You Don't Have to Come First, Just Finish

We are programmed from an early age to believe that Winning and Losing are our only two options. Indeed, they seem to be the only alternatives that are recognised within any competition.  You either won or.. you lost.  However, this mentality serves to keep many from even getting out onto the field of competition.  If they already believe that they have little chance in 'winning', then what is the point in competing?  This thinking prevents them from participating, learning and growing.  In fact, they could lose far more by not entering and completing a competition than by entering and failing to come first.

There is much to be said about those who enter a competition regardless of not being a first-place contender.  They know this and enter anyway.  In doing so, they are already leap years ahead of those that determine not to enter, not to try, simply because they could not place first.  Those that strive simply to finish, to test themselves in an activity they are not exceptionally skilled or gifted in, are perhaps telling you more about themselves than those that ultimately place.

Recruiters need to start to recognise the value in considering candidates that 'finish', not just simply those that walked away with the trophies and awards.  Think about what it takes to succeed in your organization.  Although I often get the immediate response from clients that they are looking for 'winners', it quickly becomes apparent that the phrase 'winners' simply isn't applied to those that have 'won' a race or competition in the past.  In fact, most organizations would look at defining a 'winner' as someone who demonstrates tenacity, someone who finishes what they start, regardless of the cost.  It is often this stick-to-it-iveness that helps to define those who ultimately achieve the most in life and... those that don't.

Few competitions truly recognise the value in finishing versus only recognising those arriving first, but there are some.  Marathons, for example, provide all who finish the race with a medal.  They honour and recognise the achievement of someone completing 26.2 miles.  Run, walk or crawl they did what those on the sidelines and those back home sitting on the couch did not.  The achievement says a lot about them.  The Iditerod, perhaps one of the most gruelling races of all, is one of the few that recognises the last place finisher with a special trophy, The Red Lantern.  They know that the musher who finishes last showed the grit and determination to complete the race, to cross that finish line without giving up.  It wasn't easy, giving up would surely have been easier, but their commitment and tenacity took them across the line.  Recognition of those qualities is sorely lacking in business, which explains why those qualities are missing from many businesses.  You get what you recognise and reward.

Start with your recruitment processes.  The going in your business is likely not always an easy one.  You want people that will hang with you through the tough times.  Look for those that have done something difficult, something that challenged them and yet... they didn't give up.  That is an ability worth hiring.  It is a skill worth recognising and it is certainly a behaviour deserving of promotion.

Don't mistake winning with winners.  Winning simply means you came first in a race.  Winners are those that continue to drive and push, to make things happen.  They are the people that cross the finish line long after others have quit.  They don't have to come first, but they do have to finish.

Getting Gritty to Get Ahead

One of my favourite movies when I was younger was True Grit, starring John Wayne as the irascible Rooster Cogburn.  Though the movie was recently remade, nothing touches the original 1969 version in my mind.  For me, the image of John Wayne in this role and Kim Darby as Mattie Ross come to mind whenever I hear the term Grit.  The movie revolves around a young woman looking to hire a man with 'true grit' to help her hunt down her father's murderer.  Throughout the movie Mattie continues to demonstrate that she has more grit than any of the men she was looking to hire.  Perhaps that's why the movie appealed so much to me, the thought that we may just discover within ourselves, that which we think we need to find externally.

Grit isn't a term that you typically hear others using.  Think of 'Grit' being a passion and perseverance for long-term goals.  It is persistence and tenacity, stick-to-itiveness and fortitude, it is living life like it a marathon and not a sprint.  So much contained within four letters.  Recently, the term Grit has been making a comeback within business circles.  New research being conducted has found that the number one characteristic that is the key predictor of Success is not IQ, not EQ, not even how charismatic or good looking you are, it's... Grit.

This begs the question of course... just how do you go about developing your grit?  There is no straight-forward answer to this but recent work from Stanford University on the Growth Mindset just may prove to be laying the foundation for the right path.  Their works highlights that you have the ability to grow and change your brain in response to challenges.  As you face new challenges and work to overcome them, you develop and strengthen your perseverance.  Those that give up... don't.

But this means that failure is required.  There is a need to face challenges in which success is not a given.  Grit is developed in those moments of failure.  If you let your failure define you, you're done.  Instead, grit requires you learn to recognise that failure is not a permanent condition.  The acceptance of this belief is necessary to persist, to push through.  You have to belief that there is better, that there are other alternatives to failure, and therefore you continue to push for the result you want.

Tenacity.  Perseverance.  Fortitude.  Grit.

As it turns out, these are the words forming the backbone of success.

Unlocking Your Big Ideas

We all have Big Ideas, Big Goals, Big Plans... those ideas that could change our lives, if not the lives of
others.

The challenge for most of us of course lies in recognising them.  We sometimes fail to give weight to the value of our ideas, simply because they are our own.  We look further afield, expecting that there should be a bold stroke of inspiration, a lightening bolt of the mind, that highlights or precedes the Big Idea's arrival.  More typically though, we are sitting right on top of the idea, keeping it company, failing to recognise it for what it is.

Russell H. Conwell, in his well-known book Acres of Diamonds, tells the story of a farmer who, though wealthy by others standards, wanted even greater wealth.  When hearing about Diamonds for the first time, he came to realize that owning a diamond mine would be infinitely more profitable than a farm and so he promptly sold his farm and went off in search of diamonds.  However, that farmer had no true knowledge of diamonds, or skills in mining, and ultimately found himself destitute and starving.  The farmer who had purchased his farm from him however, was watering his animals in a river on the property one day and discovered a strange rock - which turned out to be a diamond.  One of the largest diamond strikes found in the area.  The moral of course, is that we are often sitting on Acres of Diamonds.  We just need to dig for them.

It would be great to think that knowing we already possessed our Big Idea, our Diamond, was sufficient and that we merely had to uncover it.  However, this knowledge alone doesn't seem to be enough to offer the push that many need to begin digging.  It's often been said that the greatest book ever to be written is lying in a graveyard somewhere.  Many people's greatest work, greatest gift, is often taken to the grave with them.  Is there a sadder thought than this?

In a recent Success article, Darren Hardy tells the story of Evariste Galois, a brilliant mathematician, born in France in 1811.  At age 20 Galois made the unfortunate mistake of falling in love with a French officer's fiancee.  That officer, as was typical for the time, promptly challenged Galois to a duel.  Not being in the least bit skilled at firearms, Galois anticipated that he was not likely to be successful and therefore spent the night before his duel writing down every thought and algebraic equation he had in his head.  He wrote for hours, even recording thoughts that just occurred to him in the writing process.

Unfortunately, Galois' predictions about his duelling skills proved accurate and he was killed.  His notes however, live on.  Galois recorded over 60 pages of mathematical ideas which were published after his death.  These pages revolutionized not only higher algebra, but impacted most other areas of mathematics as well.  His ideas proved to be amongst the most important ideas in the history of mathematics.

Galois had not recorded any of these thoughts previously.  It was only the impending deadline (in his case... possible death!) that led him to push himself.  What's your deadline?  The belief that we have time, that we'll get to it, can be our biggest downfall.  We fail to take action today because there is always tomorrow.  Consider though, that if we don't begin digging for our diamonds today, then we can't reap the benefit and reward tomorrow.  That 'better' tomorrow will remain outside of our grasp.

What are the diamonds that are waiting for you in your backyard?  The Big Ideas that are waiting to be discovered?  Don't wait for tomorrow to come to begin digging, create a sense of urgency and get out there now, lest you lose out to someone who begins today.

Make - TODAY - your new mantra.  Create the urgency to get started now.

A year from now you will wish you had started today      Karen Lamb

Stepping into our Passion

I'm writing this post as I am attending the Millionaire Speaker Camp in Chicago. This time around I am here not as a student per se (though when can you truly avoid being a student in any situation?) but as a speaker and coach to those formally going through the process.  I have the opportunity and luxury to watch these individuals struggle to uncover their message, to give voice to their why, to push beyond their existing barriers, to carve out something 'new' for themselves.  These people inspire me.  They should inspire you.

The attendees in this program are looking for a way to give voice to the knowledge, expertise and passion inside of them.  They have something to share and are struggling to create a process for doing so.  Many have never spoken in front of groups before.  Many are introverts who are not comfortable in doing so. Most are not looking to create a speaking career to create celebrity or fame but simply because they know this is the venue they require to reach the most people with their message.

In short... these are people with a mission and the passion to make it happen.  And they are willing to push through the barriers and fears that would hold them back and prevent them from doing so.  They have small wins, they have setbacks but they keep bouncing back and plugging themselves back in.  I have been given the gift of being able to share in a small part of their journey.  They are making me laugh, making me cry and making me applaud until my hands hurt.

I want the same for each of you.  I want you to be kicking your fears to the curb, standing up and saying 'I will not settle for less any longer.  I will not BE less any more'.

But... you have to be willing to take action.  You have to be willing to take a step, however small, that moves you into your voice and your passion.  We all have a passion and purpose.  We all have a reason that we are here, for ourselves and those around us, that requires us to play big.  Certainly bigger than we likely are right now.  Even one small step begins to create a desire for more.  It gives you a taste of what could be that creates a hunger for more.  What are you hungry for right now?

I am blessed to be spending time with a group of individuals that are hungry.  They are out to change the world and it is inspiring to watch them reach out and grab onto what they need to make it happen.  Fears are shaken and sloughed off, barriers are broken and left shattered in the wake of their growth and their change.
I wish the same for you.  You need to wish the same for you.  You need to not only wish for the same but to step up, step out and start.  This is your time to make things happen for you and there is never a better time than NOW!