At The Mission Driven Mom, we are empowering moms with principles and purpose. We know that God in His wisdom created a world run by immutable natural laws. We know that true principles flow from these natural laws. And we know that principles are the answer to life's toughest problems.  Yet, when comes time to actually live those principles, the path can be not only overwhelming but incredibly painful. Who wants to exercise regularly? Who wants to save 10%? Who wants to keep forgiving their spouse?  Principles are hard--there's no doubt about it. We can't break them or we will reap the negative results in our lives. So what do we do when we really want to live principles but it seems virtually impossible? Listener's Guide: Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.  2:30  Audrey studying MDM Academy with her kids 4:08  Quick fixes make things worse 9:25  Stephen Covey and his son's development 13:32  The power of facing the truth and beginning with ourselves 16:34  Why principles stink 21:50  We can't live principles on sheer will power 22:35  Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the importance of truth 26:48  Impact of principles on the MDM moms 27:38  We need a vision greater than the principles Quotes from this episode: "People are intrigued when they see good things happening in the lives of individuals, families, and organizations that are based on solid principles...And their immediate request is very revealing of their basic paradigm. 'How do you do it? Teach me the techniques.' What they're really saying is, 'Give me some quick fix advice or solution that will relieve the pain in my own situation.'" ~Stephen R. Covey "We knew that social comparison motives were out of harmony with our deeper values and could lead to conditional love and eventually to our son's lessened sense of self-worth. So we determined to focus our efforts on us--not on our techniques, but on our deepest motives and our perception of him." ~Stephen R. Covey "The truth seldom is sweet: it is almost invariably bitter." ~Alexander Solzhenitsyn  "A sense of responsibility before God and society has fallen away." ~Alexander Solzhenitsyn "The sense of greatness is the groundwork of morals." ~Alfred North Whitehead "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." ~Proverbs 29:18 Books from this episode:     Podcast mentioned in this episode: Find "Intro to Principles" podcast series HERE