficult?

The guys start by talking about motivation and the different things that give us a reason to keep moving forward.

Sometimes it's family.

Sometimes it's faith.

Sometimes it's money, a career, a personal goal, or simply wanting to become a better version of yourself.

But motivation isn't always there.

There are days when you're fired up and ready to go—and there are days when getting out of bed feels like an accomplishment.

That's where perseverance comes in.

Using Romans 5:3, the conversation turns toward suffering, endurance, character, and what happens when you keep pushing even after the original motivation disappears.

The guys share stories from the Marine Corps, work, the police academy, building cars, physical challenges, skydiving, starting the podcast, and the different situations that taught them they were capable of more than they originally believed.

Sometimes you don't know how you're going to do something.

You just start.

Then you figure it out.

And when you look back at some of the hardest periods of your life, you may realize those were the experiences that taught you the most.

From there, Episode 8 heads into the Rebel Report, Folks on Fire, Boners, and eventually another deep Fringe Files conversation involving parallel universes, the “Upside Down,” artificial intelligence, technology, digital control, and the question of whether humanity is becoming too dependent on the systems we've created.

It's faith, motivation, suffering, brotherhood, current events, ridiculous stories, AI, parallel universes, and three guys still trying to figure things out together.

In other words:

Another normal episode of Wolves & Wisemen Reignited.

What We Talk About

The Check In — Motivation

2 Timothy 1:7

What actually motivates us

Finding your personal “why”

Motivation in faith, work, family, relationships, and everyday life

Wanting to become a better person

Being a better father, husband, friend, employee, or business owner

Finding motivation when you're mentally exhausted

The difference between motivation and influence

Family and children as motivation

Having an end goal

Setting personal goals

Motivation from the Marine Corps

Working toward rank, fitness goals, and personal improvement

Why working toward your own business can feel different from simply working a job

New Year's resolutions

Goal boards and visual reminders

Manifestation and the law of attraction

Keeping God involved in your goals

Turning motivation into discipline

Turning discipline into habits

Why motivation doesn't have to last forever

Using a friend, spouse, or support system for accountability

Rewarding yourself after accomplishing something

Knowing when to take a break and reset

The Check In — Perseverance

Motivation may get you through the door.

Perseverance is what keeps you there.

The second Check In focuses on continuing forward despite difficulty, suffering, setbacks, delays, or a lack of immediate results.

The guys talk about:

Romans 5:3

Why suffering can produce endurance

Continuing after motivation disappears

Learning from difficult experiences

How adversity builds character

Finding humor in miserable situations

The strange way terrible experiences sometimes become great stories later

Building stronger friendships through shared suffering

Brotherhood in the Marine Corps

Pushing through physical limitations

Learning what you're capable of

Remembering challenges you've already survived

Using past accomplishments as proof that you can do difficult things again

Knowing the difference between “I can't do this” and “I don't want to do this”

Going into difficult situations instead of psyching yourself out

Embracing discomfort

Figuring things out as you go

Starting something even when you don't know exactly how to do it

Building Wolves & Wisemen without having everything figured out

Approaching faith the same way

Learning and growing together

Scripture From This Episode

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

This verse launches the conversation about motivation.

Fear can become one of the easiest excuses for never beginning.

Fear of failing.

Fear of looking stupid.

Fear that something won't work.

Fear that you're not capable.

But if you spend your entire life waiting until you aren't afraid, you may never start.

Sometimes motivation is simply having a reason that's stronger than the fear telling you to stay where you are.

Romans 5:3

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.”

The second Check In takes motivation one step further.

Starting is one thing.

Continuing when it sucks is something completely different.

The guys discuss how difficult experiences can produce endurance, teach lessons, strengthen relationships, and show you what you're actually capable of.

You may not enjoy the suffering while you're going through it.

But sometimes the experience you hated living through becomes the story you laugh about years later—and the experience that prepared you for the next challenge.

Key Takeaways

Motivation is your why. Your reason may change depending on what you're trying to accomplish.

You don't need to feel motivated every day. Sometimes you simply need enough motivation to begin.

Motivation can become discipline, and discipline can become habit. Eventually you stop debating whether you're going to do something and simply do it.

Your motivation doesn't have to look like someone else's. Family, faith, career, money, personal growth, competition, or a specific goal can all push someone forward.

Wanting to become better is motivation by itself. Better in your faith. Better as a father. Better as a husband. Better at your job. Better as a friend. Better than you were yesterday.

Your support system matters. When your motivation disappears, sometimes the people around you provide the push you need.

The end goal can keep you moving. Having something you can picture gives the work you're doing today a purpose.

Motivation gets you started. Perseverance gets you finished.

Hard experiences teach you what you're capable of. Once you've survived something you thought was impossible, the next impossible thing doesn't look quite as intimidating.

Shared suffering builds strong bonds. Going through difficult experiences together can create friendships that last for decades.

You can do almost anything for five minutes. Sometimes the trick is to stop worrying about the entire mountain and deal with what's directly in front of you.

Stop psyching yourself out. The anticipation of something difficult can sometimes be worse than actually doing it.

You don't need every answer before you begin. Sometimes the answer to “How did you know how to do that?” is simply: “I didn't. I figured it out.”

Failure teaches you how not to do something. That's still progress.

Faith works the same way. You don't need to have the entire Bible memorized or every theological question answered before you start strengthening your relationship with God.

Growth happens together. Having people around you who challenge, encourage, and hold you accountable can strengthen your faith and your life.

Rebel Report

After The Check In, the guys jump into the Rebel Report.

One of the first stories involves a major earthquake near Japan and warnings surrounding the possibility of future earthquakes and tsunamis.

That naturally turns into a conversation about earthquakes, natural disasters, Japan's history with tsunamis, Fukushima, and what a major earthquake could look like closer to home.

Then comes a danger apparently every kid who grew up watching cartoons was promised would eventually become a major part of adult life:

Quicksand.

The guys discuss the story of an experienced hiker who becomes trapped in quicksand in southern Utah and has to call for rescue.

Turns out Bugs Bunny wasn't completely full of shit.

The Rebel Report continues through current events, sports, strange stories, and the usual combination of serious discussion and completely unnecessary side conversations that somehow become half the segment.

Folks on Fire

This week's Folks on Fire gets personal.

Bond

Bond gets recognition for the work he's been doing behind the scenes with Wolves & Wisemen.

The guys talk about his motivation, his knowledge of Scripture, and how he's been helping point them toward different parts of the Bible as they continue strengthening the faith side of the show.

Having somebody further down the road who can offer direction without pretending to have every answer has become an important part of what the guys are building.

Grandpa Bob

Robert's second Folks on Fire is much more personal.

Twenty-eight years after his grandfather's passing, Robert talks about the man whose name he carries and the example he left behind.

He remembers his grandfather as someone who cared about people, showed up for others, and was respected by nearly everyone who knew him.

For Robert, part of his own motivation is trying to become the kind of man worthy of carrying that name.

Not chasing somebody else's definition of success.

Trying to become the kind of man people remember because of how he treated them.

Denzel Clarke

The guys also highlight an incredible baseball play from Denzel Clarke and spend some time getting excited about baseball again.

Because apparently a faith podcast can also become a baseball podcast whenever necessary.

The Fake Kidnapping

And then there's a Texas man who reportedly staged his own kidnapping so he could disappear and party with his friends.

Which raises several questions.

Most importantly:

How bad did you think asking your wife for a guys' night was going to go that kidnapping seemed like the easier option?

50 Cent

50 Cent also makes Folks on Fire as the guys discuss his very public feud with Sean “Diddy” Combs and his willingness to continue talking about the controversy surrounding him.

Whatever else you think about 50 Cent, subtlety apparently isn't part of the strategy.

Boners

Boners brings the show back into politics, government, media, spending, taxes, and several stories that send the conversation completely off the rails.

The guys react to political figures and public statements they disagree with, question how government money is being spent, and argue over whether politicians are actually solving problems or simply moving numbers around and claiming victory.

As usual, Boners isn't presented as a neutral news report.

It's the hosts reacting to the stories, politicians, policies, and public figures that frustrated them that week—and giving their own opinions along the way.

Eventually the segment gets heated enough that the guys joke about moving Boners to the beginning of the show just to get everybody fired up before calming things back down with Bible study.

Probably not the traditional order.

But it might work.

Fringe Files — The Upside Down

Then Episode 8 goes down the rabbit hole.

And this time, it's a big one.

The Fringe Files asks:

What if our universe isn't the only one?

Using the idea of the “Upside Down” popularized by Stranger Things as a starting point, the guys talk about parallel universes, alternate realities, dimensions, and whether there could be versions of reality existing alongside our own.

The conversation moves into:

Parallel universes

Multiple dimensions

Alternate versions of reality

The “Upside Down”

Stranger Things

Whether another reality could exist alongside ours

Technology and artificial intelligence

Cryptocurrency and digital money

Digital control

Whether society is becoming too dependent on technology

AI-generated videos

Knowing what's real online

Manipulation through media

Deepfakes

AI companions

AI girlfriends and boyfriends

Human relationships in an increasingly artificial world

AI-powered robots

Population and social consequences of replacing human relationships with technology

Blade Runner 2049

Eagle Eye

I, Robot

The possibility of AI being used to manipulate people

How difficult it may become to distinguish real threats from fabricated ones

Whether technology designed to help humanity could eventually control too much of human life

The danger of treating technology like a replacement for God

What happens when humanity creates something it can no longer completely control

As usual, Fringe Files isn't about claiming every theory is true.

It's about asking the question:

“What if?”

And seeing where the rabbit hole goes.

The Bigger Conversation

Episode 8 starts with motivation and perseverance.

By the end of the episode, those two words describe Wolves & Wisemen Reignited itself pretty well.

The guys didn't start the podcast because they knew exactly what they were doing.

They started it.

Then they figured things out.

They're still figuring things out.

The same thing is happening with their faith.

There are things they don't understand.

There are questions they can't answer.

There are days when the motivation isn't there.

But they're continuing anyway.

They're reading.

They're talking.

They're asking questions.

They're challenging each other.

They're bringing other people into the conversation.

And they're trying to become better men along the way.

You don't have to know exactly where the road ends before taking the first step.

Sometimes you just need enough motivation to start—

and enough perseverance to keep going.

Watch & Listen

Watch the full episode and join the conversation.

Follow Wolves & Wisemen Reignited

Wolves & Wisemen Reignited is three imperfect guys trying to strengthen their faith, become better men, and figure things out together.

No pretending to have all the answers.

No pretending life is always clean.

Faith. Brotherhood. Current events. Dumb stories. The unexplained. And whatever rabbit hole the guys manage to fall into next.

New episodes every Tuesday night.