Luckily I learned at a young age to have the guts and determination to question that status quo. To question the people who said I couldn’t do something. To not believe the bullies words or those who tried to be hurtful. To stand up no matter how many times you’ve failed and try again. Thank goodness my parents raised me well and taught me the best they could on how to deal with those characters that come in and out of the story of our lives when I was young.
But mostly they taught me that it was about getting back up and trying again, and again, and again, and again. You had a plan and it didn’t work, and that is okay. Adjust and try again. Miss and try again. Bomb the class speech and try again. Don’t make the starting string on the team – work harder and try again next round. Life really is about stringing together your failures, and missed attempts on the way to greatness which is the reward for not giving up despite everything that happens along the way.
I’m sure glad they taught me not to take things personally. Not to get overly emotional about these small set backs. Let go of the past “failure”. Don’t obsess about it. Don’t let it define you. The setback didn’t change me as a person. We don’t always get what we want. Think instead about the lesson that was hidden in that missed accomplishment.
Entrepreneurship is great for developing GRIT. Having a paper route at a young age started me on my path to having this character trait. This was back when you had to knock on doors and collect money from people who sometimes were tight on cash. I learned at a young age who I could depend on and who didn’t keep their word when it came to finances. I kept on that path and always did entrepreneurial activities throughout my life to this very day. I was blessed for the chance meeting that made it all happen to take over Simon’s route and double it in size in two years! If you’ve never been an entrepreneur, go out and sell something, anything, in the next 48 hours and prove you have what it takes.
I love working with top level athletes. They all have GRIT including myself. Some athletes are soft and some will play through injuries. Some have what it takes and many are just hobbiests. Most of the sports I played when I was young were individual and had a high rep count associated with them. For example golf – if you mis-hit the shot, you got another range ball, did your set up and executed the shot again. It was the same with track and field or the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Things didn’t go your way, that’s okay, the race, throw or lift was over within seconds, you learned from it and you executed again. These high rep count activities with some time for reflection and coaching in between were great for programing me at a young age not to worry about missed targets. GRIND IT OUT. Focus on small improvements each time and keep executing with the same effort, energy and enthusiasm each time. Don’t let your energy levels slide until after the workout is over.
We all have our own beginnings and sources of character, work ethic and GRIT. Our own memories and experiences that started to engrain and program us that there is always more, we can always do better.
Feel free to share your story of GRIT and determination. What did you do when you were younger that gives you the ability to get up each time you get knocked down today? How do you keep sharp when so many others around you choosing the easy route?
How Hungry are YOU?
I get asked all the time what makes up a successful investor, and although they come in all shapes, forms and mindsets, there are many different traits that are required which keep coming up over and over again. One of those would be in insatiable HUNGER that is always present. A hunger to do better than before. A hunger to learn from their past mistakes and not let them happen again. A hunger to get ahead quicker, better and faster.
Successful people in general whether it be business, investing or personal life are always hungry for more. They don’t stop when the results are just good enough. They always have a target that they want to achieve and even a higher target that they usually don’t tell anyone about. Are they borderline obsessed? YES. Is it okay to be Obsessed? The answer to that question depends, but usually as long as it is activity that is in pursuit of outstanding results, adding value or bettering themselves, their family, those around them and the people they are doing business with the answer is YES.
If you’ve never seen a Hungry focused person, you should. Go and book some time to shadow an uber successful person in your field who is obsessed with dominating that field. They are the example to everyone else for what is possible. They are the ones who are figuring out the next new strategy or work around that everyone else needs.
We need these leaders in our lives so that we are reminded that we too have an unlimited amount of potential within us. Who puts limits on our potential? Sometimes it is society, but most often it is us. We are our own worst enemy’s in this regard and we need to learn strategies to stop beating ourselves up so much.
Won’t being hungry / totally focused on your results lead to burn out? Again, I don’t know anything worthwhile that has ever been created in balance, but coming back to balance is invaluable. Coming back to balance means making sure you are doing things for yourself or others that give you the fuel in your tank to keep getting up and moving forward towards your goals. All work and no play will lead to decreased productivity even if you are super focused, obsessed and hungry for more.
What should you do to avoid Grinding 24/7 and losing productivity? It could mean making sure you take time on a regular basis to make health a priority. You don’t need a lot of time. Short quick interval training is what I do to stay in shape and maintain my energy on a daily basis. I like to do longer workouts sometimes, but intensity is the name of the game when it comes to keeping your body strong and functioning to its fullest capacity.
It might mean taking some time off to be with family and friends, turning off your phone for certain hours of the day, or simply making time to do meditation on a regular basis to let the brain get into the right frequency to rest, heal and source the answers that you are looking for.
If you don’t have anything that you are really Hungry for at the moment you are either flat out lazy with poor habits, but given that this doesn’t sound like you, I make up that you have never taken the time to be EXTREMELY clear on what matters the most to you and those around out.
Getting clarity in my books means that you need to take the time to define the values that are the most important to you, a list of the top 10-15 that define you. You likely don’t have a one sentence mission statement for your life that is in alignment with those values and your burning WHY isn’t clearly defined. Even if you have all three, if you don’t review all of these items on a regular basis, you will still be unfocused, frustrated and busy in life, but not productively hungry.
Take the time to get clear on what matters to you. Print off this page of values and strike out the ones that don’t talk to you at your core. Keep the 20 that do and shave them down to a list of 10 values. Make sure that these values are aligned to a productive fulfilling life. If you were standing in front of your maker, which 10 would you pick and why?
For your life’s mission statement, which values or activity defines you as a person? I mean really defines you. If I polled your top 15 friends, what would they say. If you aren’t sure, maybe you should ask them. Send them your list of your top 10 values and ask them which ones are your top 3. Then you can look for the patterns and use those values for your mission statement.
For me my mission is about being a leader and encouraging / inspiring others to step up and be the same. Everyone is different, but it should be something that gets you to excited when you read it, say it, hear it or see it up on the wall.
Tying it together with a powerful WHY is what really helps to bring it home. I highly recommend the 7 levels deep exercise if you haven’t already done it.
You are probably asking yourself why they don’t teach these things in school? Why did you have to wait until you were 20, 30, 40 or older to see these concepts?
Why is so much of life a thinking game and managing / sorting out all of our thoughts, values, beliefs and stories? This is why we are the most dominant species on earth. Nobody said it was going to be easy. It is however easier to get out of bed and start moving towards your goals though when you are super hungry and motivated to hit the mark in front of you. I hope you don’t have to go on a diet just to get HUNGRY for results!
