On April 9, 2017, the ChangeYourPOV channel posted “EP169: Motivation Monday – Michael J. Penney.” It is a short one: three minutes and 45 seconds.
What the episode covered
Motivation Monday was a recurring segment on the show. The episode description explains the format and what was different this time:
Every Monday Eddie and Bennett share a quote they really like and what it means to them. This episode, however, is brought to you by Michael J. Penney Co-Host of Cigars & Sea Stories.
ChangeYourPOV episode description
The quote listed for the episode is “Invictus,” the 1875 poem by William Ernest Henley. It closes with two of the most quoted lines in English:
I am the master of my fate:
William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”
I am the captain of my soul.
The poem is about taking the worst that life can hand you and staying standing: “My head is bloody, but unbowed.” It is a natural pick for a Marine infantry veteran with three combat tours behind him.
Why it mattered then
In the spring of 2017 Michael was co-hosting the Cigars & Sea Stories podcast, and that is how the episode introduces him. About a year earlier, in March 2016, he had given his TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED?” A year on, he was still talking about the same thing: how veterans carry what they went through and keep moving forward.
This was not his only time on ChangeYourPOV. The show also had him on for a full episode, EP032, about his deployments and his TEDx talk. Later in 2017, in NIW009, he talked about whitetail deer hunting, and the host called him “my old and close friend.”
His service record: eight-plus years in Marine Corps infantry and three combat tours: two to Ramadi, Iraq, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (2005-06 and 2007), and one to Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 2011, where he led a section of advisors. Between those tours he served at Quantico as a weapons instructor. He left the Corps as a Sergeant with an honorable discharge.
Where to find it
The clip is still up on the ChangeYourPOV YouTube channel. It runs under four minutes, so it is an easy one to share on a Monday morning.
This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.
Work with Michael
Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.