Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Relentlessness- The Mindset of a Champion




Napoleon Hill, bestselling author of Think and Grow Rich, tells a story about a man named R. U. Darby. Darby was a millionaire, and he credited his success to an experience he had earlier in his life. During the gold rush days of the 19th century Darby’s uncle had pioneered west to Colorado and discovered gold ore. In need of mining machinery to dig up the ore, Darby’s uncle returned home to Maryland to secure financing for the machinery. He decided to bring Darby back with him to Colorado to help work the mine.
Things went well at first. The first remnants of gold they discovered were shipped to a smelter and the money they received showed that they could potentially be digging one of Colorado’s richest mines. A few more gold discoveries would clear Darby and his uncle of all their debt and they would become very rich.
Then things changed. The vein of gold ore they had been successfully drilling suddenly disappeared. Confident they would find more gold, Darby and his uncle kept digging in that area. Day after day they drilled and found no gold. What made matters worse was that every day both men dug the mine both men dug themselves deeper into debt. After more digging and still no luck, both men decided to quit. They sold all the drilling machinery to a junkman and returned home to Maryland.
Now the junkman knew of their previous success and was convinced that there was still gold to mine. He hired a mining engineer to get an expert opinion, and the engineer’s findings were shocking: he found that the vein of gold ore that Darby and his uncle had been seeking was just three feet from where they had stopped drilling. The junkman decided to continue where Darby and his uncle left off. The engineer was right: just three feet deeper gold was found!

A Relentless Attitude- The Heart of a Champion
Had Darby and his uncle just dug three more feet they would have been rich. While they were motivated for a time after initially finding gold, they quit when they were met with a major obstacle.
Relentlessness means remaining strict and determined towards one’s goals. A relentless attitude separates those who are successful from those who fall short. Relentless people are incessant. No one and nothing will get in the way of a relentless man or woman in pursuit of their goal. Relentless people get what they want. Relentless people win.
Michael Jordan is known for his relentlessness. Because of this he won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and is considered the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Kobe Bryant had the same relentless attitude as Jordan, winning five titles himself with the Los Angeles Lakers. Relentlessness, however, is not predetermined. It’s a skill that anyone can learn and develop. Nevertheless, 90% of people fail to reach their goals because they stop short when they are met with obstacles. By being relentless you never give up. By being relentless you will continue to push forward until you reach your intended goal. So how can you grow your relentlessness?

10 Ways to Grow More Relentless
1.      Adopt the belief of personal responsibility. If you haven’t gotten the money, the job, the body, or the relationship you want today, it’s because your mindset is flawed. Remember: everything in the external world is a manifestation of an inner reality. It may be easier to place blame on others or the world for your inability to reach your goal, but ultimately it’s up to YOU to get yourself where you want to go.
2.      Establish and emotionally engage in a M.V.R. (Morning Visualization Ritual). By emotionally engaging in our intended goal we increase our vibrations. These vibrations will attract a like-vibration in the material world. This is the law of attraction. Write your goal down somewhere. Make it tangible. Hold your written goal in your hand. Read your intended goal every morning. Visualize what it would feel like to fulfill that goal. Do this every morning.
3.      Develop a personal practice aimed at achieving your goal and find a block of time each day to implement that practice relentlessly. With your goal in mind, ask yourself: what can I do consistently day-by-day to move me closer to my goal? Then take action. If you’re aiming to become a best-selling author, perhaps you will write thirty minutes a day. If you want to lose thirty pounds, perhaps you will run the trail every day after work. Once you have your practice in mind, write it down. Then schedule out a time each day to implement that practice. Keep track of how consistent you are adhering to this practice. If you’re not acting as often as you would like, reflect and revise your practice.
4.      Correct practice makes perfect. I once went to a basketball camp that taught me to rethink a popular phrase I often heard growing up: practice makes perfect. The leader of the camp said to us, “You may have been taught that ‘practice makes perfect.’ That is simply not true. If I am studying for a test but am studying the wrong information, come test time I will fail. If I practice shooting free-throws with bad form, come game time I will be inconsistent.” Instead of practice makes perfect, the more effective rephrasing would be correct practice makes perfect. Ensure whatever steps you’re taking today are aligned with your intended goal.
5.      Stick with what works and drop what’s not serving you. Plans change but visions remain. I remember hearing this when I went to a conference in Tacoma in the early 2010s. It takes only a little experience living in the real world to become aware of this truth. We may make plans, but more often than not something unexpected will come up and we have to revise our plans. You must learn to adapt to changing circumstances. If you have a plan that’s progressing you toward your intended goal, keep it! Don’t change what’s working. If you have a plan that’s not working, revise or drop it. You may need to change your plan, but it doesn’t mean you have to change your vision.
6.      Be patient. Get-rich-quick schemes are nice to think about but unrealistic. It takes time, effort and consistency to get to where you want to go. Be patient. Take comfort in knowing you’re getting closer.
7.      Find an accountabilibuddy. Find a devoted mentor, coach, or friend that can hold you accountable towards your practice and intended goal. Accountability leads to greater potential success and ensures you don’t quit easily. Also find models who are masters of relentlessness themselves. Admire those incessant business moguls. Observe those professional athletes who know what it takes to win.
8.      Don’t give up. Never stop working towards your goal until you see it manifest. Obstacles will present themselves. Don’t be discouraged by them. View them as your friends, as motivators that push you more relentlessly toward your goals. Get extra motivated when the naysayers try to bring you down. People will think you’re crazy. People will think your goal is impossible to achieve. Don’t listen to them. Keep to what you believe you can achieve and the practice that you know is working.
9.      Set up rewards for progress. Once you have made some progress, reward yourself. Go out to a fine dinner. Take those close to you to celebrate with you. Give yourself incentive to continue moving forward towards your goal. 

Be relentless in the pursuit of your goal. You may have been digging for some time and have yet to reach your goal. Don’t be discouraged. You may be just three feet away from gold.

Relentlessness Quotes

Be relentless in pursuit of those goals, especially in the face of obstacles. Along the way, make no excuses and place no blame.
Ray Bourque

Be relentless and then you’ll break through.
Downtown Julie Brown

Relentless, repetitive self-talk is what changes our self-image.
Denis Waitley

You must be passionate, you must dedicate yourself, and you must be relentless in the pursuit of your goals. If you do, you will be successful.
Steve Garvey

Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.
John Maxwell

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.
Babe Ruth

Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
Anonymous

Consistent action creates consistent results.
Christine Kane

If you want to be taken seriously, be consistent.
Anonymous

It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.
Tony Robbins

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