3 Principles to Success in Life and the Coast Guard

by

ENS Craig Dente (Former QMC/OSC)

In my life and my career, I have seen others achieve great success in many aspects of their life.  I have also seen many go down paths that lead them in the direction of self destruction.  Recently, I’ve been appointed to deal with some people who journeyed down the wrong path.  I wish that I was somehow able to preempt the decisions that they made and now regret.  These are the principles that I wish I could impart in people as they begin their journey as adults and their career in our organization.

    1.  Work Hard

Regardless of how fulfilling you feel that your work is, fully asserting yourself will take you places.  Having the attitude, ability, and discipline required to totally devote yourself to a task will translate to all aspects of your job and life, regardless of how insignificant that individual task might seem.  Even when you start at the very bottom, with persistent hard work, you will soon find yourself achieving great things.  Devotion to duty is one of the core values of our service and for good reason.  It is unrealistic to expect to only get the exciting and glamorous jobs.  There is much support and drudgery required before any glamorous task is even possible.  Having a good attitude about unpleasant tasks will keep you happy and make others eager to give you more pleasant tasks.

      2.  Seek Responsibility

Accept full responsibility for every aspect of your life.  Your position in life at any given moment is the aggregate of all your past decisions.  Seek and accept responsibility for everything that surrounds you.  Take ownership and fix things that don’t work, otherwise, willingly and knowingly accept the consequences as your own.  Once you fully accept responsibility for every aspect of your life, you control your destiny.

      3.  Be Trustworthy

No person that cannot be relied upon will ever get a job of any importance, and if by some oversight they do, it will be taken quickly.  In this service, we are expected to behave with honor and respect.  Many of the choices that we are faced with are governed by laws or regulations.  Those difficult decisions that lay somewhere between what is governed by rules and where there is absolute free choice is where we need to apply the core values.  Use your moral compass and your intuition to reveal what is right and just.  Respect what is right and just in this world and have the honor and courage to do the right thing, even if nobody else is looking.